As temperatures drop, so does your tire pressure — and that can affect your safety on the road. That’s the message from Scott A. Mandia, Professor of Physical Sciences at Suffolk County Community College, who stressed that many drivers don’t realize how much cooler weather impacts their tires.
“If you filled your tires during summer, your tires are too low right now in this cooler weather,” Professor Mandia explained. “Tire pressure decreases by about one to two PSI for every 10-degree drop in air temperature.”
That change is basic physics. As the air inside your tires cools, it contracts and takes up less space, lowering the pressure. A fall or early-winter temperature drop of 30 or 40 degrees can easily reduce tire pressure by several pounds per square inch—enough to trigger your car’s Tire Pressure Monitoring System (TPMS) light.
Low tire pressure is more than a nuisance and can cause a unsafe condition.
Under-inflated tires can cause:
- Reduced fuel efficiency, costing you more at the pump.
- Less traction and poor handling, especially on wet or icy roads.
- Uneven or premature tire wear, leading to costly replacements.
- A higher risk of tire failure during highway driving.
“My car was about four PSI too low and my wife’s about six PSI too low,” Mandia noted. “A quick check and top-off can make all the difference.”
Motorists are urged to be safe this season: a few minutes at a fill station with a tire gauge to measure the pressure can prevent serious trouble down the road.