Nitrogen in tires in place of Air

[Motorsport-SVX]

Its a pretty worth while mod, check your area and see
who is offering it. I know Costco offers it.
But nitrogen in place of air stays the same pressure forever
(or as long as you dont get a puncture in your tire)
so your mpg, tire wear and tire life are all improved.
Also keeps the carcass drier with less moisture inside which
is an improvement.
I just did it on a new set of Falken and SC430 wheels we have
here Im going to put on our silver car for a while.
Should cost about $50 to do all 4, but its only catching on and
more shops are offering it.
Im even thinking about buying the machine so I can offer it to
our customers.

[svxcess]

So much for the autocross crowd, who are always pumping up and bleeding off their pressures.

Much more complete information HERE
.

[RSVX]

Bah, overrated.

I really only saw the need for it on the Aircraft I used to fix for the USAF.

[svxcess]

Most tires are filled with compressed air, which when dry consists of about 78 percent nitrogen, 21 percent oxygen, and 1 percent other gases by volume. Water vapor (humidity) can make up as much as 5 percent of the volume of air under worst-case conditions.

Filling your tires with nitrogen mainly does two things: it eliminates moisture, and it replaces skinny oxygen molecules with fat nitrogen molecules, reducing the rate at which compressed gas diffuses through porous tire walls. That means, theoretically at least, that a tire filled with nitrogen retains optimal pressure longer, leading to more uniform tire wear and better gas mileage. The commonly quoted figure is that tires inflated to 32 psi get 3 percent better mileage than at 24 psi.

I don't know of any scientific tests showing that nitrogen-filled tires stayed inflated longer than average under normal conditions.

As for moisture, changes in humidity affect tire performance two ways. First, the density of humid air fluctuates more with temperature than that of dry air, so removing humidity can keep your tire pressure more consistent, especially when the temperature climbs over 100 degrees Fahrenheit. That may be a legitimate concern in Formula One racing, but it's not much of an issue if you're just tooling around town.

Humidity can also be a factor in wheel maintenance — since pure nitrogen doesn't have moisture in it, supposedly your wheels won't rust as quickly. But this should not be an issue for us since we have aluminum alloys

Another claim I've seen is that since nitrogen is slightly lighter than air, you'll save weight and get better performance. However, we're talking about a weight difference of less than 4 percent of the gas in the tire — in other words, a difference of less than an ounce for most vehicles.

A possibly more realistic benefit is that nitrogen is largely inert chemically at low (i.e., normal) temperatures, so it won't attack the rubber in your tires like oxygen does.

If I bought my tires at Costco and had them installed, nitrogen is free. But since since Costco doesn't sell Toyo Proxes, and I check my tires weekly, I'll use that $40.00 or so I'm saving towards something more fun.
.

[AlcyoneDaze]

Originally Posted by RSVX

Bah, overrated.

I really only saw the need for it on the Aircraft I used to fix for the USAF.

My car is a jet fighter.

I heard about this awhile ago. nitrogen is way better than oxygen, so long as its practical

[Motorsport-SVX]

for $40-50 I think its worth it
just for the simple fact the pressure stays Constant
from day 1 ... Most people dont check their tires enough
anyway, even Im guilty of it and Im in the business. For
me its one less thing to worry about, and in gas alone in
the first yr Im sure Id save the $ I spent. Just for the peace
of mind.
I think its a good idea for anyone who wants worry about less
maintance or has a few cars to worry about too.
Esp for anyone who never checks their tire pressure but every
few months it would be ideally for. Also the fact your tires at
a constant pressure would only help with tire wear too.
To each their own, but Im sure someone will find it useful on
the site other then me.
And if you do buy your tires at Costco, correct they do it for
you automatically. The price is included in their installation.
There is a Discount Tire in Scottsdale and San Diego that both
offer it as an option when you buy their tires for a small added cost
too.

[benebob]

40-50? Most of the places around here put it in for "free" with new tire purchase! Only real advantage for those who take care of their ride is that it doesn't introduce water into the tire area so it helps with rot.

Originally Posted by Motorsport-SVX

for $40-50 I think its worth it
just for the simple fact the pressure stays Constant
from day 1 ... Most people dont check their tires enough
anyway, even Im guilty of it and Im in the business. For
me its one less thing to worry about, and in gas alone in
the first yr Im sure Id save the $ I spent. Just for the peace
of mind.
I think its a good idea for anyone who wants worry about less
maintance or has a few cars to worry about too.
Esp for anyone who never checks their tire pressure but every
few months it would be ideally for. Also the fact your tires at
a constant pressure would only help with tire wear too.
To each their own, but Im sure someone will find it useful on
the site other then me.
And if you do buy your tires at Costco, correct they do it for
you automatically. The price is included in their installation.
There is a Discount Tire in Scottsdale and San Diego that both
offer it as an option when you buy their tires for a small added cost
too.

[benebob]

Originally Posted by Motorsport-SVX

But nitrogen in place of air stays the same pressure forever
(or as long as you dont get a puncture in your tire)
so your mpg, tire wear and tire life are all improved.

Now you got me thinking Dayle about tire life. I'd suspect you'd actually loose some drivability and tire life somewhat by going to Nitrogen since it doesn't change PSI as readily. A cold tire will have a lower PSI in it then warm (every manufacturer posts cold fill PSI numbers). If you put Nitrogen in there which doesn't rise as quickly as the car warms then you're techincally driving underinflated tires which means you're not getting the mileage a properly inflated air tire should.

Also of course most street tires perform better when slightly over inflated as it lessens tire roll a bit so in essence the harder you drive and heat up your tires the better they are at resisting body roll. With nitrogen you'll loose that unless you fill up your tires beyond the recommended levels. If you add more nitrogen in there then you'll loose that driveability on those cold tire, chilly morning starts since cold rubber isn't nearly as effective at gripping as warmer rubber is plus you're "overinflated" to start with so your tire does not have the same larger contact point that it would if it was inflated less. Remember a tire isn't flat but actually slightly rounded (like a motorcycle tire). The more air you put in the smaller the contact point becomes. Of course I haven't done a study on the subject but just applying the general rules of tires to the subject.

I've talked to my tire guy/sponsor about nitrogen when I got my new tires on there. He said even in my circumstance (drive the car 3k or so a year so my tires dry out before they loose tread) he wouldn't recommend the added expense of nitrogen. Just food for thought. Dayle's right though that rightly or wrongly customers seem willing to pay a premium for the stuff so you do see a lot of tire dealers going to it. It does translate into a higher bottom line for a tough business with the increase of competition with discount tire places.

[Beav]

Y'all could save the $40 and buy something more useful, like magnets for your fuel lines...


(Never afraid to say what I'm thinking )