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imported_mosborn9

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Who has heard of inflating tires with nitrogen? This is supposed to maintain tire pressure longer and resist heat build-up on hot summer days. They claim this can increase gas mileage 1 to 1.5 miles per gallon. This has been done in NASCAR for years and is supposed to becoming more common. Cost is typically $2-$5 per tire.
 
It works on a racing tire to prevent pressure buildup because of the high temperatures they get. Waste of money on a passenger car tire. Just check your pressures once a month, set them to the recommended pressure on the sticker on the drivers door and you will be ok. Make sure you check pressures when the tires are cold, not after a drive.
 
DodgeRacer good explination! I'm right on your bandwagon, couldn't have said it better myself....Now mosborn go buy some more MF towels!
 
I had a shop do this on my old 01 z06 when I tracked it. the tires where hoosier S03s. I think the shop that did it must of not got enough into the tire. First session I started at 42psi and they went to 50psi. :mad:



Total waste of money for street tires.
 
I believe Costco has been doing for quite a few years back now. I really don't know the advantages of nitrogen, nor have I seen them with my parent's cars who both have them filled with it. The only difference I see is the out of place green valve cover :o
 
From what've I heard Costco has been doing this for some time but this is becoming more mainstream (particulary with replacement tires). I to question the value in this.
 
I heard somewhere that it actually reduces the chance of condensation thereby lengthening the life of the wheel. Don't know if it holds water or not.
 
the nitrogen does not condensate in the tire it goes in dry...most air pumps put in a combo of air and moisture...also the nitrogen is suppose to stay at the revalent pressure and not expand or contract...most new cars from the factory are filled with nitrogen....my truck was ....my dealer has a nitrogen generator and I go there to have my tires rotated and refilled..and my pressure stays constant....decreases tire wear also...by staying constant...some cars have a green valve cap or purple..or a green dot on tire when new but they take it off ..indicates nitrogen filled...



Al
 
If you drive 700 HP race car at 200+ miles and hour for 2-3 hours you will notice the difference. If you drive a street car daily save your money and stick with regular air.
 
Guys...the pressure will stay constant with nitrogen? It's PV = RT, and the gas constant for air is lower than for nitrogen, so your pressure will actually change more with temperature. The advantages of nitrogen as an inflation media are two-fold. One, most nitrogen production methods result in an extremely dry gas (as opposed to compressed air, which even if it is "dry", typically has a dewpoint of 30-40 *F), and two, air has oxygen in it, which will..er..oxidize things, sometimes extremely rapidly at elevated temperatures (as in autoignition).
 
I'm ahead of the game... I fill my tires with a ~70% nitrogen mix... it's called AIR. I've seen this recently, and it kinda just seems like a gimmick to me. Some person reported 1-1.5mpg savings, but that's not much and I'd have to see a real study to believe numbers that small. People will do anything, even if it doesn't end up saving them money in the long run, to save a little bit of gas.



They mention that airplanes, space shuttle, nascar, use it- at least in aviation, it's primarily so the tires don't catch on fire. The other reasons may help, but as I recall the primary reason is fire prevention.
 
I'm thinking I'll fill mine with hydrogen! The buoyant effect of the hydrogen will decrease my rolling resistance, thus putting the mighty Kia right on the edge of being a hovercraft!!! I'm still working out the details of how this will affect my cornering capabilities.....



For you safety nuts out there, I say "Hindenburg be damned"--this has potential!!! What's the worse that could happen???



Now that I've gotten that out of my system, I'd have to say that I feel the nitrogen idea is a novel idea but little more than that. I just can't imagine that in day-to-day driving nitrogen vs. regular air would make an appreciable difference.



Besides, if they already charge .75 at the compressor for plain air at most gas stations, just imagine what it would set you back when you had to feed the handy "Nitrogas-3000" compressor down at the corner store!
 
I actually used to fill up my portable air tank with nitrogen at work for the two reasons I mentioned (dry and no oxygen). If Walmart is really doing it, I imagine it's to prevent condensate in the assembly from corroding the wheel. Permeability will be less with air, because of the higher molecular weight of the oxygen, and I don't think there is much chance really of your tire catching on fire because of the oxygen in the air inside--although I do think the tire might age a little better.



I try to never use gas station air--they rarely have a dryer on it--hence my filling my portable tank at work where I can at least get air with a dewpoint of 40F or so, or with a little more effort, dry nitrogen.
 
mosborn9 said:
Who has heard of inflating tires with nitrogen? This is supposed to maintain tire pressure longer and resist heat build-up on hot summer days. They claim this can increase gas mileage 1 to 1.5 miles per gallon. This has been done in NASCAR for years and is supposed to becoming more common. Cost is typically $2-$5 per tire.
Click to expand...





If it is the norm in nascar then why do the under inflate the tires so that they will build up to the right air pressure when they get heated up...hence some of the cars will have tire smoke in the beginning of a run because they are under inflated and then later the smoke will go away after heat increases the air pressure.
 
If you can get nitrogen for free, it is a better option, but I WOULD NEVER PAY EXTRA FOR IT.



Most serious racers who do not have bleeder valves, do use nitorogen, because it is more stable, but it still will build up air pressures even with nitrogen (but less than with normal air). Rumor has it in Nascar racing that some teams are intentionally poking very tiny holes in the side wall so that they leak a tiny amount of air so that the tires do not build up too much air pressure during a run, or that the valve stems leak themselves. (Nascar Cup does not allow bleeder valves). This is all conjecture and rumor, but you know all the teams are trying to get an advantage some where. The sidewalls are thin enough that some teams claim they leak air anyway.



But I repeat, I wouldn't pay extra for nitrogen, but if you can get it for free, than are a few good reasons beside air build up, which a few people have already mentioned here (air condensation, wheel deteteriontion or corrosion over long term use) that make nitrogen a better option than standard air. But paying extra for it, IMHO is not worth it. But since Costco offers it for free, and I buy my tires there (since they offer free rotation for the life of tires, and you can't beat their prices when they go on sale there), it's a no brainer to use nitrogen. But I'm not worried either when I add a pound or five of normal air either.
 
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