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What does DeflateGate have to do with your tires?

What does DeflateGate have to do with your tires?

You might have heard about air disappearing from footballs, but it’s no mystery that air does vanish from your tires. All tires tend to leak over time—some models more than others, as we found in a year-long test. We measured an average pressure loss of 3.5 psi for 31 performance all-season models.

Cooler temperatures will also lower pressure in both tires and footballs. Your tire pressure will drop about 1 psi for every 10 degrees F the outside temperature lowers. Overall, you might be driving on significantly underinflated tires if you haven't checked them for months, especially in the winter.

Underinflated tires lower fuel economy and tread life, and they hurt handling. Further, having low air can weaken the tire, increasing the chance of a failure.

Learn more at our complete guide to tires

To help keep your tires safe:

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Check the air pressure each month when the tires are cold (before they've been driven more than a couple of miles). Be sure that they're inflated to the air pressures listed on the placard on the doorjamb or inside the glove compartment or fuel-filler door.

—Jake Fisher



More from Consumer Reports:
Learn more about the Tesla Model S
10 great used cars for under $10,000 for teens
Best cars for making it to 200,000 miles

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