I wanted to add some information about TPMS. Below is the government’s final rule for TPMS (executive summary):
http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/cars/rules/rulings/TirePresFinal/execsum.html
Basically what this says is that there has to be a system in place to detect a tires pressure and to see if it drops below 25% of the RCP (Recommended Cold Pressure) and a warning has to be shown to the driver that one or more tires are low. There is also a phase in schedule for automakers.
2004 MY- 10% of the fleet
2005 MY- 35% of the fleet
2006 MY- 65% of the fleet
2007 MY- 100% of the fleet
Since the Esprit will be gone in 2004 the only Lotus will be the Elise so this really doesn’t apply.
NHTSA is to have a TPMS meeting in February with representatives from the automotive industry to determine the final direction for the phase in schedule and to determine if only direct TPMS systems should be used. Currently the government leaves it up to the manufacturers to determine what system to use (direct vs. indirect) but it may change to only direct since the effectiveness of detecting a low tire with a direct sytem is not really good according to NHTSA’s early testing. See below:
http://www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/pdf/nrd-01/esv/esv18/CD/Files/18ESV-000259.pdf
NHTSA is currently doing more testing with direct vs. indirect systems and these results should come up in the meeting in February.
Just wanted to add some info. I would like to know what the Elise would be getting though. Does anyone have any information if the Elise will get direct or indirect TPMS?