Tyre pressure guards – could they save you money on your motoring?

I found these funky gadgets this week. According to the National Tyre Distributor Association (NTDA); a survey of 40,000 tyres showed that 90% of tyre pressures were incorrect.

You’ll be aware, if you’ve read articles on eco driving that an under inflated tyre can increase your fuel consumption by over 5%.

In addition, severe under inflation can reduce tyre life by 50% but if correctly inflated the average tyre could last 20% longer.

So having the correct tyre pressure really seems important to save fuel and the overall life of the tyre; both of which are essential for greener driving. More importantly, wrongly inflated tyres have been shown to contribute to over 14,000 accidents a year.

Pressure guards, although though not eco friendly in themselves, as they are most likely made from plastic, make it easy for you to see at a glance whether or not your tyres are correctly inflated.

You screw them onto a correctly inflated tyre in place of the caps. The red and green indicators inside the Pressure Guard will immediately rise up and stop perfectly level. If the green indicators fall back below the red indicator, your tyre has lost pressure, alerting you to re-inflate the tyre. This movement starts at approximately 2 psi loss, getting greater as the loss increases. Once pressure loss is detected, re-inflate your tyre to the correct pressure and replace the Pressure Guard, which will automatically reset. By visually checking your tyres weekly as recommended you can tell in an instant if your tyre has lost pressure.

I think, for less than a tenner for a set, they are worth considering. Yes, the real answer is to check your tyres once a week, but I have to admit I only check my tyres when I feel something isn’t right with the car. Usually by that point, well, let’s just say, the pressure is embarrassingly low.

What do you think? Do these sound like a good idea or just another unnecessary gimmick?