Leaser

Stopped by to pick up my tractor yesterday and saw a brochure concening putting nitrogen in your automoblie tires. Started talking to the service rep and he said it is a great alternative to using air.
Supposedly, the nitrogen filled tires are less susceptible to fluctuating tire pressure due to cold/heat. The literature says that notogen in your tires will help maintain proper inflation in your tires - especially in cars that have the TPMS (tire pressure monitoring systems)like Audi.
Nitrogen being a dry inert gas also will reduce the oxidization that tires are susceptible to and helps the tire run cooler.

The price to have a tire filed with nitrogen is $5.00 each. Anyone else hear about this or have any comment?

Paldi

No, but what about Helium?

Acceler8

he tracks his S8 though, so it is benificial.

Der Kimbo

or drive the car in a manner in which the tire temperatures go to high extremes then I would go for it. I just think that for a street only car its a little overkill, but if you do driving events or using it in a race car I wouldn't even go a different route other than nitrogen.

Acceler8

due to our irradic temp chnages, our tire pressure is effected over time. for example, in the winter with sub 35 degree temps my pressure is the same until i drive to work. The tires heat up over the trip and regress after cooling. I havent done this yet, but id imagine i will at the next tire change.

greenie

drive up and weld!!!!

ZRH

Hmmm...Air is approx 79% Nitrogen. Hard to imagine the 20% or so of Oxygen and 1% trace elements could make a whit of difference in tire performance. Story sounds like hot air to me.

ZRH7178

Paldi

With laughing gas, welding could be fun!

greenie

Finally, welding with a smile!

ryoung

... when tires run 200 oF or hotter, which is why nitrogen is strongly recommended for filling race tires.

The problem with air is that it's normally not just air. More often than not, the "air" in your tires contains liquid water from the air compressor and/or the lubricant used on the bead when the tire was mounted on the wheel. Normally the air (or nitrogen) pressure in a tire increases predictably about 1 psi for every 10 oF of temp. If there's liquid water in the tire (and water is usually present if you're filling the tires with "air"), pressures sky-rocket unpredictably as the water turns to steam.

On the street, there little benefit from using nitrogen; the tires normally don't run hot enough to cause a problem. On track at Mid-Ohio however, the left-front tire on my S8 has hit 240 oF. With a starting cold pressure of 36 psi, I normally expect a 47 psi hot pressure. My tires were filled with (wet) air however, and that LF tire was almost 60 psi. When I let "air" out, I was burned by the steam.

All the other claimed benefits for nitrogen are somewhat related ... they're hot air.