tire psi
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More marketing than anything. The only advantage is with a racing tire, that builds a lot of heat you don't get the psi difference as much. I am not a chemist, but the standard air you pump out of compressor is something like 75 or 80% nitrogen.
More marketing than anything. The only advantage is with a racing tire, that builds a lot of heat you don't get the psi difference as much. I am not a chemist, but the standard air you pump out of compressor is something like 75 or 80% nitrogen.
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You're right, here's some info from Cecil Adams:
"Oh, there are plenty of benefits: (1) Cool fluorescent green valve stem caps (assuming your nitrogen vendor has any marketing savvy), which will look sharp with your spinning wheel covers. (2) Bragging rights. OK, you were behind the curve with cell phones, iPods, thong underwear, etc. Nitrogen in tires is relatively new to the mass market. Now's your chance. (3) Reduced fire danger next time you land your space shuttle or commercial aircraft, and tell me you won't sleep better knowing that.
Most tires are filled with compressed air, which when dry consists of about 78 percent nitrogen, 21 percent oxygen, and 1 percent other gases by volume. Water vapor (humidity) can make up as much as 5 percent of the volume of air under worst-case conditions. Filling your tires with nitrogen mainly does two things: it eliminates moisture, and it replaces skinny oxygen molecules with fat nitrogen molecules, reducing the rate at which compressed gas diffuses through porous tire walls. That means, theoretically at least, that a tire filled with nitrogen retains optimal pressure longer, leading to more uniform tire wear and better gas mileage. The commonly quoted figure is that tires inflated to 32 psi get 3 percent better mileage than at 24 psi.
Does nitrogen make any practical difference? You couldn't prove it by me. I found no scientific tests showing that nitrogen-filled tires stayed inflated longer than average under normal conditions. A car-buff buddy was sure it worked but conceded he had only anecdotal evidence that it did."
Keep on Winging:bat:
You're right, here's some info from Cecil Adams:
"Oh, there are plenty of benefits: (1) Cool fluorescent green valve stem caps (assuming your nitrogen vendor has any marketing savvy), which will look sharp with your spinning wheel covers. (2) Bragging rights. OK, you were behind the curve with cell phones, iPods, thong underwear, etc. Nitrogen in tires is relatively new to the mass market. Now's your chance. (3) Reduced fire danger next time you land your space shuttle or commercial aircraft, and tell me you won't sleep better knowing that.
Most tires are filled with compressed air, which when dry consists of about 78 percent nitrogen, 21 percent oxygen, and 1 percent other gases by volume. Water vapor (humidity) can make up as much as 5 percent of the volume of air under worst-case conditions. Filling your tires with nitrogen mainly does two things: it eliminates moisture, and it replaces skinny oxygen molecules with fat nitrogen molecules, reducing the rate at which compressed gas diffuses through porous tire walls. That means, theoretically at least, that a tire filled with nitrogen retains optimal pressure longer, leading to more uniform tire wear and better gas mileage. The commonly quoted figure is that tires inflated to 32 psi get 3 percent better mileage than at 24 psi.
Does nitrogen make any practical difference? You couldn't prove it by me. I found no scientific tests showing that nitrogen-filled tires stayed inflated longer than average under normal conditions. A car-buff buddy was sure it worked but conceded he had only anecdotal evidence that it did."
Keep on Winging:bat:
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Oh, but the biggest feature of all for this Nitrogen gimmick is..... drum roll please....
$$$$$$ in the vendors pockets, and a $ense of wa$ted effort on the consumer's end.
Oh yeah, I sure we would all noticed greatly improved mileage over regular old air.
Oh, but the biggest feature of all for this Nitrogen gimmick is..... drum roll please....
$$$$$$ in the vendors pockets, and a $ense of wa$ted effort on the consumer's end.
Oh yeah, I sure we would all noticed greatly improved mileage over regular old air.
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I have heard about usingnitrogen but thought it was just an upselling ploy used by dealers to sting you guys for a few extra bucks . I haven't been able to find anything conclusive to convince me to try it . I prefer to check my pressures regularly at the petrol station.Interesting topic all the same.
Eric
I have heard about usingnitrogen but thought it was just an upselling ploy used by dealers to sting you guys for a few extra bucks . I haven't been able to find anything conclusive to convince me to try it . I prefer to check my pressures regularly at the petrol station.Interesting topic all the same.
Eric
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I have lived around nitrogen in my racing days and still use it in my air contioning repair checks, but in the daily car and bike it would make a difference so little the cost overrides it. The day is too short to be out riding and finding a gas station on your route let alone a nitrogen supply depot. Tony:waving:
I have lived around nitrogen in my racing days and still use it in my air contioning repair checks, but in the daily car and bike it would make a difference so little the cost overrides it. The day is too short to be out riding and finding a gas station on your route let alone a nitrogen supply depot. Tony:waving:
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Nitrogen in tires is the equivalent to filling the headlight fluid.:action:
Nitrogen in tires is the equivalent to filling the headlight fluid.:action:
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I bought my car tires from Costco, and they use nitrogen to fill their tires. I went with it for a little while and I decided that the tires felt a little "squishy" or soft when driving. So I let all the nitrogen air out of all the tires and refilled them with regular air.
Maybe it was all in my mind, but I certainly wouldn't spend any extra money on it if it is offered as an option.
There are two pieces of information that I read about and when I put them together I decided air is better.
1st, I read an article someone posted here once about proper air pressure and expansion as the tires heat up. It seems that the working pressure of a tire is much higher than the cold pressure. It is important for the tires to warm up, and the air to expand and the pressure to rise.
2nd, I read somewhere that inthe nitrogen filled tires, the pressure is much more stable, and it doesn't change as much with temperature.
So I put 2 & 2 together and decided that the nitrogen filled tires were running underinflated, even though they were set properly at the recommended cold temperature.
I have no interest in trying it in my motorcycle tires.
I bought my car tires from Costco, and they use nitrogen to fill their tires. I went with it for a little while and I decided that the tires felt a little "squishy" or soft when driving. So I let all the nitrogen air out of all the tires and refilled them with regular air.
Maybe it was all in my mind, but I certainly wouldn't spend any extra money on it if it is offered as an option.
There are two pieces of information that I read about and when I put them together I decided air is better.
1st, I read an article someone posted here once about proper air pressure and expansion as the tires heat up. It seems that the working pressure of a tire is much higher than the cold pressure. It is important for the tires to warm up, and the air to expand and the pressure to rise.
2nd, I read somewhere that inthe nitrogen filled tires, the pressure is much more stable, and it doesn't change as much with temperature.
So I put 2 & 2 together and decided that the nitrogen filled tires were running underinflated, even though they were set properly at the recommended cold temperature.
I have no interest in trying it in my motorcycle tires.
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We have had this discussion in our local club quite a bit. So I did some research on it and it might be a dangerous practice with a motorcycle tire.
Nitrogen is the main compound in the regular air we breath and use daily. But the nitrogen does expand at a lesser rate. It is the O2 that expands most. Car tires have a greater volume of air, and heat up less at regular use speeds than a motorcycle tire, and the air in them expands less , so they are designed with enough of a margin of error it is not going to be a problem in a Car Tire.
Motorcycle tires have a bit less volume and they do run hotter and the air in them does expand quite a bit when hot. The tire engineers take this into account and as the tire heats up and becomes more flexible, more air pressure is needed to keep the tire stable. They are aware of this and the tires are designed for the full knowledge they are supposed to heat up and the air is supposed to expand.
So you cut it down, and you have a tire gauge that is a bit inaccurate then you could possibly create the situation of an under inflated tire at speed, hot and running hard with not enough expansion to stabilize the tire.
Nitrogen is a nonsense thing anyway, unless you are going to carry a nitrogen bottle around with you, every time you check the tires you loose what a pound of air. So two checks and time to put in a bit of air. Now what? You going to go hunt up a tire store, and mess around and get some more magic air?
Kit
We have had this discussion in our local club quite a bit. So I did some research on it and it might be a dangerous practice with a motorcycle tire.
Nitrogen is the main compound in the regular air we breath and use daily. But the nitrogen does expand at a lesser rate. It is the O2 that expands most. Car tires have a greater volume of air, and heat up less at regular use speeds than a motorcycle tire, and the air in them expands less , so they are designed with enough of a margin of error it is not going to be a problem in a Car Tire.
Motorcycle tires have a bit less volume and they do run hotter and the air in them does expand quite a bit when hot. The tire engineers take this into account and as the tire heats up and becomes more flexible, more air pressure is needed to keep the tire stable. They are aware of this and the tires are designed for the full knowledge they are supposed to heat up and the air is supposed to expand.
So you cut it down, and you have a tire gauge that is a bit inaccurate then you could possibly create the situation of an under inflated tire at speed, hot and running hard with not enough expansion to stabilize the tire.
Nitrogen is a nonsense thing anyway, unless you are going to carry a nitrogen bottle around with you, every time you check the tires you loose what a pound of air. So two checks and time to put in a bit of air. Now what? You going to go hunt up a tire store, and mess around and get some more magic air?
Kit
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