Finally in the 21st century

[dreamshark]

My new car has all sorts of features that were formerly in the BAW (Bells And Whistles) category but are now pretty standard. I got to experience them all in the past 2 days.

1) Low tire warning. That's the little dashboard icon that looks like the type of small candle often seen on restaurant tables. It's bright yellow and kind of alarming. Although my tires had been topped off at the dealership only 723 miles ago, as soon as the temp dropped to near-zero levels the little candle lit up. Should I put more air in the tires? Presumably the air will expand again when it gets warmer. I'm sure my tires have always done this with temp changes, but I never had to know about it before.

2) Anti-skid control. This icon is a rather startling one of a swerving car. As soon as the side streets got icy I started seeing this one flashing occasionally. I'm not sure what it actually does, but I'm assuming that it's helping somehow.

3) ABR. I experienced this one this morning as I slid up to a stop sign on glare ice and the brake pedal started pulsing violently. OMG, that's disturbing. Is this the first car I've had with ABR? It must be - I can't believe I would have missed that.

Comments

[guppiecat]

I just had my tires filled with nitrogen to address #1. They claim that it doesn't expand and contract with the temperature, but Physics Brain called bull on that. I do, however, believe that it doesn't expand and contract sufficiently at human-tolerable temperature ranges that such change would cause safety issues.

Never had anti-skid. Wonder how that works.

And yes, ABR is disturbing. For those of us who learned to drive without it, the hardest thing is to remember to NOT take your foot off the brake when that happens. Trust the system because trying to bypass it will make the problem worse. That's why I had a minor collision a few years ago.

[quadong.livejournal.com]

I still call bull, mostly. Nitrogen and oxygen both act as ideal gases across the whole relevant temperature range. However, if you fill your tires with humid air and then the temperature drops, some of the water will condense out, dropping its volume to zero (almost). So filling with dry nitrogen probably helps.

anti-skid

[lsanderson.livejournal.com]

It's usually an indicator that the drive wheels are attempting to turn at quite different rates, which the car then counters.

[magentamn.livejournal.com]

You should probably check the tire pressure. If you don't have a tire gauge, they are relatively cheap (under $10) at any auto supply store, or Target. In my experience, tire pressure goes down, but does not go up again without putting in more air. I have found the indicator on my Honda is only a very rough guide to what the tire pressure is doing. YMMV.

[dreamshark.livejournal.com]

I have a tire gauge. What I don't have is the intestinal fortitude to squat in the icy street in sub-zero temps checking all my tire pressures. Maybe on Sunday if it warms up a little.

[cakmpls.livejournal.com]

It's times like this I wish LJ had a "like" clickie.

[cakmpls.livejournal.com]

2) More than once I have semi-yelled, "I KNOW I'm skidding!"

3) I take it as a reminder not to back off on the brakes (for those of us who were taught to "pump"). But the first few times, yeah, disturbing.