Detroit's Spectrum Composites Introduces State of Art Tire Monitoring Tool; Government Mandated Tire Monitoring to Start Fall 2005

TROY, Mich., Jan. 26, 2005 -- Spectrum Composites, headquartered here in Metro Detroit, has announced the rollout of a new Tire Inflation Positioning Switch (TIPS) for vehicles, a state-of-the-art sensor-triggering Tire Pressure Monitoring Systems (TPMS) tool for tires. TIPS will provide immediate cost savings for service establishments in maintaining TPMS.

Tire Pressure Monitoring Systems are being mandated by the government, with 50 percent of all new cars and trucks, under 10,000 lbs., required to have the system by October 2005 and 100 percent of vehicles by Sept. 1, 2007.

TIPS was designed as a sensor-triggering tool and is used to re-program the vehicle computer each time the wheel position changes as in the case of tire rotation. TIPS can also be used as a diagnostic tool to assure that the TPM sensors are functioning properly prior to servicing a customer's vehicle thereby eliminating the cost of replacing a defective sensor without compensation.

The newly patented TIPS tool has been designed to trigger all known magnetic and frequency sensors (e.g. continuous wave, modulated wave, magnetic wave) that have been installed at the factory by original equipment manufacturers. Most automobile manufacturers have selected a direct approach that incorporates wheel based sensor transmitters.

TIPS was developed by G-5 Electronics, a Detroit-based think tank of automotive engineers. Spectrum, its sister company, developed diagnostic work stations to General Motors, Ford, Chrysler, Toyota, and others. With TIPS, service establishments will be able to test the tire sensor prior to removing the wheel from the vehicle thereby eliminating responsibility for the cost of a faulty sensor. TIPS eliminates the need for service establishments to purchase four to five different TPMS initiation tools.

TPMS legislation is aimed at reducing the some 535 fatalities and 23,000 vehicle crashes attributed to under inflated tires.

For additional information on TIPS, persons should go to http://www.tipstool.com/