Nitrogen

[Tiff]

Does Nitrogen really work for your tires?

[thefish]

My feeling is that air is already 80% nitrogen. So if you care about that extra 20%, go for it.

[aris]

Does Nitrogen really work for your tires?

It's been working good in my tires..

[Sparcas]

A friend of mine had his tires filled with Nitrogen...

Apparently the ride is smoother, but i'm a bit skeptical that air can really make a difference on the overall feel of the tires...

[hammer]

same view

my main concern is that when you go to check your tire pressure at your friendly corner self serve gas station, is it a good idea to mix air with nitrogen (becuase that would affect the ride if nitrogen makes it smoother)???

correct me if i am being ignorant but nitrogen seems more of an inconvenience right now until its more readily avaialable (most of my knowledge is based on the pamphlets they have at mazda dealerships)

[aris]

same view

my main concern is that when you go to check your tire pressure at your friendly corner self serve gas station, is it a good idea to mix air with nitrogen (becuase that would affect the ride if nitrogen makes it smoother)???

correct me if i am being ignorant but nitrogen seems more of an inconvenience right now until its more readily avaialable (most of my knowledge is based on the pamphlets they have at mazda dealerships)

They say that you don't lose tire pressure like you would with air

[Hives]

Just do it! lol

[bunchi]

nitrogen does not expand or contract like air... when it's hot, air expands, and contracts when cold. that's why do don't lose pressure. leaks are different story

[slam525i]

Disclosure: I am a scientist.

Generally speaking, nitrogen does nothing.

1. Leakage: Yes, nitrogen will leak through the tire a little bit less, but I never needed to top up my tires more than once every 3-4 months anyway and I check it about once a month. Keep in mind "air" is mostly nitrogen already.

2. Expansion: Nitrogen expands with heat like any other gas. The benefit is that bottled nitrogen should be free of moisture, unlike compressed atmospheric air. The water moisture in air does expand significantly upon heating. However, unless you're racing, you won't heat up your tires enough to matter.

3. Corrosion: Not having oxygen and keeping the inside of the rim in a dry environment should reduce corrosion of the rim. But then again, the rim should be coated already to prevent contact with air. Before my 3, I was driving a 17 year old Bimmer with zero rim corrosion, but my parents had significant corrosion on their Acura when after 8 years. Neither were filled with nitrogen and the corrosion on the Acura rims were so bad, it would have worked it's way past the seal and under the tire regardless.

So, no, I don't use nitogen filled tires. It can't hurt to use nitrogen, but it's not something I would pay for.

FYI: If you get dry nitrogen filled tires, there should be no harm in mixing it with regular air when you need to top your tires up a few PSI. You still benefit from having a low moisture, low oxygen environment, although I already said that the benefits are minimal.

[Mazda3X2]

Nitrogen is used in aircraft tires for many reasons including all of these.

My wife's car has it and I am not convinced. Over the winter with both of our tires sitting in the basement hers lost about 10 lbs per tire. Mine with regular "air" lost less than half that. There may be other reasons for this like rim sealing but that is what I noticed.

[slam525i]

Disclosure #2: I'm also a pilot (non-commercial).

Yes, nitrogen is used for commercial aircraft tires. For good reason.

They have to be exposed to tremendous pressure and temperature changes. Let's look at what happens when a Boeing 747-400 lands.

Slam into the ground at 10 feet per second while carrying 600,000 pounds and accelerating from 0-250 km/h in a tenth of a second.
Bring that 600,000 pounds to a stop at the absolute limits of the tire (commercial airplane brakes are always over-powered)
THEN be subjected to a possible brake fire for several minutes.

So, yes, nitrogen filling companies love to tell people how airplane tires are filled with nitrogen. But an airplane tire is a completely different construction and is subject to conditions that we (hope) our tires will never see.

[Cardinal Fang]

I'm waiting for Disclosure #3.

[slam525i]

Disclosure #3: I'm a pathological liar. :chuckle

No no. I really am a scientist. And I really am/was a non-commercial pilot. (Ran out of money. Airplanes are expensive to play with. :bang)

[victor_t]

Does Nitrogen really work for your tires?

yes. but if you ever have to drive off a bridge to get away from the bad guys, you won't be able to use the air in your tires to breathe...

[mazda lover]

Disclosure #3: I'm a pathological liar. :chuckle

No no. I really am a scientist. And I really am/was a non-commercial pilot. (Ran out of money. Airplanes are expensive to play with. :bang)

Disclosure #4

http://www.bankrate.com/brm/news/car-advice/20070714_driving_dollars_tires_nitrogen_a1.asp

[Krazy]

yes. but if you ever have to drive off a bridge to get away from the bad guys, you won't be able to use the air in your tires to breathe...

TRANSPORTER 3

hahaah

but he drove an audi...
a car that nice...
should carry him back to safety after they fell.

audi will be my next car hahaha

[JSI]

It's a gimmick, so people think they can be lazy and not check their tire pressure as often.

Jeremy

[Fuman]

It's a gimmick, so people think they can be lazy and not check their tire pressure as often.

Jeremy
well said.
same with slam525i, well said.

[Chester_Lampwick]

Nitrogen makes your car go faster. The weight reduction from a lighter wallet, of course.

[SonicBoy]

As mentioned before. I think we need to see the product more available. I'll go Nitrogen when they sell the home units that attach to your compressor and I can do this all myself.

[mazdabetty]

It's a gimmick, so people think they can be lazy and not check their tire pressure as often.

EXACTLY!!!!! And it's awesome.... :chuckle


Nitrogen makes your car go faster. The weight reduction from a lighter wallet, of course.

:chuckle

[Mty Mous]

TRANSPORTER 3

hahaah

but he drove an audi...
a car that nice...
should carry him back to safety after they fell.

audi will be my next car hahaha


I think he was referring to the James Bond movie where they had to breathe under water using the air in the tires while hiding and waiting for the badies to drive away thinking he was dead ... can't remember the movie's name, but its an oldie. :)

[rab33]

My dealer told me that Nitrogen will give me a +10 HP boost.:loco

[samsvoc]

My dealer told me that Nitrogen will give me a +10 HP boost.:loco

I think your dealer is full of nitrogen:chuckle

[Weedly]

The whole idea of nitrogen being superior in car tires is silly. Having said that, I got suckered into it on a wheel change a couple years ago. After one month I had the same loss of pressure as I ever did with air. I talked to the guys at the tire shop and they looked at me like I was crazy and suggested that I had done something wrong! I guess this is why I am going to buy all my wheels and tires now from one of our sponsors....filled with air only please!

[fatsock]

First thing I did on my car was put nitrogen in, as the green caps are sexy. :blush