Hi Chaps

Just seen an AWESOME looking product in the demon tweeks catalogue that came with EVO this morning (on page 13 of the catalogue).

It is a system which you get fitted to your wheels / tyres and it gives you an in-car display of the pressures and temps of each tyre.

This is obviously not to the standard of true competition telemetry devices, but would be an excellent companion to most track day drivers as you could monitor at what temps your tyres start to go off and how your driving style affects the tyres temps / try different styles out, etc...

It will also allow you to see things like the difference in grip due to changes in the contact patch as the pressures change and allow you to establish the ideal pressures for ultimate performance, etc.

I am really interested in trying the product, so thought I'd mention it...

In the demon tweeks catalogue they quote it at £249.95 for the base system + £49.95 for the additional display module.

I reckon I could get us a really good deiscount through scoobyshop though, but admit I haven't looked yet, so can't be sure.

Just thought I'd see if more people would be interested.

Cheers

Simon

 

For clubmen and regular attenders of track days this sounds like a great investment.

Probably one of the best forms of telemetry when you think about it.

Cudos Simon

 

I had seen this in the DT book a while ago when looking for shift-lights, but didn't really consider it. After last weekends antics I can now see it's potential.
Count me in!

Stef.

 

Yes Please

 

Si,

its great for road use as well,
lets face it how many of us check our tyre pressures as much as we should / mean to do?

robski

 

Simon,

I've still got two sets of the previous version of this system in my loft if you're interested to try it out. The price is a lot more favourable too

See

 

Wow! I got evo yesterday to read on the train back home and spotted the same advert and thought 'that sounds like a smart bit of kit!' Especially since I'm a really lazy sod and don't like checking tyre pressures, plus there is the fact that a valve cap went missing the other week and I checked the pressures on sunday and the drivers side tyre was down to 20 psi which is not good.

Think it's a good idea and as the new Laguna2 has it as well, no doubt other auto companies will start putting this as standard equipment.

Would say that I'd deffo get one, but I've just gone to get estimate for bodywork repairs and think I'm looking at a big bill, so I can't say 'I'll have one', well, not yet does interest me though, even from a posing, 'look at the new toy I've got' viewpoint, good pub bragging, plus when someone asks what psi I'm running I can show them, instead of just telling them!

 

Would be interested depending on price.

 

Mr de Banke......YOU HAVNT GOT TIME TO READ DEMON TWEEKS CATALOGUES!!!!

 

How do they work?

Steve

 

Simon, definitely interested. A couple of questions though (for those who've used they system)

How long do the sensors (or rather, their batteries) last for?

Can the sensors be moved to another vehicle easily?

Guess it makes having separate track day wheels a very expensive exercise!!

 

What a great gadget for a lazy gear addict like me !

I want one, and I want one now

 

I'm trying to strike a deal up now.

Looking quite promising. I'll let you know.

Cheers

Simon

 

Steve / Kryten,

There are four battery powered temperature / pressure transponders which are secured in the wheel well by a counterweighted steel band.

Each transponder 'bursts' temperature and pressure data to a monitor unit every 15 seconds while on the move. A microswitch powers down the transponder when the car isn't moving to conserve the batteries - expected battery life is 5 years.

The monitor displays tyre pressure and contained air temperature for each wheel, and allows an adjustable threshold alarm to be set for high / low pressure and temperature values.

The monitor itself plugs in the cigarette ligher, and mine normally lives in the storage cubby between the front seats.

It can be moved fairly easily between sets of wheels if you have a friendly tyre fitter. You can break the bead of the tyre on one side, and get the devices off in about 5 mins per wheel. re-fitting takes a similar amount of time. N.B. the steel bands are trimmed to length, so the sets of wheels would probably have to have a similar internal circumference in the wheel well.

Cheers,

Alex



[This message has been edited by AlexM (edited 11 May 2001).]

 

I use it for two years and it`s cool! But Daemon`s price is too high my unit with display was cca. 500.-DEM. Try to buy it directly on

 

OH damn!

I thought it was measuring tyre temperature, not air temp.

That's a shame. I'm not sure how useful air temperature would be in monitoring the actual tyres. Seems strange, but in all these years of dealing with this kind of thing I have never actually focused on air remperature specifically.

Anyone know?

Cheers

Simon

 

Simon,

Correct - the device measures contained air temperatures, not tread temps. You would require a tyre pyrometer to measure tread temps on inner / middle / outer sectors if you are evaluating the effect of geometry chages etc.

Contained air temperature does correlate closely with the overall tread temperatures though so you can monitor or set alarms for excessively high temps and back off before you cook / melt your tyres (hello S02 users!),

The other advantage of realtime pressure and temperature monitoring for track day drivers is that and also adjust your pressures in the pits so you reach a suitable pressure while out lapping. This allows you to determine the lowest pressure setting you need to prevent overheating (and very rapid wear), while maximising grip (generally lower is better, but more heat is generated).

Cheers,

Alex

 

Hi Alex

I wasn't after the I/M/O tread readings as I'm not interested in using it to help set the car up / geometry, etc. But would have liked to have a single middle reading or an average reading across the width of the tread (or inside of the tyre) or something to avoid the lag likely when only monitoring the air temps.

It is still going to be very useful, but that is a shame none the less.

Anyone know if there are similar things which monitor the actual tyre temps? even if they are not that accurate?

And while we're here... anyone know of a good system which does the whole damn lot, with I/M/O readings and everything? (I bet that will be cheap! )

 

Simon,

What you want probably doesn't exist given that even F1 teams measure tyre temps when stationary in the pits during tests!. If they don't do it then, well....

I might be wrong... try contacting the technical departments of one of the manuafacturers who go racing.

Maybe you could do it by fitting a temp strip of some kind on the inside, but that would only give you a peak temperature.

Why do you need an instantaneous reading?

Cheers,

Alex

 

Hi Alex

This technology is definitely available as I've used it in testing before.

The reason for an instantaneous reading is that the changes in tyre temps during a lap are incredible... in addition to this, the tyre temps changs quickly on a slow down lap, so checking them at full temp would mean screaming into the pits and jumping out, etc, etc. You would also never get an accurate reading as it takes time to go round to each tyre.

It is not important to have this facility, but I was just wondering if it exists for general purchase.

Cheers

Simon

 

Si,

I'm sure kits are available, but I would have to dig about.

Of course, you can quite easily put your own together. Go and buy three infra-red pyrometers with a therocouple type output and an device that can read the signal. Probably get all the bits you need in Maplins . Then just fix the whole lot into a I/M/O setup and off you go, easy.

Cheers

Ian