The sticker inside the driver’s door says 35 PSI. After an hour on the highway, the dashboard says 39. Four extra pounds of pressure sounds like a problem. The tires were set correctly that morn
Set the cruise control to 70 mph and glance at the navigation screen. It may insist the car is traveling at 67. Increase the cruise setting to 71. GPS grudgingly moves to 68. The two displays can sp
A tire can look almost offensively healthy for its age. The tread grooves are deep. There are no nails in sight. The sidewalls still turn glossy after a wash, and the car has covered so few miles th
Here is a mildly alarming experiment: open the trunk of your car and lift the floor. There may be a spare tire under there. There may also be a little black compressor, a bottle of sealant, and a
A car can sit unused for several days without concern. Stretch that pause into several weeks, however, and the first signs of neglect may begin to appear. The battery loses charge, the tires remai
Most people do not think about their tires until one of them does something rude. A warning light comes on. The car starts feeling strange. A road trip gets interrupted. Something looks low.
A flat tire has a special talent for ruining your mood instantly. It never happens when you are relaxed and free all afternoon. It happens when you are late, already annoyed, parked somewhere t
There's a specific kind of frustration that comes from walking out to your car in the morning and finding a tire that's low — again. Not flat, just soft. And soft again two days later af
Fifty-three and a half percent. That’s how many roadside breakdowns come down to tires, not engines or mysterious sensors—just rubber that never got a second glance before a family pil
There is a small test every driver has done at least once, even if they would never admit it. A straight road. No traffic. Good weather. Hands still close to the wheel, but the grip loosens f