I just wanted to drop a note of thanks to all who have posted here. Your info was very instrumental in our decision to buy a new 07 Camry Hybrid. At only a week old we are very happy with our purchase. It is fully loaded and is a light tan color ( i give up on what they call it ).
I however did not find any posts here regarding Nitrogen in our tires. The dealer gave us this addon for free. I have never heard of this gas for our tires. Has anyone here had this done and what really is the advantage.

 

Congratulations. You have the same car as me. They call it "desert sand".

Nitrogen is "dry" air. Supposedly it is supposed to change volume less than regular air (~75% nitrogen). I think it is also supposed to be less corrosive to the steel belts as there should be no water vapor in the nitrogen.

But I've never heard of anyones tires rusting away! At least before they are completely worn bald.

Some people swear by it, race car drivers and aircraft use it. I have yet to be converted...

 

I think there was thread on this subject before. Air is about 70% something nitrogen anyway and if I remember this correctly pure nitrogen would expand less when heated during driving and presumably there would be no moisture inside the tire. Also nitrogen is inert gas and in theory shouldn't corrode anything like oxygen would. That IMO in reality it doesn't make any difference, that's another story. How do you know they put nitrogen in your tires outside of dealer saying so, or do they do it to all cars and usually charge extra for it? Most likely your dealer pumped the tires to 30-32 PSI, many members here over inflate their tires to 36-40 PSI to increase mpg among other things, so the first time you add air to your tires yourself (for that reason or just to keep it at 32 PSI when it gets colder) your pure nitrogen won't be so pure anymore. It's ok to get it for free but I wouldn't pay much extra for it.

 

Thanks for the reply. After posting, I did a search and your right. All Nascar's and aircraft use it. I was just a little concerned that if we had a blowout the car would detonate.

 

You know, now that you mention it I don't really know if they actually put it in. So I just went outside and unscrewed the little green cap and enhaled some of it. I now have a whopping headache and lots of gas. I think I should go lay down now.

 

The air at high altitude is about -60F and that's how cold it gets inside aircraft wheel, during touchdown you can smell burning rubber, so I would imagine even little less change in tire pressure inside aircraft tire due to use of nitrogen could make a difference and blown up tire could cause damage to multi million dollar aircraft. Car races often are won by milliseconds and money is no object, so in both of those cases use of nitrogen could be justified, for normal road use I just don't see how.

 

Gotcha....Thank's!

 

HI!
Newbie #2 tonight! We just picked up our TCH this past Monday and have put on well over 250 miles since Monday! While doing the research for this vehicle I lurked on lots of different forums but this one is definitely the best! The information shared by all of you helped answer lots of questions that I had about the car.

Karen

 

Congrats to you both.

What part of CA do you live CA girl? Northern or Southern?

 

Hi!

Pacifica which is just south of SF on the coast. I definitely appreciate the hints regarding hill driving techniques cuz to get out of Pacifica, I go over some goodsize hills and even in Pacifica itself, are quite a few too. This past weekend, my DH and I were down toward Palo Alto and we couldn't believe what a difference driving on flat 101 made for mileage. I really prefer 280 as someone who is a reforming leadfooter!

Karen