[A4] TPMS & spare tire; winter tires

[gsackerson at comcast.net]

Mitchell,
  Thanks for your suggestion - I wouldn't have thought that the warning sensors would work with the spare tire, but even if they don't, it's a good suggestion to make sure the spare is always well inflated.

One of these days, I'm going to find a good easy-to-understand explanation of how TPMS systems work. I once had it explained in terms of the rotational difference between a fully inflated tire and a tire that was under-inflated, and the fact that as a tire gets low in air, the sensors are able to detect that due to the difference in rotational speed or time. Am I on the right track here?

On another note, as winter approaches, I'm considering winter tires again. I had a set of Nokian tires - not the aggressive winter tread Hakkapelitta, but another tire that I believe was the NRW - considered an All-Weather Plus tire. I LOVED the handling of them, with none of the squirmy ride I found with a tire like the Blizzak. Any other Nokian owners out there or other tires you've had good luck with?

Glenn

Date: Thu, 14 Sep 2006 13:16:35 -0400
From: Mitchell Segal <MSegal at nsbgroup.com>
Subject: Re: [A4] Tire Pressure Monitoring System
To: "'a4 at audifans.com'" <a4 at audifans.com>
Message-ID: <9EB4129CCB85D411AE980000BC1175B6348D8F1A at mail1.nsb.net>
Content-Type: text/plain

I don't personally have the tire pressure monitoring system, but I have read
from others on these types of lists who do have it, and I wanted to offer
one possibility.

When you say you checked the tire pressures and they were fine, did you
check the spare tire?  I would say 99% of people never check their spare,
and since on the Audis (as well as most German cars), it comes with a full
size spare and mag, more than likely that spare tire has the pressure
monitor inside it as well. 

So when your indicator flashes a low pressure warning, it might be referring
you to your spare tire sitting in your trunk.  Check it out. I bet you that
it's low.

Mitchell