Best Portable Car Tyre Inflator Pump and Air Compressors
What is the best car tyre inflator and air compressors for pumping your car tyres up. Below, we look at 4 of the best, we have reviewed them thoroughly and see how they do with keeping our tyres inflated. As well as this, we look at other tyre tools, an air pressure gauge, to double check your air pressure in your tyres and Slime sealant to prevent a puncture from deflating your cars tyres.
One of the most economical things you can do to improve your economy is to keep your cars tyres up to their correct pressure. If your tyres dropped even 5PSI, you could double the amount of money you spend on fuel and petrol over a long distance journey. It is also much safer when at high speed, cornering and having weight in your car to have your tyres at their correct pressure. You could save quite a bit of money each year just by making sure your tyres are constantly at the right pressure.
We have reviewed 3 cigarette lighter, portable electric and plug-in inflators and one foot pump, the foot pump is if you don’t have a lighter adapter or fancy keeping it manual and wish to also inflate things away from your car.
Make sure to get a second opinion on the pressure, this way, you know you haven’t over inflated or under inflated, which could be dangerous in one respect and uneconomical in another.
This tiretek pressure gauge is one of the best car tyre pressure gauges out there and we highly recommend it. It’s great to have around and check your tyres pressure periodically.
As well as double checking your pressure after you’ve inflated your tyres, you should look in to slime as well. This is a great back up and emergency piece of kit that may save your tyres from punctures.
If you don’t know what Slime is, it’s a green liquid that goes in to your cars tyre and stays there in liquid form. When and if you get a puncture, the slime will be spinning around inside your tyre and will fill the tiny gap and create an air tight seal. It’s a really simple but really effective emergency kit and will help you get home, even if you do end up driving over some glass or getting a small hole in your tyre.
Just remember, with the slime, it is not a permanent fix, it is for emergencies only and to only get you home incase of a puncture. From there, you are advised to swap your tyre with your spare which will get you safely to your nearest car garage.
We have looked at different price options, from affordable to more expensive car tyre inflators that have many more features. We hope that this review and comparison helps you in working out what is best for your needs.
None are as fast as a petrol station pump and air compressor or the heavy duty non portable ones you can use with generators attached, but they will all inflate your cars tyres, when needed.
As well as recommending the above equipment, the tyre pressure gauge and the slime sealant, the Suaoki is by far the best car tyre inflator you could buy. It has many more features over the others, but it does cost twice as much, if you want something more, then it is perfect.
If you are after something more simple then either the AA or the Ring should suffice. The AA is a smaller device than the Ring RAC610, they both inflate at the same speed and both are a similar price. They both do their job very well and keep it as simple as they can. Plug in both ends, start, watch it inflate and then stop when your up to the required pressure.
If you don’t have a car cigarette lighter or anywhere like this to plug in an electric air compressor, you can always use the double barrel foot pump we have reviewed. It has more than enough pressure power to pump up a car tyre and shows you its pressure as your doing the work. This is better for someone who is a bit younger and fitter as it does take a little longer to fill up a tyre.
Review of Suaoki Digital Portable Car Tyre Inflator Pump
We review another car tyre inflator pump, a digital and more advanced option by Suaoki.
Technical DetailsPortableYesSelf InflatingNoFits 3 DoorNoFits 5 DoorNoRating4.4/5Price££££WarrantyNoVehiclecarsuvtruckvanBrandSuaokiNumber of seats0 seatsDimensions21.2 x 20.2 x 8.4 cmWeight980 gWashableNoNext Day DeliveryYesStar rating
The suaoki is a fully packed with features car tyre air compressor and mini pump, the most technical and advanced we have reviewed and here are some of it’s pros and cons.
With the Suaoki aire compressor you will get the tyre inflator device, user manual, bag and attachments to fit the inflator to other things that you can pump up.
Like the Ring, it can inflate a tyre from flat up, but the Suaoki can inflate to 100PSI which is great even for road bicycles, but you might have to get a schreader to presta valve attachment. Rather than an analogue display it has a digital display showing the exact pressure of your tyre, which is back-lit and easy to read even in the dark.
You can change the unit reading from PSI to BAR and KPA. You choose which one you want to use and choose the target pressure and thats it, it will inflate your cars tyre or whatever it is you want to pump up to this pressure.
There is no battery inside of this device, you have to plug it in to your car cigarette lighter for it to work and inflate your cars tyres.
This device looks great and packs away perfectly in your car as it isn’t too big or heavy. The only real downside to the Sauoki is the car tyre valve fitting. You need to screw the fitting on to your tyres valve which is great for securing it on when it is inflating, but, when you have to remove it once it’s inflated, it means that a little bit of air will come out as you are unscrewing it.Pros
- Great looking car tyre inflator
- You can set your desired pressure and the inflator will pump your cars tyre up to that and then stop
- Can inflate other things as well, such as inflatable toys, bicycle tyres, motorcycle tyres using the attachments
- Has lights on it and back-lit LED so you can always see what you are doing
Cons
- Not the sturdiest piece of equipment
- Screw on valve adapter can release some air when you are unscrewing it
- Not as fast as an air compressor at a petrol station
Verdict
A great air compressor and car tyre inflator that will pump up any of your tyres from flat or very low to whatever PSI you desire, up to 100PSI max. Looks good and has a couple of great features as well as lights on it.
If you want something that will last and charges your cars tyres, then this would be perfect for you.
Review of AA Mini Tyre Inflator Compressor
A mini air compressor by AA which you can use for inflating your car tyre, we give it a whirl to see how it holds up to our needs.
Technical DetailsSelf InflatingNoFits 3 DoorNoFits 5 DoorNoRating4.4/5Price£CordlessNoWarrantyNoVehiclecarsuvtruckvanBrandAANumber of seats0 seatsDimensions13.4 x 11.8 x 5.6 cmWeight381 gWashableNoNext Day DeliveryNoStar rating
Here it is, the review of the AA Mini Air Compressor which we test with inflating our cars tyres and other inflatables.
This is a compact compressor by AA and is in one of their car essential range. Like the others we have reviewed, it can inflate your tyre from flat to full in about 4 and 1/2 minutes and like the Ring, it is simple to use and have a one button on and off.
Again, it is powered by a car cigarette lighter and has a long 3m cable to move from one tyre to the other. You can also put your bikes or other inflatables near by if camping and inflate those too. It won’t inflate a road bicycle tire, unlike the Suaoki but will do mountain bike tyres.
One of the things that the AA tyre air compressor has is an LED light, which the Ring doesn’t.
This is a great little item, small, compact and if you have a decent sized glove box, you could fit it right in there, or even under a seat, out of the way. Just plug it in to your lighter and cigarette adapter, screw on to your valve of your tyre and press the button. One thing we recommend with an analogue gaage is to pump it maybe 1PSI more, so that when you are unscrewing it, when it releases air, you should then get what you wanted. Also, purchase an air pressure gauge, double checking is the best thing to do with any personal car tyre inflator.
It is a very small compressor, the smallest one we have reviewed, but it is simple to use which is lucky, as the instructions are hard to understand, but that doesn’t matter too much.Pros
- LED light on it
- Very small and easy to pack away somewhere out of the way
- Can pump up a tyre from flat
- Very affordable, the price is great for what it does
Cons
- Unscrewing it can drop some air out of the tyre, but not much
- Instructions are hard to read
- Not cut off when you reach desired pressure
- No backlight on the gauge, so if you are in the dark, you can’t see what pressure you are inflating to
Verdict
A very small, compact and affordable tyre inflator. If you want a very simple device that will pump up your tyres with a compact air compressor, then this could be the one for you. Small enough to hide away somewhere in your car and easy enough for anyone to use. It doesn’t come with the best features, but it does exactly what you want of it and at a good price.
Review of Ring RAC610 Analog Car Tyre Inflator
This is our first review of a plug-in car tyre inflator, the Ring RAC610 Analog Car Tyre Inflator.
Technical DetailsPortableYesSelf InflatingNoFits 3 DoorNoFits 5 DoorNoRating4.4/5Price££CordlessNoBatteryNoAccessories includedYesCapacity-2mlHand heldYesWarrantyNoVehiclecarsuvtruckvanBrandRingNumber of seats0 seatsDimensions17 x 9 x 15.6 cmWeight732 gWashableNoNext Day DeliveryNoStar rating
This is the Ring RAC610 Plug In Car Pump, we’ve bought one in to test and to see how it will do with keeping our tyres safely inflated.
So lets look further in to what you get with this simple car tyre inflator and what it can do.
It will inflate your cars tyre in under 4 and a half minutes, so in totaly, that is 18 minutes to inflate all four if they are all very very low. It has a beautiful analogue gauge instead of digital so you can watch the dial move up as your cars tyre inflates. You can only inflate up to 80 PSI, so this wont work on things like road bicycle tyres but that doesn’t matter too much. The line from the device to your tyre is just under 50cm in length, so this needs to be near your tyre when you are inflating it. The power cable, which is powered by your in-car 12V cigarette lighter is nearly 3m in length, which means you’ll have more than enough length even for the biggest cars.
Can This Inflate A Flat Tyre?
Yes it can, it can inflate up to 35PSI in under 4 and 1/2 minutes.
Our front tyres, which we tested it on were sat at around 32PSI and needed to be 40PSI each and it managed to inflate these each in less than one minute.
Is This A Simple Car Tyre Inflator
It sure is, plug it in to your car charger, plug it on to your tyres valve and press start, thats it, now just watch it inflate and take it off when its pumped up enough.
What Can I Pump Up With It
It comes with a few adapters, so things like bicycle tyres (but not road bicycle tyres), footballs, inflatable toys, blow up beds etc can all be pumped up with this device. So this means it will be great for camping trips and other thigns that need inflating in your home.
The Bad Points
It is not the fastest at inflating your tyres but what could be improved is that the analogue gauge is not pinpoint perfect. We would highly recommend you get a separate tyre gauge to double check the pressure your cars tyres are at.
Secondly, there is no automatic cut-off, so if you want to set an inflation limit for your tyre of 40PSI, which we would have liked to do, you just can’t. You have to pull the cord off of the valve or turn the inflator off.
The final point is that it can be fiddly to get the line on to the gauge if your hands are that nimble.Pros
- Can inflate a tyre from flat
- Can inflate other things, like bike tyres, inflatables, beds, toys
- Great price
- Really simple to use
Cons
- Fiddly valve adapter, so not the easiest for older people to use
- Slow at inflating a tyre if from flat
- The gauge isn’t perfect and hard to read compared to a digital reading
Verdict
A great little car tyre inflator that uses your cars cigarette lighter. It’s is very simple to use, but it’s simplicity also has a couple of downsides. These are that the needle may not be perfect when suggesting what PSI your tyre is at and that putting it on to the valve is not the easiest if you are older.
Review of Heyner Pedalmax Double Barrel Foot Air Pump
As well as plug-in car tyre inflators we have tested out a double barrel foot pump just in case you don’t have a car cigarette lighter. This review is about the Heyner Pedalmax Foot Pump.
Technical DetailsSelf InflatingNoFits 3 DoorNoFits 5 DoorNoRating4.6/5Price£££WarrantyNoVehiclecarsuvtruckvanBrandHeynerNumber of seats0 seatsDimensions29 x 9 x 13 cmWeight2400 gWashableNoNext Day DeliveryNoStar rating
Just in case you don’t have a cigarette lighter, we have reviewed this Heyner Pedalmax foot pump. One of the great things about this device is that if I want to pump up anything away from a car, I can do that.
This foot pump can inflate up to 140PSI which is more than the others we have tested. It has a 60cm air hose to connect to what you want. Another great thing about this pump is that it comes with a flip lock valve connector. You can connect this to both presta and schraeder valves with it’s two valve options.
Like the Ring tyre air compressor we have also reviewed it comes with an analogue pressure gauge. So as you pump up and inflate your cars tyres or other inflatables, you will see the needle move up as the pressure increases.
It is easy to keep an eye on as the pump is very stable under your feet and works tremendously well. Because it’s a double pump it is more than capable of inflating your cars tyres, but it would take a long time if it was from a flat tyre.
We recommend you use another type of instrument to check the actual pressure of your tyres once pumped up. It is always better to double check for safety reasons.
One of the worst things with this foot pump is when you are pumping, the clip that holds it in a locked position (when you are not using it) gets bent and hit with the foot pedal you are using to pump.Pros
- Don’t need a car cigarette lighter to inflate a cars tyre
- Double barrel has plenty of air going through it when pumping an inflatable up
- Seems well built and sturdy when pumping with your foot
- Easy to see pressure guage
Cons
- Lock hook gets hit when pumping and becomes unusable
- Can take a while to inflate a car tyre
- Valve can be a bit flimsy and not lock in to place fully
Verdict
This foot pump is good as a foot pump, but is obviously harder to use than plugging in a car electric tyre inflator. It has a small design flaw with it’s lock hook but will inflate bicycle tyres as well as car and motorcycle tyres.