Transense: Automotive Sensor IPR for Honeywell, Michelin & The World.

WSJ
"This comes at a time when run-flat or zero-pressure tires have become more popular with car buyers and are showing up in more car models as standard equipment. In addition, tire-pressure monitoring systems are becoming a federal requirement with a deadline of September 2007 to be installed on all new light vehicles, which includes passenger cars and light trucks like sport-utility vehicles and pickups. These kinds of tires and monitoring systems can mean more time and higher costs for consumers at the repair shop. For example, Craven Tire & Auto in Fairfax Station, Va., charges $5 per wheel with a tire-pressure monitoring system to rotate and recalibrate the sensors and $7.95 for each wheel change.

The rising use of specially equipped tires means that a routine tire service is no longer routine. Tires with monitoring systems require special tools and technical knowledge -- for example, when wheel positions are changed on the vehicle, individual sensors must be reprogrammed. If not, the on-board computer will assign pressure data to an incorrect wheel. For customers, it means more waiting while their tires are rotated, changed and checked along with having to pay for the technology and extra labor required.

Changing run-flat tires, for example, takes 45 minutes to an hour longer than changing ordinary tires, while servicing tires with a pressure monitoring system adds 15 minutes more in labor. Monitoring-system wheels also require more care during tire mounting and demounting to avoid damaging the sensors. (Breaking one sensor can set a dealership back as much as $150.)

Many dealerships, however, aren't prepared for the onslaught of specialized tires coming into their shops. They haven't trained employees yet on these kinds of systems and haven't bought the necessary equipment. Still, an auto association in Virginia has sponsored training classes on tire-pressure monitoring systems. A major lesson is convincing customers that the extra cost is necessary
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If only there were a simpler system ........BTW does anyone here use winter tyres?