Onboard tire inflation system a future feature

Keeping your tires inflated helps prevent rollovers, and it can improve fuel economy by 10% or more. The problem is, most people are either too lazy or too stupid to keep their tires properly filled, so technology has to step up to do our bidding for us. Tire pressure monitoring is to be standard fare on all vehicles sold in the US in 2008, but that may not be enough. The folks over at MAXAIR want to take monitoring to the next level with their patented ATMI (Automatic Tire Monitoring & Inflation) system. If your vehicle is equipped with this technology, an on-board compressor will keep your tires inflated so you'll never have to get your hands dirty at that nasty gas station fill-up again. Even more, your gas mileage will improve and the life of your tires will be extended. The price? MAXAIR plans on charging OEMs a reasonable $200 per vehicle, and we'll probably have to pony up double that number.

We don't know about you, but we think it's worth it. If you keep the vehicle for three years, between better fuel economy, improved safety, and prolonged tire life, we think you'd easily break even. What do you think?

[Source: Winding Road]