13-08-2011, 03:53pm
The Tyre Pressure Monitoring option (TPMS) costs £405 and is very basic in what it does. It simply warns you when a tyre is significantly under-pressure but for the rest of the time, it is invisible. There is nothing to see, touch or get excited about what your £405 has bought you.
Audi provide the same function in the Q3 for £85. What's missing is a graphic on the driver display of the actual pressures in each of the 4 tyres which vary as they heat up, for example, but which also allows you to detect a slow puncture before it has done any harm. This is what the systems in Porsches and Mercedes do, for about the SAME cost as the LR system. It's very useful to be able to see the actual tyre pressures while driving. Hands up all those who don't check their tyre pressures every week?
I wrote to LR - Mike Cross actually - to complain about the low level of function and I had a helpful reply from LR External Communications. First, they bothered to reply and the author had spoken to engineering who confirmed the function is as described but it's hoped to improve on it in the future (Later Model Years? Software Refresh?). He also said he would pass my comments about the cost - uncompetitive, poor value for money compared to Audi, Porsche, Mercedes - on to the department who deal with these things.
So, helpful in the sense that they have taken my comments seriously, though unhelpful to me in that the TPMS does not provide the function I expect for the cost and I'm now going to remove it from my build.
Audi provide the same function in the Q3 for £85. What's missing is a graphic on the driver display of the actual pressures in each of the 4 tyres which vary as they heat up, for example, but which also allows you to detect a slow puncture before it has done any harm. This is what the systems in Porsches and Mercedes do, for about the SAME cost as the LR system. It's very useful to be able to see the actual tyre pressures while driving. Hands up all those who don't check their tyre pressures every week?
I wrote to LR - Mike Cross actually - to complain about the low level of function and I had a helpful reply from LR External Communications. First, they bothered to reply and the author had spoken to engineering who confirmed the function is as described but it's hoped to improve on it in the future (Later Model Years? Software Refresh?). He also said he would pass my comments about the cost - uncompetitive, poor value for money compared to Audi, Porsche, Mercedes - on to the department who deal with these things.
So, helpful in the sense that they have taken my comments seriously, though unhelpful to me in that the TPMS does not provide the function I expect for the cost and I'm now going to remove it from my build.