You know it's time to turn in your EcoModder membership when...

[darcane]

Originally Posted by MetroMPG

Looks like I'd been driving around on a completely flat tire for who knows how long. (Admits the guy who poo-poos the necessity, cost & complexity of TPMS.)

CRAP! I will see myself out and turn in my membership at the door.

It could be worse, instead of just being a member, you could be the guy that RUNS the site and did this...

[MetroMPG]

Ha!

Originally Posted by Fat Charlie

you were driving fast enough that the bumps were enough to deform the disc.

I'm not gonna lie: the thought did cross my mind before this trip that the ride seemed a bit smoother than usual. I attributed it to the warming weather!

---

Numbers from the SG for the round trip:

~200 km going there with 1 flat tire: 54 MPG US
~200 km returning with 50 PSI: 65 MPG

Route: secondary highway with a max limit of 80 km/h (50 mph) that goes through a couple of small towns & one little city (max 50 km/h = 30 mph).

But I can't say how much of that gain was PSI-related. Bigger variable: there was a crosswind on the way there, that turned into a stronger tailwind on the return leg.

[freebeard]

I'd always liked this treatment on the Mariani Farms Bonneville car:


People had argued that that failure would happen in normal operation, but I thought the sidewall bulge is minimal next to the rim. Your inadvertent testing confirms my suspicion.

[California98Civic]

Originally Posted by oil pan 4

Get a "tire slime" brand dial gauge.
I have bought 2 of them and both were within 1 psi of a calibrated DoD master gauge.

Which one? I see a few tire slime models. Maybe anyone of them will do. But I'd prefer duplicating your purchase

Oh, and ... RESIGNATION DENIED, METRO! hahaha

[gumby79]

Many of the car manufacturers have gone to run flat technology tires. The reason for running the ultra stiff sidewall run-flat style Tire is to delete the weight of a spare tire. Unfortunately the downside is the tire doesn't deform until it has consumed itself due to the extra heat of the air not supporting the weight the sidewall is doing it insted. Every Tire I have stopped on the side of the highway to help someone stranded that has been one of these run-flat Technologies has disintegrated before the driver was aware that they had a low tire and then there's no spare tire I ruined rim and they're still stuck on the side of the highway. The only ones I've seen survive a picking up a nail have had the air monitoring systems that have become A DOT safety item, when the air pressure monitoring systems gained safety item status the aftermarket air pressure monitoring systems were pulled off the market unless they can pass the DOT testing procedures making them unavailable to vehicles like mine that don't have factory installed safety equipment.
On the bright side it only cost you 11 MPG instead of that plus a tire.

[MetroMPG]

It's been way too cold to destroy a flat tire through overheating. Can't get hot enough.

[MetroMPG]

Originally Posted by freebeard

I'd always liked this treatment on the Mariani Farms Bonneville car:

Looks like one of those wheels is worth more than my entire car.

[jamesqf]

Originally Posted by gumby79

The only ones I've seen survive a picking up a nail..

OTOH, it's been decades since I had a tire go flat from picking up a nail or such, or anything involving the tread area (except one tread separation). It's always been some sort of road debris putting a hole in the sidewall you could put a finger or two through.

[Xist]

Every single time I have picked up a nail or something it has been too near the sidewall.

[MetroMPG]

I've never lost a sidewall! (Touch wood.)

Lots of screws/nails through the treads though. I've used up a whole pack of those puncture patch gummy worms.