Nitrogen Fill

[twoqttsdad]

Cool Kiz224. Two boys here.

Anyways I thought it better to start a thread on this topic.

Nitrogen filled tires? I feel they aren't worth any extra $. But if it's free do so.

Check out this page from Barry who a very cool guy who's been in the tire industry before I was born. He can explain the effect nitrogen has on tires better than me. Check out his credentials on his website. He does forewarn any readers on his home page that he can get a little technical but he does a great job. I email him often when I have a tire related question. A tire engineer and former track racer, he has a knack of explaining any tire related questions without using too many engineering terms that would confuse many like me.

http://www.barrystiretech.com/nitrogeninflation.html

Photo of him below back in the day.

http://myplace.frontier.com/~capriclubc ... Co-001.jpg

[IshaanIan]

Nitrogen does react far less to temperature changes than the air you get at most garages. Since while it is true that dry compressed air is pretty similar to pure nitrogen, most garages do not follow the correct procedure and you do end up getting a little moisture most of the time which reacts pretty harshly to temperature changes.
If you drive mostly in the city then it might not be worth it but filling nitrogen in your tyres does render them less prone to blowouts at highway speeds. I myself have noted that there is a vast difference in tyre pressure over a period of time when filled with air as compared to nitrogen. This also means there is less flexing all leading to better tyre life. The statements about improved ride quality blah blah are all humbug though
As for the Ideal Gas Laws? Lmfao. I myself am a Higher Level IB Physics student and those laws were derived from the Newtonian period. They work only in the IDEAL world. In real life they are absolutely USELESS since there are way more parameters and variables that play a role in determining pressure changes etc in gases.
Idk about whether it is worth the extra money spent since here in India you get Nitrogen for free at most petrol pumps

[Woodie]

Barry is right. Nitrogen in tires is a hustle anywhere outside a racetrack. The reason racers like it is because it doesn't combine with water, and water in your tire does unpredictable things to tire pressures once tire temperatures get over 200° F. Trust me, your tire temp is not going over 120°F

[IshaanIan]

Barry is right. Nitrogen in tires is a hustle anywhere outside a racetrack. The reason racers like it is because it doesn't combine with water, and water in your tire does unpredictable things to tire pressures once tire temperatures get over 200° F. Trust me, your tire temp is not going over 120°F

Water expands far more rapidly and that expansion alone is cause for concern let alone waiting for your tyre's temperature to get to 200F. What makes you think tyre temp does not go above 48 deg Celsius?? You got to be kidding, you want people to imagine that on a summers day, on smooth tarmac, (which conducts heat far more than the air we breathe causing heat hazes right above it) travelling at 60-100mph, the tyres remain cool? xD Buddy they reach temperatures around the 160-175 deg F range and that temperature only increases on concrete roads or as the load in the car is raised.

[Woodie]

Maybe 150° F if the ambient temperature is 120°, I doubt any more than that. Anyway, it's nowhere near the boiling point of the water vapor in the tires, under pressure.

[twoqttsdad]

As for the Ideal Gas Laws? Lmfao. I myself am a Higher Level IB Physics student and those laws were derived from the Newtonian period. They work only in the IDEAL world. In real life they are absolutely USELESS since there are way more parameters and variables that play a role in determining pressure changes etc in gases.

Interesting IshaanIan. Maybe you can send Barry your thought on this? I would like to hear his response. Unfortunately he doesn't have a forum we can converse on.

I myself have noted that there is a vast difference in tyre pressure over a period of time when filled with air as compared to nitrogen.

How much of a difference would you say when compared to air? Did you mean tire pressure lost over a period of time or tire pressure fluctuation due to temperature changes? Thanks.

[twoqttsdad]

I myself have noted that there is a vast difference in tyre pressure over a period of time when filled with air as compared to nitrogen. This also means there is less flexing all leading to better tyre life.

Not to appear to nit pick IshaanIan but I'm always into the behavioral characteristics of tires as Barry knows.

I personally don't believe a pressure fluctuation of +/- 5 psi in a 24 hour period will degrade the construction of a tire, but will affect the performance characteristics. These changes in performance not really noticable to most drivers unless their tires are driven to the edge of their road handling capability.

Did you mean a difference in tire pressure vastly different than +/- 5 psi? Thanks.

[IshaanIan]

I meant pressure lost. When I was running on air in about a month the pressure fell from 35 to 32 and with nitrogen it fell to 34. Tyres were deflated completely before inflating them with air or nitrogen. I had done a couple of road trips so each of these months is about 50-50 city-highway driving ratio. The ambient temperature was between 86-100F. I never found any difference in fuel efficiency my average in the city was 10.5km/l only being able to average 35kmph and on the highway 12.5km/l with an average speed of 125kmph CC set at 150kmph and occasionally driving to 200kmph (where the limiter takes away all the fun ). These figures remained the same regardless of whether I am running on air or nitrogen. One thing that I noted on my highway runs, at stops, was that the tyre felt slightly hotter to the touch when it was running on air. Certainly not dangerously hot, but still. Even my friend recorded his MID showing higher tyre temperatures when running on air in his Mahindra XUV500 which is one of the popular SUVs sold here.
In the end, Nitrogen does pose a few advantages but none that might be worth a premium price. We just cannot simply ignore the fact that it does perform slightly better than air.
As I said; here in India it is free at a number petrol stations so I have been running on Nitrogen 90% of the time and I don't know if that figure would be the same if people started charging me for it

[twoqttsdad]

Sounds right!

If it's free I would get it too, but not if I have to pay for it. Best regards!

[IshaanIan]

I personally don't believe a pressure fluctuation of +/- 5 psi in a 24 hour period will degrade the construction of a tire, but will affect the performance characteristics. These changes in performance not really noticable to most drivers unless their tires are driven to the edge of their road handling capability.

So fluctuation between 5psi isn't cause for concern? Aight I guess I should stop promoting nitrogen so much then Nice to know that while nitrogen might perform slightly better, filling air shouldn't mean you have to worry at all