richbopp

I was at the dealers today to get the Z06's oil changed and find the brake fluid leak and the guy asked if I wanted to change to nitrogen in the tires. Claims better ride, better stablity, etc etc...... I was in a hurry so I didn't discuss much with him.

Anybody done it? Know about the results?

Thanks, Rich

Kotlas

The only significant difference that I know of is that nitrogen doesn't absorb moisture. Maybe this adds to riding comfort? I dunno.

hotwheels57

Use search this forum (in the red banner) in C5 Tech, using keyword "nitrogen" and see what you come up with.
This gets asked and debated regularly. The general consensus was it's a money maker for the vendors who sell it. Some shops routinely do it for free...

Robls6

seems like a waste of money to me. Just keep your tires properly inflated with compressed air and you'll be fine.

Milan

The air we breathe is 78% nitrogen. You decide if 100% nitrogen is worth it or not :thumbup:

AU N EGL

Unless you RACE your car, N2 is not worth the having the dealer make more money from you.

If you want N2, to buy a N2 regulator and rent a N2 tank.

chimazo

I prefer using Helium, as it is even lighter than air and shaves some serious weight off the car.

Higgs Boson

say no to Nitrogen.

richbopp

Thanks, that what I thought. I'll stick with the free air.

But the Helium does sound like a good idea...... and it makes you talk funny too.

LT1driver

I prefer free air, no to nitro cost

dbaker

N is more stable under pressure & heat.That's why NASCAR & other series uses it.If a tire is cut,you won't have a true "blow out" that could cause a wreck.

\db2
Carolina

CJR2

Nitrogen molecules are larger than pure air which reduces pressure loss, it's inert gas so it doesn't contribute to wheel corrosion. These are the reasons I've heard.

Some wheel manufactures put two valve stems on their racing wheels to allow the introduction of nitrogen gas while bleeding out the normal air.

ZeeOSix

I'd agree with the inert and no moisture in N2 ... but I've had N2 in another vehicle and the tires seemed to lose pressure just as fast as the vehicles I've had plain air in the tires. After a couple of times when I needed some more N2 I just started using air in them.

I'm not sold ... especially since it's a PIA to get your tires topped off when I can just grab the air hose at home.

CJR2

I agree...it's a smart marketing ploy!

TEXHAWK0

There is no measurable benefit. All it does is increase the amount of dollars that escape from your wallet.

danman_s

Extremely true. Any science or engineering majors can go quickly look at the molecular behavior of air compared to nitrogen and find that the ideal gas pressure/temp relations are almost exactly the same until you hit temperatures where parts of the car are burning.

I was always told that racing teams used nitrogen out of convenience since they simply could go buy bottles of compressed nitrogen for quick fill ups instead of lugging around air compressors.

zee sting

All aircraft tires utilize it due to the pressure on the tires upon landing.

danman_s

But air and nitrogen already have very similar compressibility, especially since air is already 78% nitrogen.

I'm willing to bet it's done for corrosion reasons and to eliminate water vapor inside the tires because of the extreme range of temperatures the tires will be exposed to.

CJR2

I would agree

larrysb

Not all aircraft tires are filled with nitrogen. I own two aircraft and neither have nitrogen fill, except for the times when I was lazy and used the N2 cylinder to fill them.

I use N2 in the landing gear struts, since the pressure is so high that a normal comrpessor can't fill them.

I've done the experiment in my 'vette with N2 on one side and plain old air on the other. No difference in pressure, temperate or anything else. Any talk of molecule size is just nonsense.

Larger aircraft tires are generally filled with nitrogen for several reasons. The biggest so they don't catch fire. Imagine a large tire composed of combustible hydrocarbon based rubber, filled with 300 lbs of air with 20% oxygen, on a magnesium wheel, bolted to a disk brake array that's bigger around than Aunt Fanny's @ss, and a 400,000 pound aircraft landing and trying to stop in the shortest possible distance from a touchdown speed of 180 mph.

You might wanna fill that with something that doesn't have air in it.

The other reason to fill the airplane tires with N2 is moisture. Airplane takes off in 90 degree heat in Florida and in less than 15 minutes is cruising at FL 370 in -60F temperature. Any moisture in that tire is going to freeze into a solid lump, unbalancing the wheel for the aforementioned touch down.

But your Corvette ain't never gonna need any of that.

The real deal behind this Nitrogen scam is the company that produces the nitrogen concentrators (takes compressed air and weeds out the other gasses) decided to go looking for "new markets" for their machines. They latched onto the tire shops and sold them machines on the premise of recouping the investment in the N2 concentrator and making a profit at some small charge per inflation.

All the rest is pure marketing BS or genius, depending on how you look at it. No (extremely little if any) technical merit.

The tire shop probably got sold on the idea too. Just because they put tires on cars all day doesn't mean they know a damn thing about, cars, tires or anything other than selling tires. Molecular physics is probably not a core job skill at the Tire Ranch.