How accurate is the TPMS?

I have a 2018 Leaf SL.
I manually check my tire pressure twice per month. I keep my tires at 36 psi cold. Last night when I was driving home (temp in the mid 40's), I checked the tire pressure from the display, and they were 36 all around. Even though it was cold out, I was surprised the tire pressure was not higher than 36. When I looked at the display it was about 20 minutes into the trip so the tires had plenty of time to warm up. I do use a good quality digital gauge to check them.

20 miles -- yes. 20 minutes, who knows

Check pressure with the digital gauge just before a drive, and by the LEAF soon after starting the drive.
Or vice versa at the end of a drive.
Then you will not have to guess

I recently tested this with 2 different manual gauges and a gas station digital auto pump. The TPMS appears to be optimistic by about 1 PSI.

Just filled all 4 tires to 42.5, was the reading on my digital tire gauge, next day TPMS on the beginning of my trip showed 42, so seems pretty accurate.

Baltneu said:

I have a 2018 Leaf SL.
I manually check my tire pressure twice per month. I keep my tires at 36 psi cold. Last night when I was driving home (temp in the mid 40's), I checked the tire pressure from the display, and they were 36 all around. Even though it was cold out, I was surprised the tire pressure was not higher than 36. When I looked at the display it was about 20 minutes into the trip so the tires had plenty of time to warm up. I do use a good quality digital gauge to check them.

Click to expand...

The real question is did you check your tires in the morning before driving? Guessing they aren't at 36 PSI any more.

I check mine via the dash every morning and by all accounts, verified a few different ways, they are very accurate. My guess is within 1 PSI or so.

In 20 mins of driving, the amount of heat gained is HIGHLY dependent on your driving. Spirited driving will raise the temps more. A lot of straight no or slow course correction driving, won't. On my morning commutes (I tend to zip and dart because I can with my short commute ) I will gain 1-2 PSI. Its weird since in the morning, I will almost always start out with one at 43 PSI (same one) but after a bit they will all converge on 45 PSI.

This is not the first time I have noticed one tire heating more or faster than the other tire. This has me seriously thinking about starting a petition to change the direction of roundabouts to clockwise on odd days and counterclockwise on even days!

Curious if any 2018/2019 owners inflating tires above 36 psi?

Baltneu said:

Curious if any 2018/2019 owners inflating tires above 36 psi?

Click to expand...

I keep mine to a 42-44 PSI range.

40-41psi.

I keep mine at 40psi and check every month.

tesleaf said:

I keep mine at 40psi and check every month.

Click to expand...

So you check with a tire gauge?

I don't understand this ideology. It literally takes a few seconds to check the TPMS readings. Is tire pressure really viewed as that unimportant or is this simply new tech people are still evaluating?

DaveinOlyWA said:

tesleaf said:

I keep mine at 40psi and check every month.

Click to expand...

So you check with a tire gauge?

I don't understand this ideology. It literally takes a few seconds to check the TPMS readings. Is tire pressure really viewed as that unimportant or is this simply new tech people are still evaluating?

Click to expand...

TPMS will alert when it is too low.
I don't know what it is set at and I don't think I can adjust it.
If I can adjust it I would set it at 39 psi and I would wait for the light to come on before checking the pressure.
Since I set mine at 40 psi, I have to manually check it monthly to make sure it is around 38-40 psi and not around 34 psi or even lower.
I deliberately run over lane markers occasionally to feel how hard the tires are when there is no cars around.

tesleaf said:

DaveinOlyWA said:

tesleaf said:

I keep mine at 40psi and check every month.

Click to expand...

So you check with a tire gauge?

I don't understand this ideology. It literally takes a few seconds to check the TPMS readings. Is tire pressure really viewed as that unimportant or is this simply new tech people are still evaluating?

Click to expand...

TPMS will alert when it is too low.
I don't know what it is set at and I don't think I can adjust it.
If I can adjust it I would set it at 39 psi and I would wait for the light to come on before checking the pressure.
Since I set mine at 40 psi, I have to manually check it monthly to make sure it is around 38-40 psi and not around 34 psi or even lower.
I deliberately run over lane markers occasionally to feel how hard the tires are when there is no cars around.

Click to expand...

several have reported getting alerts anywhere from 30 to 32 PSI. Cutting too close for me. I keep mine at 44