I've been thinking of flipping over to nitrogen filled tires can people give me the pro's and con's cheers

 

Con: the local high street nitrogen fillers are so rubbish that youll get about 40% nitrogen 60% oxygen/ normal air mix.

This was on a rip off britan programme a few weeks back. The only people who have 100% nitrogen filled is F1 teams.

 

The air you breath and put in your tyres is actually about 76% nitrogen

 

You won't notice any difference whatsoever to the handling/performance of your car under normal, even fast road, usage.

Waste of time & money for 95% of people.

 

Air gasses percentages are.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nitrogen (N2) 780,840 ppmv (78.084%) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxygen (O2) 209,460 ppmv (20.946%) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argon (Ar) 9,340 ppmv (0.9340%) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_dioxide (CO2) 397 ppmv (0.0397%) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neon (Ne) 18.18 ppmv (0.001818%) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helium (He) 5.24 ppmv (0.000524%) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Methane (CH4) 1.79 ppmv (0.000179%) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Krypton (Kr) 1.14 ppmv (0.000114%) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrogen (H2) 0.55 ppmv (0.000055%) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nitrous_oxide (N2O) 0.325 ppmv (0.0000325%) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_monoxide (CO) 0.1 ppmv (0.00001%) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xenon (Xe) 0.09 ppmv (9×10−6%) (0.000009%) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ozone (O3) 0.0 to 0.07 ppmv (0 to 7×10−6%) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nitrogen_dioxide (NO2) 0.02 ppmv (2×10−6%) (0.000002%) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iodine (I2) 0.01 ppmv (1×10−6%) (0.000001%) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ammonia (NH3) traceHaving

tyres filled with nitrogen gives better pressure / temp stability. It leaks out the tyre slower than normal air and causes less corrosion to the wheels and degradation to the tyre rubber.

 

5th gear also did this test verses normal air and it had no befits in handling or performance.

 

You could try putting helium in them but you'd have to pump them up again every few days

 

I don't think in a road car nitrogen will make any noticeable difference. It is better but i doubt it would be enough to notice. My tyres are nitrogen filled but only because i get it for free.

 

1) Air is free, places charge for Nitrogen
2) Air is mainly nitorgen anyway
3) When the tyre is fitted it traps air before it's inflated so unless you use a vacum to remove that air first you won't get anywhere near 100% nitrogen anyway
4) I'm not aware of anywhere you can top up with nitrogen so as soon as you start checking tyre pressures and topping up you'll be adding air
5) Unless you are a pro driving at the limit you wont notice any difference

Good marketing idea, nothing more.

 

And they'd be quite squeaky.

 

Is this at Sea Level ?

 

If it was less than Sea Level it would be 100% water

If you filled your tyres at the top of a mountain there would be less Oxygen in them!

All a big marketing ploy IMO

 

I'll have to take the car down to Newport or somewhere then.
I live at 1,000 ft above sea level.

And I had it mapped at approx 600ft up.
I'll have to move to Caerphilly now.

Agh, it's enough to make anyone manic !

And I agree, it's an attempt to create demand and hence generate profit. I won't be falling for it.

 

I put water in my tyres so they float at sea level.

I might try red wine next for obvious reasons.

 

I've been using nitrogen for years and don't normally pay for it as I get it included with my new tyres from Merit Tyres. They also top up for free but the only time I need to do that is when I want higher pressures due to fully laden holiday trips and the last time I did that, the guy actually let my tyres down before he pumped them up again to maximise the N2 which I thought was pretty good service.

To me, the benefit is that they do not lose nearly so much pressure over the life of the tyre* (about a year normally) as air used to and, I think, they are more stable probably due to less water vapour although I have a vague recollection that gases expand (or increase pressure in this case) at the same rate. I run higher pressures to compensate.

* It is possible that the construction of tyres and the bonding to the rim has improved since I last used air and it is that which prevents air loss over time.

 

For Sale:

My cherished Subaru WRX STi.
Thousands spent.

VGC.

Running 425bhp.
Mods include equal length headers, SC46 turbo, FMIC, 3-in Miltek SS Exhaust and nitrogen-filled tyres.

Nah, doesn't quite have that ring about it................

(No disrespect intended btw ).

 

No disrespect taken. In fact, I was expecting to have to put my flame suit on


Just out of interest, for those who may not have the necessary facilities (there must be some of you), how much does it cost to use "free" air to top up your tyre pressures at a garage. I suspect it is more than my free N2

Sort of tempted to try replacing the N2 in my rear tyres with air to see how it compares with N2 in the front. I've been involved in this discussion recently with some friends poo pooing the idea and it might be a good experiment.

 

I think the only advantage is that they seem to not leak so much pressure out. I doubt very much if you could get enough heat into your tyres to actually expand the air on the roads.

Nothing wrong with using it but personally I wouldn't pay for it - far easier just plugging my compressor into the ***-lighter socket, rather than queing at the Shell station.

 

Or weight them down.

 

Nitrogen as opposed to air is suppose to reduce side wall deflection in the tyres giving better handling and steering.