Nitrogen filled tires???

Outkast

Outkast

Dedicated LVC Member
Joined
Mar 11, 2008
Messages
1,423
Reaction score
1
Location
Swansea, Il
I know I know....snake oil right, or is it?

Long story short, my buddy drives an 04 Silverado SS. He avg 14.9 hwy to and from his job 99% hwy. He changed over to nitrogen, 4$ per tire, and claims to now be running, 18.4 mpg at the same speed 70MPH, and a lil over 20 at 55.

Is this real? The local news last night just did a story on a city here, that changed all of their company vehicles to Nitrogen, and claim this will save the city big bucks.

I guess I wanna hear from you if you tried it or know someone who has tried it, and what the outcome was. They claim better MPG's, longer tire life, and better ride.

This really is not such a big deal for my LS, but more so for my Expedition that only gets 11 or so in town, and 16 hwy, but some people may want it for their LS.
 
I see maybe about longer tire life, because maybe it doesn't have moisture or something that could contribute to tire degradation from the interior. Regular air in the atmosphere is about 80% nitrogen already. I don't see that big of a change by subbing pure nitrogen.
 
Let's see...
Air is over 78% nitrogen anyway.
They can't pull a vacuum on the tire and get most of the air out of it anyway.
Oxygen and water vapor will pass through the tire anyway.

So, instead of 78% nitrogen, you will start out with say 90+% nitrogen, but after a week or two you will be back to 80% nitrogen.

Having nitrogen in the tire won't change gas mileage at all. It doesn't matter what's inside the tire. What matters is what pressure the tire is inflated to.
 
Joe, I wasn't there, but my friend said that they hook up all 4 tires at once (still on the vehicle) and "suck" the air out. He was told it is a vaccum, but he didn't say how much, then refilled with Nitrogen. The tire guy (I know...salesman) claimed it would replace 99% of the air with Nitrogen.
 
If he properly inflated his tires with Nitrogen and they were under inflated before..then yes those mileage gains are beliveable.
is it due to the nitrogen.. NOPE
Proper tire inflation is the key.

Chances are, it's cold, winter... his tires were low on pressure before the nitrogen.

Have him take 10LBS of nitrogen out and recaculate his mileage...I'd be willing to bet it goes RIGHT back to where it was before he filled with nitrogen

YES..it's snake oil
we get over 70% nitrogen out a regular air compressor
they are going to charge you a premium to put the other "less than 20% by volume in the tire"?

Snaaaaake Oil
 
joegr said:
Having nitrogen in the tire won't change gas mileage at all. It doesn't matter what's inside the tire. What matters is what pressure the tire is inflated to.
Click to expand...

well said and in far less words that I used.
Good job
 
The worst part is, this guy is my best friend, and fellow gear head, so its hard for me to not believe him....but its even harder to believe its true.
 
Nitrogen isn't a magic bullet

The only benefit to nitrogen is it's more stable as temperatures vary.
it doesnt expand and contract as much as regular air does..

it ONLY provides LESS pressure variance under differing temperatures.

A properly inflated tire with regular air will net the same mileage as a properly inflated tire with nitrogen.. that is ALL it amounts to...proper inflation
 
They used to have it at the Audi dealer I worked at and wanted us to sell it for like 79.95 or something. They do hook it to all four tires and deflate and reflate at the same time. It is supposed to be dryer, more stable (meaning stays a consistant pressure better than regular air), with the 79.95 also came 1 year road side assist and some other things. I would not even try to sell it, just looking for an ass whipping if i did. Read their claims here;

http://www.nitrofill.com/
 
XLRVIII said:
Nitrogen isn't a magic bullet

The only benefit to nitrogen is it's more stable as temperatures vary.
it doesnt expand and contract as much as regular air does..

it ONLY provides LESS pressure variance under differing temperatures.

A properly inflated tire with regular air will net the same mileage as a properly inflated tire with nitrogen.. that is ALL it amounts to...proper inflation
Click to expand...

+1
It's not snake oil, it does what it is suppose to do - more predictable pressure changes, some claim less leakage. It not about the nitrogen but having less oxygen. Most racing teams use it now - since they are squeezing every last drop of perofrmance they can out of a car, with increments of 1/10th of a pound of air pressure - nitrogen is more predictable.

http://www.getnitrogen.org/why/index.php
 
Quik LS said:
+1
It's not snake oil, it does what it is suppose to do - more predictable pressure changes, some claim less leakage. It not about the nitrogen but having less oxygen. Most racing teams use it now - since they are squeezing every last drop of perofrmance they can out of a car, with increments of 1/10th of a pound of air pressure - nitrogen is more predictable.

http://www.getnitrogen.org/why/index.php
Click to expand...

right in freaking indy cars, a .1 of a lb makes a huge difference.

That doesnt mean street cars are gonna benefit any shape form or fashion just because Indy and Nascar does.

A street car wouldn't be able to TELL a .1 lb difference in tire pressure.

while it might work for all out race teams who have already covered ALL the bases, I stand by my original statement that it offers NO benefit to EVERYDAY people.

more predictable is a meaningless term in a street car DD environment.
 
Outkast said:
WOW!!! I will save 259$ every year :shifty: lol
Click to expand...

how far would a 2MPG increase have to be driven to save that much money in a year?

I think your seeing this with open eyes..tho...the cost simply doesnt add up to the savings you will get...and IMHO that is the exact definition of snake oil.

If the mod cant produce the advertised performance for the dollar, or the fuel savings equal to the cost of the mod, then it's SNAKE OIL.
 
:blah: :blah: :blah:

Again - I am not disagreeing with you. It does what it is suppose to do. If that is overkill in your opinion - fine, keep your money, and keep you tires properly inflated - which you ovisously do - so ... likely you are not the target with this - right?

But the general population needs a little more help it seems, hence why TPMS is now standard.
 
XLRVIII said:
how far would a 2MPG increase have to be driven to save that much money in a year?

I think your seeing this with open eyes..tho...the cost simply doesnt add up to the savings you will get...and IMHO that is the exact definition of snake oil.

If the mod cant produce the advertised performance for the dollar, or the fuel savings equal to the cost of the mod, then it's SNAKE OIL.
Click to expand...

dude calm down, it was a sarcastic joke...hence the shady smiley...:)

anyway, from the reading I've done, it seems like low tire pressure was probably his downfall, and why he recorded such a drastic fuel milage increase. I really wanted to be able to prove him wrong, but it seems like, just like quik said...does exactly what its supposed to do...

I guess there is really no reason to try it out , I keep a pretty good eye on my tire pressures.
 
Just keep checking the air pressure every 3-4 weeks and you will be ok. If you have big drop in temp then you should recheck the pressure. We are lucky here in SoCal that the temp is not that big of a difference from day to day. But I am on the tire pressure on all cars.
 
There will be lees leakage due to the larger molecule of nitrogen, less wheel problems due to less moisture, and what dryrots tires is ultra violet light due to sun, And less variances in pressure from heat. Not better mpgs though.
 
Quik LS said:
:blah: :blah: :blah:
.
Click to expand...

right back atcha brother...

you're starting to sound like one of those guys at Discount Tire.. quoting BS that doesnt apply to Daily Driven cars...

But.. whatever give you a "warm fuzzy feeling" aint no skin of my back if you pay almost 100.00 to have your tires "aired up"....

lolz
 
LEOV5 said:
Just keep checking the air pressure every 3-4 weeks and you will be ok. If you have big drop in temp then you should recheck the pressure. We are lucky here in SoCal that the temp is not that big of a difference from day to day. But I am on the tire pressure on all cars.
Click to expand...

+1

Well said, key being use the same tire gage and check once a month other than big drop in temp or tire pressure.
 
from that website.. I got "THIS FAR"

"If you are one of the 85% of Americans who
don't regularly check tire pressure, you need
nitrogen."

So if your one of the dip:q:q:q:q 85% that doesnt properly maintain their car properly then.. OK.. I see your point.

I dont fall into that 85% of dumbasses that are too stupid to CHECK THEIR TIRE PRESSURE...

Oh and our RIMS wont RUST..because of the lower water vapor content

NEWSFLASH, our RIMS wont rust even if you filled the tires with WATER...

DURRR.

it's good for NASCAR and Commercial Airlines.. so that means EVERY grocery getting should use it too??

not.

dang quickLS, I didn't think you "fell so hard" for this kinds of stuff....guess YOU fall into that 85% that wont check their tire pressure?

I know I dont..... but... whatever airs up your tires bro..it's all good with me.
 
XLRVIII said:
Oh and our RIMS wont RUST..because of the lower water vapor content

NEWSFLASH, our RIMS wont rust even if you filled the tires with WATER...

DURRR.

.
Click to expand...

you sure about that...what about steel wheels, and chrome
 
What about corrosion, it eats aluminum, just like rust eats iron minerals, correct. Moisture plays a big part in corrosion. I'm just sayin.
 
XLRVIII, with all of your rants in the these posts could you do at least one M'Kay...... just for me?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Members online

Total: 199 (members: 2, guests: 197)
Back
Top