Disappointed with TPMS system.....do I understand it correctly?

The threshold for the light illuminating is pretty generous on my "old" CX-9 - I have a slow leak in one of my tires and it needs to drop to 27 or so psi from 35 to set the light off. It seems that the new car has the threshold set pretty generously, too.

It sure would be nice if there were individual pressure readouts available on the dashboard somewhere....
 
For having worked in the automotive industry this is very unlikely to be a result of cheaping out, every car components are a compromise of pros and cons that the engineers try to get the best balances and prioritize. Maybe Mazdas trusted supplier of these parts doesnt have that system available, do you risk changing suppliers for that features, with all the unknowns in integration and reliability that comes with it ? Maybe the human factor engineering team decided that having an extra menu in the dash to be cycled through wasnt worth it ? Who knows

Based on the feedback from this post, some people really would have liked that feature. I personally dont care at all for the tpms sensors and finds them more of a nuisance in the cars I have owned (and usually dont fork the extra 60$ per rim to buy some for my winter rims).

All to illustrate the point that a lot of these features requirement and integration for a vehicle of that price range are very subjective and more complex than people think. i had a friend with a BMW M3 that couldnt play music over Bluetooth while my 2 year older mazda 3 could, these are not cost saving decisions.
 
The threshold for the light illuminating is pretty generous on my "old" CX-9 - I have a slow leak in one of my tires and it needs to drop to 27 or so psi from 35 to set the light off. It seems that the new car has the threshold set pretty generously, too.

It sure would be nice if there were individual pressure readouts available on the dashboard somewhere....

To address this issue I installed those after market TPMS sensors for $40 that you simply screw on to the tire air valves and have a small solar equipped panel readout that sits on the dash. The thing has ind tire psi readouts and temps so you can pin point the specific tire that needs air and you can also set the alarm on the panel readout to go off when it drops to your desired pressure threshold. I wish this tech would*ve been included just like in some Nissan models but not many manufacturers include this feature.
 
For having worked in the automotive industry this is very unlikely to be a result of *cheaping out*, every car components are a compromise of pros and cons that the engineers try to get the best balances and prioritize. Maybe Mazdas trusted supplier of these parts doesn*t have that system available, do you risk changing suppliers for that features, with all the unknowns in integration and reliability that comes with it ? Maybe the human factor engineering team decided that having an extra menu in the dash to be cycled through wasn*t worth it ? Who knows

Based on the feedback from this post, some people really would have liked that feature. I personally don*t care at all for the tpms sensors and finds them more of a nuisance in the cars I have owned (and usually don*t fork the extra 60$ per rim to buy some for my winter rims).

All to illustrate the point that a lot of these features requirement and integration for a vehicle of that price range are very subjective and more complex than people think. i had a friend with a BMW M3 that couldn*t play music over Bluetooth while my 2 year older mazda 3 could, these are not cost saving decisions.
Also speaking from the perspective of an automotive engineer, I think my first issue with individual pressure readings would be the need to reprogram the system whenever you rotated tires or switched to a winter set. I'll take the simple idiot light if it means I can just put a wheel wherever I want and not have to jump through hoops. There's also the problem with sensor calibration not being perfect, and people over-relying on them to take the place of actual pressure checks with a decent gauge.

And to address your last point, I'm constantly amazed by the feature content of my CX-5 for its price point, compared to what's optional (if it's even available at all) on vehicles with much higher base prices.
 
For having worked in the automotive industry this is very unlikely to be a result of *cheaping out*, every car components are a compromise of pros and cons that the engineers try to get the best balances and prioritize. Maybe Mazdas trusted supplier of these parts doesn*t have that system available, do you risk changing suppliers for that features, with all the unknowns in integration and reliability that comes with it ? Maybe the human factor engineering team decided that having an extra menu in the dash to be cycled through wasn*t worth it ? Who knows

Based on the feedback from this post, some people really would have liked that feature. I personally don*t care at all for the tpms sensors and finds them more of a nuisance in the cars I have owned (and usually don*t fork the extra 60$ per rim to buy some for my winter rims).

All to illustrate the point that a lot of these features requirement and integration for a vehicle of that price range are very subjective and more complex than people think. i had a friend with a BMW M3 that couldn*t play music over Bluetooth while my 2 year older mazda 3 could, these are not cost saving decisions.

Good points!

The dealer cost for new TPMS sensors is a big downside for sure. Luckily there are cheaper alternatives that work just as well. I bought a set of OEM branded TPMS sensors for my second set of wheels, $50 USD for all four. The only thing that was different was the letter at the end. I inquired with a Service Parts Manager at my local dealer, and he confirmed that they are indeed OEM sensors, they just came from a different supplier.
 
Sm1ke,

Do you remember where you bought your tpms sensors from ? I am looking around for my winter wheels but having a hard time finding quality sensors for that price.

Thanks
 
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