I have never totally trusted my current tire gauge, and I certainly don't trust the TPMS (it always seems to be about 3 pounds off my current gauge. Yet I find myself with an opportunity to upgrade the situation.

My office is literally around the corner from the Longacre headquarters and warehouse. One of my current customers works there, and he offered to sell me a new gauge as needed. I am inclined to take him up on his offer, only I don't know enough about buying and properly calibrating a new gauge. What should I be looking for, or more specifically, what gauge do I want?

 

I have this one:

http://www.longacreracing.com/catalo...d=1386&catid=8

Swivel head, digital, bleed off valve. If you're really serious you can get the temperature compensating versions, but that was too much for me.

 

I've used the digital one above and it works well. I checked it against a calibrated shock gauge and it was within 0.1 psi.

 

I've used this, it's within .2 PSI, but it is $100+ less....choices!

 

132.90 + shipping so we're probably talking $150 for a tire gauge. I'm always looking for ways to spend money on car stuff but this seems ridiculously priced.

 

I have found this LongAcre to be good for my uses:

 

Not really, when you think about the cost of any reasonably accurate measuring gauges or sensors. I also use the same digital model mentioned above, for everything from the mower tires to the race car. Do you want a toy or a tool?

 

I have the Joe's Racing 32307 (0-60) PSI Tire Pressure Gauge. It does it exactly what I need and only costs $20.

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Hehe, so true. Keep in mind some people think $100k is too much for a car.

 

I have te above gauge and it works flawless! Only $10.00

 

I've heard from people that have done pseudo-scientific testing that the el cheapo digital gauges are surprisingly accurate and extremely self-consistent, which is even more important than accuracy for many performance applications.

Anyone ever went through a box of 'em at your local auto parts store and tested them against each other and a calibrated gauge?

I split the difference and use this gauge, which a trusted friend recommended and I'm very happy with: http://shop.npr.org/programs/car-tal...ial-tire-gauge It's got a nice little bleed valve like the longacre for about 1/5th the price.

 

It can be either one as long as it works. I guess I'm not quiet clear on what the $150 gauge does that the $10 and $20 gauges don't do. If measuring within less than 0.1psi is the main difference then I can respect if some drivers consider that important enough to pay the premium. Respect.....not understand since on my car the TPMS system doesn't even alert until it senses a 4psi loss. In other words, if Porsche's engineers feel that up to a 3psi loss in any tire is unimportant enough to warrant a warning, then why should I be conserned about maintaining pressure within a tolerance of 0.1psi?

 

If Chad tells Jimmie that he's taking 1/2 pound out of the right rear to free him up, then they need that gauge.
For the rest of us driving on Sundays, way overkill, IMHO.

 

I can easily adjust to within 1/4 PSI with the $20 accugauge I use for autocross. But it's kind of pointless to attempt to fine-tune pressures to such a tiny increment as changes of less than 2psi are usually not noticeable, and I see 1-2psi of variation in the course of an autocross run.

 

The key characteristic of a tire pressure gauge is repeatability,i.e., getting the exact same reading every time, regardless of conditions. Mechanical gauges tend to have large offsets due to temperature variation; digital gauges have differing performance based on the technoloy used and the amount of tweaking in the internal code. Raw accuracy would seem important, but not as much as you might think; most race teams know that different gauges will give different readongs, so they use the same gauge every time and put their emphasis on a gauge that never shifts its readings. In the end, you're not going to use theoretically perfect pressures - you're going to find the pressure settings that work for your car/tire/driver combination, and you want to be able to re-create that ideal setting at will.

The other question is lifespan. I've been using the same Longacre digital gauge mentioned above for nearly a decade, and have never had a problem with it in any application. Prior to that, I would go through a cheaper gauge every couple of years. Personal experience showed a variance of 2-3 pounds between cheaper retail gauges - YMMV.

Speaking for only myself, I'd suggest that +/- 1 lb is fine for the street; +/- .5 lb is OK for autocross; +/- 0.1 is enough to matter on the track at full-tilt-boogie in a race setting. You have to determine for yourself how much you care about it, and how much you're willing to pay for that performance.

TPMS is a safety system - it's designed to prevent a catastrophic tire failure due to under-pressure. TPMS is not designed to keep your tires at the optimum pressure for ride quality, handling, or minimum wear (which are three different settings, BTW). I can guarantee you that the Porsche engineers and test drivers don't rely on TPMS to tell them if their pressures are set correctly for a high-speed Autobahn run or a test at the Nordschleife.....