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5. Tyre pressure monitoring (TPMS)
The sensors adjust their broadcast rate to what the tyre is doing:
- Pressure steady, above 20 kPa: a broadcast every 3 minutes.
- Pressure changing but by less than 5 kPa: every 5 seconds, 10 packets each time.
- Pressure changing by more than 5 kPa: 10 consecutive bursts of 4 seconds, 100 packets in total.
- Pressure rising from below 20 kPa to above 150 kPa within a minute: continuous transmission for 3 minutes.
There’s also a dedicated “is leaking” state which transmits continuously while a leak is detected. On track, where pressures move as the tyres heat — and certainly in the event of a leak — you’re well into the frequent-transmission range, so a developing puncture should be picked up quickly. The display also needs to catch one of those broadcasts through the metal and electrical noise of the car, so it isn’t instantaneous, but with that many packets it’s fast in practice.
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