"Mike P" wrote in message
...
Mike G wrote:
"Mike P" wrote in message
...
M............ wrote:
Following up to Mike P

Check the pressures yourself once a week?

tyres dont always wait a week to go soft and a soft tyre
doesnt
notice on a modern car till probably too late to save it.

Every modern car I've driven, bar the Xantia, I find it easy
to
tell when a tyre is soft. Up until recently, over the last 15
years or so I've always had access to, and used company pool
cars. They don't get looked after as they should do and
within
a couple of miles I can tell whether the tyres are soft or
not.

A couple of miles!

Yes, if it's "soft" if it's flat then much quicker.

A low profile tyre can be ruined in a few hundred yards, as I
found out for myself just over a year ago.

I seemed to be the only one who bothered to ever check the
tyres and oil between services in them

Don't kid yourself.

I wasn't inferring that no one else does, I just meant the
other users of the pool cars I used to use.

I keep a close eye on tyre pressures.
Checking at least once a week, and on a run would expect to
detect a loss of as little as 2-3 lbs, simply from how the car
handles. However it can be difficult to detect a flat low
profile
tyre at low speeds.

I don't see how it can be with the amount of uneven surfaces
and holes that will make it obvious something isn't right ;-)

I only drove about 300 yds at a fairly low speed.. A flat
concrete road on the trading estate where I work, which was
enough to start delaminating a 255x40x17 tyre.

Because it was low profile, the rim of the wheel was running on
the fold of the tyre.

With a normal size flat tyre the fold is clear of the rim. The
fold is less severe, and not having the weight of the car on it,
is more likely to survive for a short period without damage.
Mike.