I use a special nitrogen blend in my tires. 80% N ....O2, bit of He, H, Arg, water vapor make up the rest :D

 

lol, Danno beat me to it. Nitrogen is mostly just a gimmick. Come on, Tire Disounters uses it as their big marketing ploy, even puts lime green stem caps on so they look cool too.

 

Guys, nitrogen is not a gimmick but the reason you use it is easily misunderstood. It isn't the nitrogen gas itself--it's the lack of any moisture in that gas. You could use compressed air to achieve the same effect--provided that air was completely dry. Most air compressors accumulate water in the tank which then gets into the tire. When the tire heats up the water turns to vapor and expands dramatically--with a corresponding spike in tire pressure. Eliminate that moisture and you eliminate fluctuating tire pressures.
________
Lancia Lc2

 

I have a compressor that puts out totally dry air from another hobby...I purge the tires and refill ...no water vapour problems :D Any guesses on the hobby :D

 

Wild guess, scuba diving?

 

It's good for people that store their cars. their tires don't go flat as often.

No benefit for the average driver.

 

Good guess......water vapor really sucks when you are ice diving in the winter :D

 

I use a special mix of gasses:

78% Nitrogen
21% Oxygen
1% Water
Trace amounts of Ar CO2 HE CH4 Ne

Oh, and a teeny tiny touch of O3

:D

 

Actually, it doesn't suck, that's the problem!

 

Well..actually the regs usually freeze open and free flow....you need to suck as much as you can and hightale it to the hole :D

 

I simply thought the use of nitrogen in tyres was a safety thing. Less danger in the case of a brake fire. We use them all the time in aircraft tyres for that reason. Good explination (above) was really confused before your explination what the benefits on a streetcar would be. Got an unlimited supply of nitrogen at work, but dont think i will bother using them in my tyres. Wayyyyy too much hassle. I'll stick to dry air outta my compressor at home

 

Sorry if this is a repost but I read that nitrogen in tires give the car better performance. Is this true? If it is, how many of RX8er here do it?

My brother drives a G35 coupe and he regularly visits this site and so I stumbled upon this article.

It was pretty interesting. Check out these Enkei wheels that let's you insert nitrogen while bleeding out air. Dual valves! Sick!

 

if the wheel has dual valves good idea. if you are at the 95% of driving skill.. or just for fun... if you have one valve you are getting it in the, well..

not a good idea..

beers

 

nitrogen will stay in the tire longer.
when there are temp changes from cold to hot, tires with air will loose pressure

tires with nitrogen will keep a steady psi no matter what

 

i know at least one bmw dealer out here has installed nitrogen "pumps" for their service center they sent out a flyer advertising the benefits of using nitrogen and that they had one installed.

 

w/air you're also adding water vapor in the tire. which when it condenses the small amount of water stays in the tire. saw it on Goss' Garage on MotorTrend (PBS)

 

it's simply a marketing gimmick to separate $$$ from uninformed motorists, you're not driving an Indy car it's of no consequence for the pressure to fluctuate on the typical street car tire

the atmosphere is already 75% nitrogen, the difference between oxygen and nitrogen is small and only a small portion of the remaining air composition, and most leaks are not osmonic in nature, not to mention that you should be checking your pressure on a regular basis anyways because you can't foresee small cuts, picking up a nail, etc. ....

 

Agreed.

 

and of course there's not an N2 tank on every corner when you do need to add pressure, and you will need to ...

 

When I got my new tires installed and balanced they filled with nitrogen. No charge. Good
The Chrysler dealer wanted $60 for nitrogen fill! Bad...

Any difference with nitrogen? Not that I've noticed.

 

Somebody hasn't learned about the gas laws.

Short story, any gas that changes temperature in a fixed volume will change pressure. The type of gas really only affects the degree to which a change in pressure, volume or amount of gas affects the rest of the equation (calulations are usually adjusted by Van der Waals constants).

 

Nitrogen makes NO difference on a street car. It's actually worse because you're paying for it and regular air is basically free. The only potential value I see is if you're storing tires long term and trying to prevent dry rot.

The only reason racers use it is that it's much easier to exactly calculate the change in pressure due to change in temperature. You can still be pretty close with regular air, just not as exact because of humidity changes, elevation changes, etc.

Unless you are skilled enough to be at the top tier of professional racing and are driving a race car where there are major changes in tire temperature it's dumb to fill your street cars tires with nitrogen.

 

You paid for it whether you realized it or not ...

 

Does any have any input on this? The local dealer says it increases tire life around %35 if I remember right and gas mileage 1 or 2 mpg. I've been looking around and seem to get mixed reviews. What happens if your tire pressure is low? Do I have to get to the dealer again and pay another $25 to correct the pressure? Say if you were on a road trip and needed air can you add air to the nitrogen or would I have to go to a supplier?
What about fix a flat, can you still use it? Not that I would unless I was stranded but it could happen.
Anyway any thoughts or ideas would be helpful.

Btw new to the board. Just pick up my 04 rx8 last week. So far I love it! Miss the turbo my FD had but that can be taken care of

O one more this had the emmisions recall done and there saying there was a misfire code and I need new plugs and wires. If I read right shouldn't they have replaced the plugs when doing the recall?

 

well a little back ground first... Nitrogen is the new sales tool in tires.

78.08% of all air (at 1000ft above sea level) is Nitrogen, so bumping it up to 98% (the average when a tire is filled) is not a big jump as basic air is mostly Nitrogen.

The idea, is that pure nitrogen leaks less through the rubber of the tire, so tires stay inflated to the set pressure much longer. Also since most tires are filled either by a tank or Nitrogen generator (or more accurately a scrubber) there is the potential for less moisture to be placed into the tire, in combination with less Oxygen, means reduced possibility of internal degradation of the tire and rubber.

So if less air leaks from the tire, and tires stay at set pressure longer, that is where they are claiming increased tire life and increased mileage. If you stay on top and check your tire pressure regularly then using nitrogen will really make no difference.

As far as adding tire life from lack of Oxygen. Since you generally are using performance tires on a RX-8, the tire life is usually less than 5 years anyway. If you are long term storing the car, then the extra life of nitrogen will help.

You can top off nitrogen filled tires with regular air, since again, regular air is mostly nitrogen anyway.

And if they are charging you $25 for nitrogen in the tires, they are ripping you off.