At 48,000km and nearly 2 yrs old, I've just replaced my tyres with same type, Bridgestone Potenzas. Got them filled with nitrogen cause told "it's better"!

Is it just me, but I was expecting awesome handling just like when it was new, but the car seems to "float" more, doesn't seem to hug as sweet as before and seems jittery on the road. Still grips well, but don't have the immediate confidence as before.

Have I done the wrong thing? I haven't talked to mazda yet or BJ Tmart, thought I'd check here first for anyone with similar experience.

Michael

 

Air is 78% nitrogen. And alot cheaper. Should try Helium.

 

Ive got the nitrogen air in my tyres too, it came together when i bought new tyres, dont think it will have any bearing on the perforamnce/handling. THe idea behind using pure nitrogen is apparently it doesnt leak as much as like using normal air.

 

New tires are always "squidgy" when new.....they actually have better grip...and less tread block distortion when they are about 1/2 worn out. Thats why racers shave the tires.....for dry traction

Give them a chance to wear in a bit for a bit as well....the can really be slippery till you wear of the mold release and stuff

 

I love this logic

 

Probably the main advantage of nitrogen out of a bottle versus air from the compressor is that it has less moisture in it - it's quite dry. When the air in the tyre cools, the water vapour can condense and the tyre pressure drops. If you fill your tyres in a very humid climate, this can make a bit of difference. Every 18mL of liquid water makes 22.4L of water vapour at normal temperature and pressure (this is a fact of physical chemistry). If you fill your tyres with dry nitrogen (or dry air), there will be less pressure variation between hot and cold. This is probably of interest to racing drivers where fractions of a second spell the difference, but for the rest of us punters, well, I'd say you'll never notice it.

As has already been stated, air is already 78% nitrogen. I'm not even sure whether pure nitrogen would leak at a slower rate, since there's not much difference in the size of the molecules. In fact, the atomic weight of oxygen (16) is a bit higher than nitrogen (14). Even when it gets down to the specific heat of the two gases, it's scarcely enough to make a difference.

So I reckon the nitrogen in tyres thingy is probably 98% hot air and 2% fact.

Going off topic ever so slightly, I think the best time to check your tyre pressure is first thing in the morning, before you drive off and the tyres warm up.

 

I was told by the guy that does my nitrogen that nitrogen will leak faster than air and the biggest benefit from nitrogen is that it doesnt expand like air does when the tyres heat up.

Andrew

 

"Better" Hehehe - better for the tyre stores $$$$

 

I had this discussion over twelve months back. Some guy claimed amazing performance benefits when using nitrogen in his RX-8 tyres....


Read the whole thread here.

 

had done the Nitrogen inflation on my TT... to be honest, it doesnt do jack **** on normal traffic jammed daily communit.....
from what i have been told/read, it is lighter than air, due to less/no water content, and therefore will not expand.
it isnt supposed to leak when compared to the normal air.
the main advantage for doing that is if you will be doing lots of long distance driving.....
BJ T-mart charged 20 buck for 4 back in 2003..... and i traded it in for the 8 about 2/2.5 months after

 

unless they pulled a vacuum on the tire and eliminated all the air in the cavity before inserting N2 you probably aren't much better than using air, and over time O2 will actually osmosis through the sidewall, which isn't as solid as you think and nature can't stand an imbalance. And you will eventually need to add pressure for the same reason, what are you going to do then, whip out your charged canister of N2? Moisture isn't the only thing responsible for a a pressure change when hot/cold, you still have the General Ideal Gas Law to contend with PV=nRT

FWIW, helium is even worse ... it's a racing deal and a racing deal only i.e., short term and high maintenance.

 

Yeah Fick's second law is a bitch.

And the He suggestion was facetious.

 

At least you will speak funny when you let the air out to lower the tyre's psi.

 

HA HA...Synical bastard

Andrew

 

Funny I seem to remember that most of the air we breathe anyway is Nitrogen...

 

Yeah - 78%, apparently. So if we put 2 atmoshperes pressure or air in it, does that mean it end up at 156% nitrogen? j/k Hehehehehe.

 

There is three total atms (cause there is one atm in the tire before you start to fill it), 2 gauge. so that would be 234%

 

Dang, I hate it when I get the math wrong. :p

 

nitrogen = pro teams use it cause it contains less water wapor, it expands less than air, and provides a more constant air pressure.

remeber this is in a place where every 1/100th of a sec can mean a win or a loss, and gain or lose you tens of thousands of dollars.

On the street i think its pointless to pay extra, if it comes with the package then who cares..

 

You can get the same effect out of dry compressed air, however, it is more convenient to get dry nitrogen, since it is produced during the separation of oxygen and nitrogen during the liquifaction process. The water vapour gets frozen out first.

There's insufficent difference in the physical properties of nitrogen and air (78%N2, 22%O2) to make any measurable improvement. It's the water vapour which is the problem.