My study on Nitrogen in Tyres concludes

kiwi · Post by **kiwi** » Sat Jul 02, 2011 10:47 pm

Ok so got my flame suit on ready for the backlash

Two years ago my TZS was fitted with 4 new tyres all of which filled with that controversial gas Nitrogen. Now lets get this bit straight they cost nothing to fill the cost was in the price and compared to another qoute I got actually cheaper.

Conclussion after 34,000 kms with Firehawk TZ100s
Front 2mm
Rear 5mm

In that two years Only once have they been in for a Top up which was to 35psi today checked all at 31 psi

How does that compare to the tyres without Nitrogen? I have no idea because the TRS is low mileage and fitted with the old long life michelins at the moment.
Given the abrasive nature of the roads I drive that Tyre wear seems pretty good compared to the last set which had poor traction and wore 10,000kms faster.

Only conclussion is less tyre pressure lost.

citronut · Post by **citronut** » Sun Jul 03, 2011 8:20 am

at least you are carrying spare gas for you spheres

regards malcolm

Mothman · Post by **Mothman** » Sun Jul 03, 2011 8:38 am

I have plenty of methane.

Post by **Defender110** » Sun Jul 03, 2011 8:49 am

Never heard of this before, so what possible advantages can filling with nitrogen have on tyre inflation. It has exactly the same physical characteristics as air which already contains 79% nitrogen

Post by **mat_fenwick** » Sun Jul 03, 2011 10:12 am

This very debate kicked off a while back - I think the theory is that if you inflate with pure(ish) nitrogen it should be dry, unlike compressed air which *may* contain moisture (if there is no drier in the airline). Therefore, you get less corrosion of the rim, and tyre pressures stay higher. This gives you a fuel economy advantage over those that don't check their tyre pressures regularly...

Unfortunately, without doing a back to back test with air over exactly the same conditions, it's difficult to draw any real kind of conclusion, and even then you would want a larger sample than just two!

mds141 · Post by **mds141** » Tue Jul 05, 2011 1:56 am

This nitrogen tyre thing is just a load of hot air.

kermit the frog · Post by **kermit the frog** » Tue Jul 05, 2011 3:45 pm

nitrogen is used in tyres in motorsport as for the reasons Matt said there is no moisture and therefor it increases in pressure with temperature at a known rate.
The tyres are pressurised to 1.4 bar at ambiant temp and then heated in blankets like F1 and at 100 degrees they are at around 2.2 bar
If the same was done with air containing moisture the pressure could be a lot higher at 100 degrees due to steam production.

Kermit

Post by **Defender110** » Tue Jul 05, 2011 5:27 pm

ah ha! thanks for that Kermit.

kermit the frog · Post by **kermit the frog** » Tue Jul 05, 2011 8:59 pm

I used to work in the British Touring car championship in 1998/1999
When we used tyre warmers and we inflated all the tyres with Nitrogen
And then heated them in the blankets to whatever temp the engineers desired
We had 88 wheels for 2 cars.
We had sets of wets ,intermediate ,slicks and soft qualifying tyres all heated and ready for use.
In 1999 we used £2.7 million worth of Michelin tyres for 2 cars in one season.
I can't remember how many bottles of Nitrogen we gat through but it must have been quite a lot.
Those were the days
Ah Memories are great

Kermit

kiwi · Post by **kiwi** » Tue Jul 05, 2011 10:31 pm

Kermit

Not sure on the relevance to this subject or maybe just something the Tyre Fitters have become lazy on but I was told by Firestone fitters that the tyre pressures should be 35psi on the BX which as we all know is not what is on the door pillers.

For that reason I reduced the pressures down to 32psi to allow for "leakage" plus the thought of centre tread wear over being over pressured.

When I get a chance I will have to post the after shots of these tyres! Because I have no roundabouts to navigate hear the wear is pretty even the sidewalls do take a hammering though because of the amount of cornering they endure. 85kph corner + BX = 100kph

kermit the frog · Post by **kermit the frog** » Wed Jul 06, 2011 1:05 pm

I do agree that 35 psi is a bit on the high side and as you say this can lead to high wear rates on the centre tread.
Also too low a tyre pressure can lead to excessive wear on the shoulders of the tread.
So deffinately the correct tyre pressures and regular checks are the way to go.
I wouldn't worry about the Nitrogen bit it is only really relevant in high performance applications such as the Nissan GTR which has special tyres which are designed for that car and have to be inflated with Notrogen.

Kermit

Vanny · Post by **Vanny** » Wed Jul 06, 2011 5:24 pm

kermit the frog wrote:heated in blankets like F1 and at 100 degrees they are at around 2.2 bar

If BX tyres get to 100c in normal road use you've a much more serious problem than pressures

kiwi · Post by **kiwi** » Thu Jul 07, 2011 11:23 am

So anyone else got any ACTUAL conclussions to add other than POVs?

Philip Chidlow · Post by **Philip Chidlow** » Thu Jul 07, 2011 12:02 pm

OK it is a POV, but having read the thread it's pretty clear; putting Nitrogen in your tyres - for an everyday road car - was a waste of time and a gimmick. Drive a track/racing car and it's a different matter.

MULLEY · Post by **MULLEY** » Fri Jul 08, 2011 9:41 pm

All my tyres leak air over a month so they get topped up every week, so paying extra for nitrogen in my case would start to get rather expensive, i might need to top them up less frequently but they'd still need doing.