[mooza]

Originally Posted by vb-san

Will system like TPMS be of any help in mitigating/alerting on a possible tyre-burst?

A good question. Let me share my experience in this regard.

A few years ago, while driving back home to Bangalore from Mangalore, while nearing Bangalore (about 50 kms away), my Scorpio's steering wheel gave a very slight feeling of pulling to the right. The feeling was so minute that I could hardly feel it. A slight turn of the wheel to the left, and I thought everything seemed normal thereafter.
Since I was travelling with my family, and it was past 10 pm in the night, and moreover it was the fag end of a long drive, I just continued to drive all the way back to Bangalore's outskirts, and stopped for dinner at a hotel. When I got out to do my customary vehicle check, I saw that the front tyre on the right side was more than 50 % deflated !
I then realised that I had been running on a slowly deflating tyre at speeds of 80 kmph for a distance of nearly 50 kms ! I changed to the spare wheel, and reached home safely, to our luck.

In hindsight, it is in situations such as the above that the TPMS would help a great deal, since a lot of human / judgemental factors influence one's decision making on long drives. Without a TPMS reading to fall back on, my tendency on that night was to make a wrong diagnosis (may be it is a minor power steering issue ? Anyway I am nearly home ? etc, etc), which could have resulted in disaster.

The above incident happened much before I became wiser courtesy several informative posts on TBHP

So, my take on the TPMS ?

A big yes

[NMS]

Hi,

This is something that cropped up in my mind recently while doing a trip.

I normally fill in Nitrogen in tyres, and keep a regular check on the pressure as well.
Just incase there is a scenario, where for some odd reason the tyre pressure is running low. And I need to refill, would it be OK, to simply do a regular air refill or is there a chance that it might cause some issues?

[sgiitk]

@NMS; I do not advocate Nitrogen in the first place. Just a waste of money. Air is 78% Nitrogen, so does not matter at all.

[dhanushs]

Originally Posted by NMS

Just incase there is a scenario, where for some odd reason the tyre pressure is running low. And I need to refill, would it be OK, to simply do a regular air refill or is there a chance that it might cause some issues?

Yes, NMS, its perfectly fine to mix nitrogen with regular air. Afterall, the end result is that you'd get regular air in your tyre with more Nitrogen.

[deetee]

Originally Posted by mooza

Without a TPMS reading to fall back on, my tendency on that night was to make a wrong diagnosis (may be it is a minor power steering issue ? Anyway I am nearly home ? etc, etc), which could have resulted in disaster.

That is more or less what I felt on highway at 10 pm on a rainy day driving alone at 90-100kmph (with seat belts).

The car slowly started pulling to side and steering was becoming harder to turn. Since I was driving alone and had been checking the condition of tyres every 150 km, after some thought I decided to check it out. Dropped speed and pulled over to left most lane (I was on right most, close to divider when this happened). Found a wide enough shoulder off the road where I could stop the car. Got out to notice that front right tyre was completely flat. It was a normal tube type tyre on a steel rim.
I thanked providence that (for reasons I didn't understand) car didn't get out of control.
Changed the tyre and drove slowly trying to spot a puncture shop. After about some 40 km or so, found a small shed with towers of used tyres of all kinds in front. Inside two guys were fast asleep. Wokeup the elder one and requested to attend the puncture. The tube had an old puncture which was not mended properly and gave away under heat and friction. Bought a new tube and continued journey vowing to myself that I would change the tyres to tubeless once am back in city. True, not even tubeless tyres or TPMS save lives in somecases, but I believe God will help he who helps himself first.

[deetee]

One question, out of ignorance, does airbags deploy when a tyre blows out? Of-course, I meant either of the front tyres. Just a thought occurred whether cars equipped with airbags are safer w.r.t tyre blow out. But, on afterthought it occurred to me that airbags, if deployed, could hit upon the face of driver (and passenger, if that side is equipped with one). That in turn can confuse the driver not to mention the visibility lose. Some videos that I saw on youtube, where some high end cars were used to demonstrate tyre burst scenarios didn't appear to deploy airbags. Don't know if they have airbags or maybe didn't deploy because of controlled blowout of tyre. So, what about real life scenarios- do they or do they not deploy?

[A.K.]

Originally Posted by deetee

One question, out of ignorance, does airbags deploy when a tyre blows out? Of-course, I meant either of the front tyres. Just a thought occurred whether cars equipped with airbags are safer w.r.t tyre blow out. But, on afterthought it occurred to me that airbags, if deployed, could hit upon the face of driver (and passenger, if that side is equipped with one). That in turn can confuse the driver not to mention the visibility lose. Some videos that I saw on Youtube, where some high end cars were used to demonstrate tyre burst scenarios didn't appear to deploy airbags. Don't know if they have airbags or maybe didn't deploy because of controlled blowout of tyre. So, what about real life scenarios- do they or do they not deploy?

I was driving from Mumbai to Hyderabad last month and parts of the road were just terrible.
It was around 10 p.m. And my car hit a pothole.
I must have travelling at around 80 - 90 kmph.

There is a loud sound from the underside of the car followed by a sound from the cabin.
I'm a bit dazed by now and I'm not sure what happened.

My co-passenger is in shock and hurt.
I slow down and get off the highway.

The cabin is smokey with white dust and the smell of explosives.
I realise the passenger side & curtain airbags have gone off.
In deployment they have hurt my co-passenger on the arm.
Both of us are wearing our seat-belts.

I get off and realise that both front and rear tyres on the passenger side have burst.

I have no idea as the reason why the airbags went off
but my guess is the sudden loss of air from one side of the car triggered it off.

I never lost control of the vehicle just gently glided it to side after it happened.
The car, by the way, was a Skoda Superb.

So yes, to answer you deetee, the airbags can go off.

[deetee]

Originally Posted by A.K.

.
.
My co-passenger is in shock and hurt.
.
.
.
In deployment they have hurt my co-passenger on the arm.
Both of us are wearing our seat-belts.
.
.
I never lost control of the vehicle just gently glided it to side after it happened.
.
So yes, to answer you deetee, the airbags can go off.

Glad that it all ended safely. I was wondering if the samething happened to driver side wheels and an airbag on steering had gone off, would it still be possible to control the vehicle, let alone stop it. I can't imagine what can happen if such a situation arises when the car is on highway and other speeding vehicles around.

[gomzi]

Originally Posted by mooza

In hindsight, it is in situations such as the above that the TPMS would help a great deal, since a lot of human / judgemental factors influence one's decision making on long drives. Without a TPMS reading to fall back on, my tendency on that night was to make a wrong diagnosis (may be it is a minor power steering issue ? Anyway I am nearly home ? etc, etc), which could have resulted in disaster.

The above incident happened much before I became wiser courtesy several informative posts on TBHP

So, my take on the TPMS ?

A big yes

Little OT: Can TPMS be retro-fitted on cars? Which ones are available in India?

[Samurai]

Originally Posted by A.K.

I have no idea as the reason why the airbags went off
but my guess is the sudden loss of air from one side of the car triggered it off.

Loss of air is not a reason for triggering. Did some part of the car hit the pavement after the tyres burst?

[A.K.]

Originally Posted by Samurai

Loss of air is not a reason for triggering. Did some part of the car hit the pavement after the tyres burst?

It was on the highway hence no pavement.
The alloys thudded onto the tarmac after the tyres burst.
There was no drama, the car did not loose control and kept going straight.
It was like nothing happened if it wasn't for the airbags exploding.

That's about it.

I don't have much knowledge about airbags
but I always assumed that the sensors are designed for impact.

On another note, the Superb has tyre pressure monitor onboard.

[supremeBaleno]

Wondering whether a tyre-burst should trigger airbag deployment ? The delpoyment in the Superb seems to be either a one-off case of errored deployment or maybe there was an impact somewhere which was not noticed.

[rahul4640]

Please excuse me if my question seems stupid. One of my rear tyre (19000 KM, one and half year old, Michelin XM1+) had all of a sudden gone flat two days earlier. Although it has more than plenty of rubber left and is the first time I found a puncture in it, the tyre repair guy detected not one but four leaks on it. Although they have been repaired, shall I see that the performance of the tyre has been affected? How many leaks may a tyre withstand?
Sorry if my question has been discussed elsewhere.
Edit:- Forgot to add that I had inspected the tyre and the sidewall is in flawless condition.

[Rehaan]

Originally Posted by deetee

...does airbags deploy when a tyre blows out?

The airbag sensor (accelerometer) relies on a very sudden force (extremely high rate of deceleration) to deploy the airbags. A tyre burst would not result in this.

Originally Posted by A.K.

...my car hit a pothole.
I must have travelling at around 80 - 90 kmph.
There is a loud sound from the underside of the car followed by a sound from the cabin.
....
I realise the passenger side & curtain airbags have gone off.
...
I get off and realise that both front and rear tyres on the passenger side have burst.

Interesting experience!

It sounds like the pothole you hit was a solid enough jolt to let the airbag sensor think it was the car being hit on the passenger's side. The fact that both your left side tyres were instantly punctured points to the severity of the impact on that side too.

cya
R

[mobike008]

AK, Weird experience and glad to know it ended well. Can you give us more insights on the tyre? Make, how many kms it has done etc.

For a car from such a high segment, I am suprised that it cannot take a pothole jolt without the tyres bursting ( however deep it can be and i know the type on that particular stretch which I assume is on Humnabad-> after Solapur) at such a reasonable speed.

Also would be interested to know what Skoda A.S.S has given the reason for airbag deployment? Also, the cost for re-instating back and whether its covered by insurance etc.

Sorry for so many questions but, it would be interesting to know the answers. Thanks in advance