Nitrogen In Tyres

Chris.S · February 17, 2008

I'm going to get my tyres filled with nitrogen soon, has anyone already had it done and whats the benefits

Steve_D · February 17, 2008

Chris,

I just found this http://www.lexusownersclub.co.uk/forum/ind...showtopic=21511

Rob · February 17, 2008

nothing mate dont bother

Chris.S · February 17, 2008

Cheers, was offered it for free but wasnt sure if it was worth having

Tony-Bones · February 17, 2008

The larger molecule will slow normal deflation and the reduced moisture will reduce corrosion at the wheels bead line... If the fee is £0 then have it, what is there to lose?

Scorps01 · February 17, 2008

The larger molecule will slow normal deflation and the reduced moisture will reduce corrosion at the wheels bead line... If the fee is £0 then have it, what is there to lose?

Then you can report back after a few thousand miles and give a verdict. :D

yemgi · February 17, 2008

I am still not convinced it will change anything on a road car and it means you can only reinflate the tyre with nitrogen which to me is the biggest problem

Tony-Bones · February 17, 2008

I am still not convinced it will change anything on a road car and it means you can only reinflate the tyre with nitrogen which to me is the biggest problem

No you can use compressed air but this will dilute the benefits.... In time Nitrogen will be the the expected form of inflation, wim's new centre will use Nitrogen without cost to the owner.... It's the way forward.

Dave-Ellen · February 17, 2008

its good for track days as it doesnt get hot like air.............pressures will remain constant

Sagitar · February 17, 2008

its good for track days as it doesnt get hot like air.............pressures will remain constant

I am sorry to be blunt, but that really is cobblers. Tyres on wheels in motion flex, the flexure generates internal friction, the temperature of the tyre rises and some of the heat generated is transferred to the inflating fluid, whatever it is. Similarly, rolling friction between tyre and road generates heat and some of this is transferred to the inflating fluid. After running for some time some level of temperature equilibrium will be reached, where the heat generated is balanced by the heat radiated to atmosphere. This temperature is always higher than the temperature at rest. It is simply not possible to run an inflated tyre from cold without a rise in its temperature. This is one of the reasons why racing tyres are pre-heated - it minimises the change in working temperature when the tyre is run.

Every gas, including nitrogen, obeys the standard gas laws.

The general gas law says that pressure times volume divided by absolute temperature is a constant. So if the temperature of the inflating fluid rises, so will its pressure. There may be some small expansion of the contained volume of a tyre because of the increase in pressure, but it will not be enough to counteract the whole of the pressure rise.

Nitrogen may perform better than wet air because the evaporation of the water content of wet air will give rise to greater pressure changes for a given rise in temperature. If however, clean/dry air is used, it is a perfect gas and obeys exactly the same gas laws as nitrogen. In normal road-going vehicles the difference is so marginal as to be not worthwhile. In racing, the difference is worthwhile and it is probably easier to provide a supply of nitrogen than a supply of clean dry air.

The essential reason why nitrogen is used in certain applications such as aircraft tyres and hydraulic/pneumatic systems is safety. Since it contains no oxygen, nitrogen will not support combustion.

I am sure we have been through all this before . . . . .

Einstein · February 17, 2008

I believe air is about 78.1% nitrogen anyway... oxygen is about 20.9%

All the other gases are below 1% (obviously) :)

John

chandru · February 17, 2008

I believe air is about 78.1% nitrogen anyway... oxygen is about 20.9%
All the other gases are below 1% (obviously) :)

John

they dont call u einstein for nothing ;)

Einstein · February 17, 2008

True... but it's nothing to do with maths :)

John

Boxbrownie · February 18, 2008

Its true....air is about 80% Nitrogen.....so I can pump my tyres up with standard air.....the air particles being smaller than the nitrogen (so every "expert" tells us) can gradually seep out.....I then continue to top up my tyres with standard air.....but of course I now have a higher mix of Nitrogen to air as the original Nitrogen is still in the tyre being unable to escape as fast as the Oxygen....so I keep topping up as they gradually loose Oxygen......sooner or later I have 99.9% Nitrogen in my tyres anyway!

Anyone want to buy a bottle of snake oil too......it'll make anything better/bigger/harder/richer/longer/wider/faster/slower or whatever you want it to do!

Best regards David