I have heard from a number of friends (Infiniti owners mostly) of the benefits of filling their tires with nitrigen. Most say that they get better milage, better ride, better wear of the tires, etc. Has anyone tried this yet? If so have you seen any benefits?.

 

It's all just marketing hype. Notice that chemical makeup of air is already mostly nitrogen.

Nitrogen (N2) 78.0%
Oxygen (O2) 20.9%
Argon (Ar) 0.9%
Carbon Dioxide (CO2) 0.03%
Other trace elements 0.007%


Here is some other info to consider.
http://www.bankrate.com/brm/news/car...itrogen_a1.asp

 

From my experience, the presence of nitrogen so close to the brake pads actually creates a cooling effect on them. My stops are fast and precise. Maybe the pads will last longer also.

 

Some other discussions on the topic.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19353980/

http://www.wired.com/autopia/2007/10/pump-your-tires/


Just do a google search on Nitrogen filled tires Pros and Cons.

IMHO, not worth the $40 my local tire shop charges. Remember this when you put the tire on new on your car, it is not vacum sealed to the rim. Thus the tire when loose on the rim, is still going to have ambient air in it. Then the service department pressurizes it up to 33 or what have you. But that ambient air is still in there mixing with the nitrogen. The only way you will get a pure nitrogen filled tire, is by having the tire installed on the rim in a vacuum environment.

 

I have had Nitrogen in my tires on my 300zx. They don't deflate at the rate of normal air. Couldn't tell if they ride was any different because I had racing suspension. Wear was a bit better with the Nitrogen but that may be pure coincidence. It came with the tires and wheels when I ordered them. I don't think I would pay to put Nitrogen in my tires though.

 

Mine came with them prefilled. I don't think I would have paid. Now extreme uses (military, airlines, racing), yeah, but for the average car on the road....

 

Thanks to all. After checking out the dealers and tire stores around here I think $55 is a bit much to save about $180 per year (estimate from one of the web sites that promote this)

 

Save $180 per year? I would be very surprised if the nitro saved even $8 per year. Assuming the tires filled with air and the tires filled with nitrogen have the exact same psi, I would not expect to see detectable differences in MPG, ride or tire wear.

The only differences I might at least be willing to listen to would be things like whether the nitro might be chemically better for the condition of the interior surface of the tire, handle the humidity inside the tire differently than air, have less variation in psi with external temperature changes, etc. I would also have to be convinced the nitro would not chemically affect the TPMS system.

Of course I would not be able to use nitro anyway, as I am constantly changing my psi. I carry 36 or 37 when doing mostly city driving where I have lots of sharp turns, 35 or 36 when doing mostly surburban driving, and 34 or 35 for long trips on interstate highways. I certainly would not be interested in heading back to the dealer every time I changed psi.

 

Light, you change your PSI based on driving conditions? That's a very interesting idea and never thought about that.

 

+1 ... that's pretty extreme.

 

This is not quite as extreme as it sounds.

When I was driving to/from work daily in downtown Atlanta, I kept the psi high (usually 37) so as to have maximum control with minimum sidewall roll on the endless sharp turns. This also gives me even wear across the face of the tread; a lower psi in this type driving usually results in high wear on the edges of the tread. And with the condition of Atlanta roads, ride comfort was not going to be there anyway, no matter what the psi.

Now that I have retired, I tend to set the psi at 35 or so and leave it there. That gives good control on turns, a little more comfortable ride than the 37 psi, and, with the softer turns, gives me even tire wear across the face of the tread.

But when I am making a long freeway trip, I often reduce the psi to around 33 or 34. I do that because I won't be making many turns, hence there will not be much of the edge-of-tread wear associated with lots of turns. So, in this case, the lower pressure gives more even tire wear, as well as making the ride comfortable. Ride comfort is much more important on long freeway trips than on short trips to the office or Post Office, etc.

 

I think that's a great post light. Tire pressure makes a very noticeable difference in my opinion and it's something that we can alter easily for optimum ride quality or increased cornering responsiveness.

 

[QUOTE=davey6693;7266938]I think that's a great post light. Tire pressure makes a very noticeable difference in my opinion and it's something that we can alter easily for optimum ride quality or increased cornering responsiveness.[/QUOTE


Thanks for the kind words. Those with busy schedules probably don't have time for this type adjustment. When I was working 70 hour weeks, I often let all the little details slide. But being retired gives me the opportunity to do lots of little things like this. Retirement is well worth waiting for. I haven't worn my wrist watch since the day I retired.

 

I suppose tire aspect ratio would be a factor as well. There is no way I can tell the difference by dropping my tire pressure from 39 to 33/34 on my 20" wheels. Big wheels + lowered will never equal cushy ride.

 

what it will equal is a bent rim, or flat tire with tire pressures that low on a tire with little sidewall(not so bad I guess on larger tires). I don't keep my hot tire pressure below 40psi on any of my cars. Yes, I can feel more bumps from the road surface, but I contribute that more to my stiff suspension and not my tire pressure.

And on the nitrogen thing, I just see it as a gimmick.

 

Very true words, terrycs. With a lowered suspension and 20" low profile wheels, you can fill the wheel wells, wow the paparatzi, be featured on maxima.org, and turn quicker than Mario Andretti. But a lowered suspension combined with very low profile tires doesn't leave enough 'spring flex' room or sidewall height to allow the suspension/tires to give a cushy ride.

Which is perfect for Mario Andretti wannabees. But less perfect for very old codgers like me who can no longer pass a toilet without stopping anyway.

 

Nitrogen filling is a sham. You cannot vaccum air out of the tires to get pure nitrogen in tires, and air is already 78% nitrogen. All you do is up the nitrogen percentage to something like 88-90%, and you would have a devil of a time convincing me that would make any difference.
Light, I do the opposite of what you do; I increase pressure when I'm going cross-country--I go for the better mileage rather than comfort, which is fine anyway.

 

I agree with you that nitrogen-filled tires do not offer the advantages over plain air that would warrant you or me paying money for. I also agree that it is not practical (if even possible) to totally replace the air in a tire with nitrogen.

When I was younger, and would be taking long trips with the wife and kids, and had the trunk so full I could barely close the lid, I always put a few extra pounds in the tires. This was to help the tires keep a normal profile under the increased weight, and, as you said, to get a smidgen better MPG. But that was when I still had bladder control.

 

So basically just like everyone else has been saying, you might as well get nitrogen in your tires but just don't pay for it.

 

Doesn't anyone use the reccomended 33 psi???

 

Just a cautionary tale here. A few years ago my "bladder challenged" brother and I left Dallas for a mad dash to Orlando. We both dutifully checked our tire pressures (albeit at 26F) and set off for a "low stop" highway speed run to Florida. As we approached the I-10 the air temp got to the 90s. While my little brother was using the facilities (at most of the all too frequent stops,) I checked my air pressure and adjusted the pressure as I saw it climbing (at one point it was over 40PSI..up from the 33 I set when leaving.) My bladder challenged little brother scoffed at my concern. However, when we reached Orlando, his center tread was at 2mm whilst outer was at 8mm. His scoff became my triumph as my treadwear was nominal.

Nitrogen or Not, proper pressure is key.

 

please tell me you were just making a bad joke

 

I provided hints as in the smilies. This did not work.

Yes, the sarcastic bad humor was to highlight the foolishness in paying for nitrogen in tires. How can nitrogen contained within a tire help cool brake disks that are already surrounded by air? This example should be obvious to everyone. But I betcha someone will pay money for nitrogen filled tires if someone told them it would help cool the brakes.

 

maybe you should check your post again because there were no "rolleye" smilies

 

I also noticed there were no smilies or 'j/k' or hints that he was kidding, yet knew from past posts that C/T Maxima was a rather bright fellow, so I thought about inquiring/responding, but was unsure how to approach this. I am glad you took the bull by the horns, so now I can stop wondering about any misled posters here thinking of 'cooling my brakes with nitrogen in my tires.'

 

My apologies for the missing smilies.

There is always danger in using humor at the very edge. In this case, it appears that the audience did not immediately get the point.

I am going to fire my ghost writer.

 

I do love humor at the edge, and was sure you were either kidding, or had started that post talking about one subject, then had been interrupted, and accidentally finished it talking about another subject.

But we do have a difficult situation here. From many years on the ORG, I have discovered everybody here was born, everybody here learned to eat, walk and talk (at least to some degree), almost everybody finished pre-K, almost everybody finished kindergarten, most finished high school, many finished college, and a few probably have their PhDs. It is not easy writing anything that is just right for such a diverse audience, and almost impossible to find an edge in humor that would apply board-wide. But I admire your effort.

 

...what's Kindergarten.....

 

German for 'little garden?' Day care with teachers? Preschool for future Maxima drivers?

All I remember was those stupid take home sheets my Mom had to sign. One of the questions was 'Plays well with others?' On that question, my sister always had the 'YES' box checked, and I always had the 'NO' box checked. Stupid kindergarten.

 

The local tire shop offered to put nitrogen in my tires for free. I declined. They did it anyway.

Technically it's better (very slightly lighter per volume*pressure, average molecule size is a tiny bit bigger IIRC, supposedly contains less moisture as if that really matters), but it doesn't make any difference near the point where you could even measure scientifically. Just give me air, thanks.