In the fairy tale ‘Goldilocks and the Three Bears’, Goldilocks finds that Papa Bear’s bed is too hard, while Mama Bear’s bed is too soft. Eventually, she settles in Baby Bear’s bed, which is ‘just right’, and falls asleep there until the bears find her. Just like the beds in that fairy tale, a lot of things need to ride a fine line of firmness between too hard and too soft. Pasta is traditionally served ‘al dente’ – literally ‘on the teeth’ – just barely firm, neither hard nor gooey. And a sofa should be comfortable, but you don’t want it to swallow you up.
The tyres of your vehicle operate according to the same principle. If their pressure is too high, they’ll go too hard, and you can lose traction and control. If their pressure is too low, then they’ll go too soft, and they’ll drag against the road and wear out faster and waste fuel.
In order to keep them ‘just right’, it helps to get a tyre pressure monitoring system. This handy gadget will measure the air pressure in your tyres, and let you know when it gets too high or too low. Just like Goldilocks, the TPMS won’t settle for too hard or too soft, and will alert you when you need to pump your tyres back up or lower the pressure a little. That way, you won’t ever be driving with suboptimal tyre pressure.
The tyre sensors are an important part of keeping your car in top condition. Just like you wouldn’t drive on an empty tank or with a damaged engine, driving with your pressure too high or too low can be damaging to your tyres and endanger your driving, leading to increased risk of accidents and less reliable driving. So monitor your tyre pressure and stay safe – stay just right.