Checking tyre pressure without guessing a universal number

Tyre pressure is vehicle-specific.

Tyre pressure is vehicle-specific. A number copied from another car or remembered from an online post may be unsuitable. Learn where your vehicle gives its pressure information and follow the handbook's checking procedure.

Understand the situation

Use the placard and owner's handbook for the correct guidance, including loading and the required checking conditions. A pressure gauge can support a routine check, but damage, repeated pressure loss or uncertainty deserves professional attention. Pressure alone does not establish that a tyre is roadworthy.

Before you practise

• Find the vehicle's placard and check units
• Follow the handbook's procedure for measuring pressure
• Look for visible damage and unexplained pressure loss

A focused practice session

Before a lesson, ask your instructor to show you the placard and explain how to read it. If a check is appropriate, perform it while safely parked with guidance. Record the reading without assuming every tyre or every vehicle requires the same number.

A situation to discuss

A service-station pump displays a unit different from the one you first noticed on the vehicle placard. Pause and check the placard and equipment instructions before inflating. Do not copy a number without its unit or use the tyre's sidewall maximum as the car's recommendation. If a tyre repeatedly loses pressure, arrange assessment. Re-inflating it before each lesson can conceal a problem that needs attention.