hi,
i am the owner of a 2009 Audi a6 3.0 and i found these videos on the net,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yceyIAvV_9o
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=28dtRwmm9Vs
I am astonished that Audi would use inferior technology than a colibri, and i also found out that they intend to roll out this technology on all models, is Audi going cheap?
the video seems to suggest that this car cannot comply with fmvss 138, tpms requirement, what do you guys think?

 

I think those videos were a little much and seemed to perhaps not indicate all the facts that are present with the Audi's TPMS system. From what I saw it seems that they should probably address this problem however.

My standpoint is that you shouldn't be an idiot when you drive your car. Most cars do not have a TPMS system and we seem to be doing just fine. I think that the percentage of accidents that are related to such problems (being an idiot and not knowing your tire pressure) is too small to really make such a huge deal out of. Don't forget that you are still allowed to check it for yourself.

 

Since September 2005 all new vehicles in the US have to be equipped with tpms, according to FMVSS 138. None of the cars equipped in response to this federal requirement has this fondamental flaw except for the audi a6.
I suppose you are right when you say that you should not be an idiot to drive a car, however mistakes are possible, and i think it is ridiculous to being able to reset the warnings away without the possibility of a plausability check or warning.
The video goes to the extreme of learning "flat tyres" as correctly inflated tyres, and the car let you drive away like everything was fine. Is this the intent of a safety law which was supposed to spare in excess of 300 fatalities on the road?
Why is Audi downgrading its technology?

 

They will most likely make it a Technical Service Bulletin if they haven't already, this will then most likely result in a dealer-covered upgrade to the car's firm/software (they're always are updating the firm/software) or maybe to replace the actual TPM module. That is what they did in 2004 when they had a similar problem to this (not personally, just from what i've read).

How do we know that the A6 in the videos isn't the only one on the planet that does that?

edit: Current TSBs - http://www.aboutautomobile.com/TSB/2009/Audi/A6 (no TMP, sorry haha)

 

you forgot to exemplify this one, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c_2b7...eature=related, where the person commenting (in French) makes a great point that INCORRECT CALIBRATION leads to incorrect readings by the system... is not that the system is faulty... subsequently the poster of the clip made a title correction.
Pay attention to 1:07 mark and you'll see the warning coming on after they deflated the tires...
I got a sense that in the previous 2 clips they left some info out... It is a crunch time for the American Automobile manufacturers and the return of the "buy American" slogan; this makes the Chevy looking like the "smarter" choice...LOL

 

My suburban only turned on at 26PSI, tires were to be inflated to 55-60psi. WTF is up with that? 26 psi in a $200 tire might be OK for GM but not at my house. do they have any Idea what running a tire at 27psi will do to your rears.

I hope this is a good sign of things to come for Audi!

Finally they have come out with an ECM that won't pop a MIL in your face for every little stupid thing. I think it's a step in the right direction.

Now take those same two cars and disconnect CYLINDER NO 1. for the first 30 seconds on cold start. The Audi will throw a CEL and the Chevy won't care. My Chevy's never cared about a little bumble in the morning. What's more important? engine or pressure?

I totally agree with nm3210, If you can't check your own tire pressure your a complete idiot. American auto makers are turning Americans into pussies. I heard that more and more kids can't even drive a standard. Not to get off the topic but have you also noticed you can't get a friggin gas can with a vent anymore. What the heck are we electing now a days and why do they insinuate that I'm an idiot those a$$holes can't even put a nail in the wall.

Those tire monitors are for retards, plain and simple.

 

Well, a few issues might be wrong with your truck, as FMVSS138 requires detection at 25% underinflation from cold inflation pressure, therefore if that did not happen then you found an anomaly.
In any case the topic here involves Audi and their new system. I normally expect for a car to get better with revamps and facelifts, this one is getting worse. The adoption of this substandard technology opens a potential misuse case which was impossible before: wrong calibration.
I agree that idiots should not be allowed to drive, but I think that the average driver is normally not a tyre expret nor a technician, therefore even if she follows to the letter her owner's manual but has the (not very uncommon) bad luck to use a non calibrated gauge (a recent survey in the UK estimated that 50% of service station have tyre gauges way off the scale, sometimes 10 to 15 psi off) she might run into serious trouble.
Let's say the correct inflation pressure is 40psi, 25% off that is 30psi, a level at which you are supposed to receive a warning. If I use a gauge which is 10psi off I only inflate at 30psi and my new warning level becomes 22.5psi. If I then go for a trip in the mountain I coult find myself rejoined with the Creator (at 23 psi the tyre is no longer guaranteed to stay on the rim if under a strong lateral force as such seen during steep curving at medium speed) without even suspecting that I could have had bad inflation in my tyres, after all my wonderful TPM system was report "ALL OK" (as in the video when the tyres were flat). Would that be due to negligence? Probably yes, but the real question is whose negligence? Mine or Audi's or somebody else?

 

So.....what do you really want out of us? I agree that they need to fix the TPM system, but I certainly don't agree with your statement:
You're basing that off of one thing? The new A6's have a LOT more going for them than my '99. More power, more luxury, more features, better safety, better mileage, and of course more things to go wrong - but even that has gotten better over the years.

 

I understand your point as well. If your going to set out to build something it should work. I just don't see why it matters so much. Half of us know what it is to ride in our parents back window. Most school buses don't have seat belts. I see at least two drunk drivers per evening on our streets. Millions of cars have been sold without these things. Why this, why now? We should be worried about other things this is nonsense. Next I'll be blowing into a Breathalyzer just to start the damn thing.

Honestly if I were going to develop a motor vehicle I would simply use air brakes and put an auto fill on each tire. It would keep you going even with a hole. No fluid to monitor no bleeding and you can pick up air line at any hardware store. This technology is old and in use on trucks all over the world. So why not eliminate the problem of ever having to check altogether, let them fill themselves. It's all BS some politicians son needed to invent something. By the way Big trucks do not have these things. If my tire blows off the rim next to your family. Your screwed! If your tire goes flat you pull over and change it.

The whole thing is pointless.

 

I disagree on the safety, the new TPMS system is less safe than the old one, I just want to highlight this element to the people of this forum.
Audi had a system, on the old A6, which was foolproof, efficient for single punctures as well as multiple punctures, could display tyre pressure values location and temperatures, warned you if you had a deflation during the night, and extiguished the warning on its own once the pressure was rectified.
On the new Audi A6 the system does not warn you as efficiently for multi tire deflation or puncture, cannot show pressure value anymore, does not alert you if you have a puncture in the night before you drive off, and if for some reason, intentional or not you miscalibrate it, you run the risk of thinking that your tyres are ok, when they are actually unsafly soft
Do you call this a safety improvement?????
I call this a cost reduction exercise to the sole benefit of Audi, it is a pity the vehicle is 10% more expensive than the previous version.....