Inflate Your Tyres
One of the ways to save on petrol bills is to ensure that your tyres are correctly inflated.
One of the reasons why certain cars consume more petrol than they are supposed to, is because their tyres are under-inflated, causing more resistance on the road.
How many drivers actually regularly pump air into their tyres to ensure they are correctly inflated?
I guess drivers who do so are probably outnumbered by those who don’t.
It would seem most men drivers don’t pump air into their tyres on a regular basis. If that is so, what about women drivers? Most of them, if not all, probably never pump air into their tyres at all.
I guess drivers who don’t pump air into their tyres probably think it’s a hassle to do so. Or they think there’s no need for it. One reason why we don’t have problem steering our cars around even though the tyres are under-inflated is because they come with power-steering.
If you drive a car or vehicle without power-steering, you would immediately feel the heavy steering each time your front tyres are under-inflated. This could perhaps be one of the advantages of driving a vehicle that has no power-assisted steering. It forces you to pump air into your tyres to ensure they are correctly inflated at all times.
So most people just change their tyres and drive around until it’s time for the tyres to be changed without pumping any air into the tyres at all. They don’t mind chalking more on their petrol bills due to under-inflated tyres.
At old petrol stations, the air-pump is installed right next to the petrol pump, this facilitates the inflating the tyres with air by the pump attendant. But such an arrangement causes a car to hog a pump for a longer time.
I guess petrol stations probably did away with such an arrangement so that more cars can get filled up with petrol in a shorter time.
Then there are those who park at the lots meant for pumping air, and take their sweet time shopping for groceries, hindering drivers who need to pump air into their tyres.
posted by Mockingbird at
10:23 AM
7 Comments:
Guilty as charged. LOL! I think mostly it's not the hassle but the laziness of having to get down, blah blah blah.
I would also warn to remove the car key and lock the car doors. Over here, there have been instances where the car was driven off as the owner was in the midst of pumping air. There have been lots of crime pertaining to car at petrol stations. Good post, MB.
To HS: Thanks for the tip about not leaving the car key in the ignition slot when either air or petrol is being pumped :) Car theft in Singapore is relatively rare but still we should not never take such stuff for granted.
i guess it's no wonder why complacent Singaporeans are easier prey when it comes to having their cars stolen in Malaysia.
I pay alot of attention to the condition of my car tyres. This comes from the days when I was driving a beat-up crap car - have to top up radiator water daily or the engine will overheat etc.
To LIS: Cool! You're the only woman i know who pays attention to the condition of your tyres. But do you mean you keep them correctly inflated by pumping air into them yourself?
i've never ever seen a woman pumping air into the tyres of a car before. Not one wearing skirt anyway. Very unglam to be pumping air into a car tyre wearing skirt, right? :p
Actually, it's not hard mah. You just need to know what pressure to set the pump at, and then pump away. The numbers are printed on the sticker stuck on the insider of the car doors. If I wasn't sure, I'd call and ask car dealer (for my case now, it's Suzuki), but I already clarified and jotted down the numbers when I collected the car from them on the first day. And, this is very important, I always keep a packet of babywipes in my car to clean my hands after pumping up the tyres. The rubber hose is so dirty!
To LIS: i take my hat off to you as the only woman whom i know of, who actually pump air into the tyres of her car :) i bet you probably don't know any other woman who does likewise :p
I managed to pump air for my tyres a couple of times, and always get stared at by men drivers turning out of the station. It must be not at all common for women to do that, plus suspect they must be doubting whether this woman know how to do or not.
But still don't know how to change tyre, hopefully never will need to :)
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