When I bought my car, the dealer told me my tires had nitrogen in them, not sure how much if any difference this makes if any at all . Whats the 411 on this ?

 

It's lighter than air and also is less suspectable to change pressures when the tires heat up. They've been used in airplane & race cars for a long time now...

 

1) nitrogen is supposed to be tire friendly since it has no water vapor or oxygen that can slowly wear away at the inner rubber.
2) its a more stable gas then the regular air from the pumps, so it doesn't react to the temperature around it like air does.
3) increases gas mileage by a little bit because it reduces rolling resistance since they're properly filled.


and thats all i know. oh and its expensive >.< youre gonna be spending 30 to 40 dollars filling up all your tires with nitrogen. haha

 

The air you breathe and put in your tires is already 78% nitrogen.

Seems a waste of money to me.....

 

if they gave it to you for free i suppose you can use it until you need to add more air.

i wouldn't go to the dealer or gas station just to get more nitrogen.

 

When the tires are mounted they have normal air inside at 1ATM and 78% nitrogen.

If my physics intuition serves me when bringing it up to 3ATM (32 PSI above ambient pressure) using pure nitrogen you now have 278/300 nitrogen or 92% nitrogen. (if there are any physics teachers or majors out there, please correct me).

You're going from 22% "other gases" to 8%. I suppose there might be a difference in performance but I suspect none that you could perceive on a passenger tire.

As far as being more friendly to a tire, I never saw dry rot on the inside of a tire. Sunlight, ozone, and oxidants outside will do a lot more damage that additional nitrogen on the inside can't affect.

I call "Snake-oil." Placebo. Additional dealer profit. But if it makes you feel good, by all means go for it.

Edit:
Couple links that pretty much echo what I said. They do a "purge" process where the tire is filled and "emptied" several times to achieve a 95% nitrogen mix, but they conclude that you're not going to tell a difference on passenger tires.

Consumer reports article

Consumer reports faq

 

All the gas stations on okinawa use nitrogen just a little FYI.

 

Tire Discounters.. free Nitrogen inflation!

 

The 411 is, if they are offering it for free go for it.
Don't pay anything extra extra for it.

 

I couldn't afford nitrogen at my dealer, but I did opt for their special Sport Plus package, which included synthetic blinker fluid and low-resistance muffler bearings. I think it makes the exhaust a little lower.

 

if your tires are running low on nitrogen...can you just got to a regular pump and fill'er up w/ regular air? or do you have to deplete the rest of the nitrogen and before filling it up with air..?

 

sigh...

air is 78% nitrogen.

Nitrogen is inert. The concentration in tires having been "purged" (repeatedly filled with nitrogen) is still only about 95%

You may fill with regular air after having your tires filled with nitrogen.

The only thing nitrogen fills may have going for them is the fill is clean, free of either oil or water. This might keep your TPMS senders in good working order.

Me, I have an oil-less pancake compressor with a water trap. I'll just struggle along with nice dry 78% nitrogen fills.

Agree on the blinker fluid; synthetic is the way to go.

 

I bought my car off the showroom and it had some extras like this which I agree is snake oil and I'm sure they charged me but since it was already there......

 

dont forget a jar of