Conversation in early December:
Me: Honey, when you get the car washed, check the tires OK. I think They're a little low.
Her: Ok
Next day:
Me: Honey did you check the tires
Her: They were fine
Yesterday (January 9th):
Me: Honey, I'm gonna check the tires, I really think they're low.
Her: Ok
Me: Holy shit these are low! Remember when I said to check the tires because I thought they were low. They're supposed to all be at 40psi warm. They were at 29, 30, 31, and 32 respectively.
Her: Uhhhhhhhh oops. Sorry hon
Me: Well, that explains some of the squirminess and slight loss of mileage. We should see another mpg, maybe two, at full pressure.
So I pressured up the tires, and yeah, it was two MPG more, and proper road feel (though a somewhat harsher ride on an already tightly tuned suspension).
I've also instituted a maintenance and operations log. Any time one of us fills the gas, checks the oil, checks the tires etc.. the results get written into the log.
It's something I ALWAYS do for multi driver vehicles, but didnt bother with my car this time since I was the only driver, and it was my only car so I just remembered all that crap (and yes, I very distinctly remember the last pressure check, oil, my exact average fuel economy given driving conditions etc... Any experienced driver should).
Is it anal? A bit, but then you avoid issues like running around town with tires down 10psi; which reduces your fuel economy, and increases your chances of losing a tire if you hit a curb or pothole.
