Sagitar

I looked at the Michelin one, but I am pretty sure that it's maximum inflating pressure is 50 p.s.i. and I need 60 for my skinny spare . . . . . I cannot find a reference to the several-years-old one that I keep in the car but this one (not the rechargeable one) looks very similar. It's quite small and the power cable and hose wind up into it so it is very neat and tidy. I wouldn't trust the auto-setting gauge though. I always over inflate slightly then bleed back to the pressure I want, using a good quality pressure gauge. http://www.bargainbrands.co.uk/digital_car_compressor.html

angioplasty

long-pig

Check them when they have been standing overnight - you'll find the pressure is less than what you set them to at the petrol station. Note the difference and put that much extra in next time. Petrol station air pumps are not necessarily to be trusted anyway. The gauges can get a terrible thrashing and may not be calibrated very often, so it always pays to check with a decent gauge of your own. A small compressor that runs off the cigar lighter is quite inexpensive. You can get them small enough to keep in the spare wheel well.

switch

hysteria . . . . . . . .

I'm an archer.

It sounds like a very extreme change. I agree with Tony about changes in rolling resistance, but I would expect them to be marginal. Over what period did you check the new average consumption? Measurements over short periods are susceptible to all sort of variations - weather, different road conditions, the weight of your right foot etc. I can get apparent differences of 4 or 5 m.p.g. from one tankful to the next without any changes to the vehicle. At the extremes I have had as low as 25 m.p.g and as high as 38 m.p.g. So I would give it long enough to get a well smoothed average figure before drawing conclusions.

scratcher

buck

American

I think you are looking at the pressures recommended for higher speeds (i.e. 100 to 132 m.p.h) For speeds below 100 m.p.h the recommendation in my manual is 35 p.s.i. front and 38 p.s.i. rear

me . . .

How come - isn't that below the National Minimum Wage - and no travel expenses? That's shocking.

uncoil

nutters

trade

nose

opportunity

That sounds highly unlikely. I don't know the details of your fuel gauging system, but typically there is a "sender" (more than one if the tank shape is complicated) of some kind in the tank - at its simplest this may be a float connected to a potentiometer giving a change in voltage as the float position changes - this voltage drives the indicator on the dashboard. To stop the dashboard indicator from swinging there will be some kind of damping arrangement - maybe mechanical on the indicator itself and a capacitor across the circuit to smooth out the voltage changes. There will be a relay that trips the warning light on and off as the voltage level passes a threshold so it will be susceptible to exactly the same errors as the dashboard indicator. Modern vehicles may have more sophisticated arrangements for transferring the information from the "sender" to the indicator, but the operating principles remain the same and the information is transferred continuously. Even if the use of a data bus and multiplexing results in discrete data packages, the switching frequency is relatively high and effectively the data are transferred in an unbroken stream. Several of the components in the system, including simple wiring connections that oxydise, could account for what you are seeing and I would look first for simple solutions (like cleaning connections) . . . . . :)

I have been maligning the Chancellor - thought my Christmas present pension bonus had not been paid this year. Yesterday I got my bank statement and the £10 has been paid directly into my account without anyone telling me. Yippee - rich beyond the dreams of avarice . . . . .

hat

Beretta

feather

brailings