Just read this story about filling your tires with nitrogen instead of air. Supposedly you can gain 1.5-2 mpg.

Now for the average person with a conventional car this may not sound like much but for those of us with hybrids looking for any way to increase mileage this might be worth looking into...


http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060731/...trogen_tires_1

 

This urban legend has been bouncing around for ever. Your tires are already filled with 78% nitrogen since that is what makes up our atmosphere.

Do a search on here and I am sure you will find a thread or two covering this.

There was some tire place charging $8 per tire to fill tires with nitrogen. I'll fill anyones tires with 78% nitrogen for $6.24. Come on by.....

 

If it's urban legend then why does NASCAR use it? There must be some advantage to the 100% nitrogen vs 78%. I, too, am skeptical and probaby wouldn't do this since I maintain my tire pressure at home with my 'air' compressor. Just thought it was an interesting article.

 

It is an interesting article and I have read several just like it but claims of 1-2 mpg improvement are pure fantasy. The difference between 78% N2 at pressures used in car tires and 100% nitrogen is really miniscule.

NASCAR does a lot of things on their cars that wouldn't make sense on regular passenger cars. There is obviously a huge difference between running down the road at 50-75 mph and running in circles at 200 mph.

But, hey, if you want to believe it, there would be absolutely no harm in trying.

 

The local Costco store offers nitrogen fills to members, as do several tire stores. The nitrogen filled tires get green valve caps.

I think the supposed advantage of nitrogen over air is that the tires lose pressure at a slower rate when filled with nitrogen. Perhaps the mileage advantage is just due to the higher average pressure that would be in the tires as a result of the slower leakage of the nitrogen between pressure check intervals.

Don

 

Pure Nitrogen doesn't fluctuate quite as much as air, but the difference is miniscule and hardly worth the time or expense of seeking out a Nitrogen filling station. Unless they put the whole tire and rim assembly in a pure nitrogen capsule when they mount it on the rim, it won't be pure anyway. Not worth it, IMHO.

 

For a few reasons.

Nitrogen fluctuates less, which is why they use it in plane tires. A slight change doesn't mean much to a vehicle going 75 MPH at the high end at surface levels, but to something that changes altitude tremendously, it means a lot, and they cope with that high speed friction slightly better.

Nitrogen also is less likely to burn/promote fire, which is one of the primary reasons NASCAR people use it.

There isn't some secret for everyday drivers to tap into. Nitrogen doesn't do anything for the common driver. For pro's, it helps slightly, and for jets, it helps keep the tires from bursting. So, unless you're a pilot or a race car driver, it's a waste.

 

I pretty much agree with everyone here. If you are neglectful and don't check you tire pressure, then maybe it's right for you. Another reason NASCAR uses it is they dont' want the pressure fluctuating that much, as it changes the handling of the car.

 

That article ( by Associated Press ) and posted on Yahoo! infuriates me.

It is totally, 100% untrue! It is a SCAM!!!
( Based on Urban Ledgend )

Would you guys and gals like to know the REAL story?

Airplane tires need a huge volume of air, at a high pressure.
My brother is an aircraft mechanic.
They fill aircraft tires with nitrogen for 3 reasons.
#1 a Nitrogen cylinder contains like 3,000 psi. This can fill a large volume tire in a hurry.
#2 Nitrogen cylinders are portable, and can dispense the product without any power, so are convienent to use out in the field ( unlike air compressors )
#3 Industrial, compressed nitrogen is really dry. This keeps frost from forming inside the tire when at high altitude and 40 below zero.
While this will not damage the tire per se, it could cause the tire to become unbalanced upon landing, if all the ice forms on one side.

As far as NASCAR is concerned, #1 it fills the tires in a hurry during pit stops when seconds count and #2 it is portable to use without power down in the pit areas.

Nascar does not care about tires loosing molecules, as too few to count would happen in a couple hours, and Nascar does not care about rubber degradation from oxygen inside the tires because the tires are thrown away after 100 miles anyway!!!

That article is bogus, and for suckers only.

 

It does not look like nitrogen can hurt anything, so why not give it a try? A group such as this may be a great test bunch. I'm a member of Costco, and need tires on my Explorer, so I'll check them out while I look around for prices.

As far as an improvement, some of us here can push over 60mpg in the FEH. If this guy is getting 1-1/2mpg better in a 20mpg vehicle, we should see a ~3mpg improvement based on that percentage. I must admit, the proof for me will be my results, but I'll keep an open mind on the subject.

GaryG