Nitrogen
 

does anybody know where to fill tires with N2? couldn't come up with anything :banghead:

I think costco does it, but it's pretty pointless.

I was under the impression that Nitrogen filled tires had less fluctuation of pressure when heated compared to regular air.

That is true but it's mostly used in road race applications when they need a consistent air pressure from cold tires to hot. For a daily driver or autocross it's really a waste of money when you can just go to a gas station once a month or so and check your tires IMO.

really? well thanks anyway; i'll look into it. anywhere else? shouldn't the dealer have it? it's for my 2 month old '08 car, just got it and need to
replace the front passenger tire (i didn't get the tire warrenty). afterall
it came with n2 already in all four tires. i'll call monday!

When I had my Tacoma in for service last at Toyota of Richardson, they asked me if I wanted to fill its tires with nitrogen. On a truck? WTF? :ponder:

since nitrogen molecules are larger than that of oxygen supposedly its supposed to help prevent leaks. its about 98% bs to sell you something though

well from what i hear from people who use it.....

- less to no fluctuation on psi
- they all swear the ride is a little smoother

this is from car and bike owners

The goodyear near me does. Perhaps they all do(?)

Umm... fail.

Nitrogen is still a gas. It is not some mythical, magical substance.

As a gas, nitrogen still obeys the Ideal Gas Law. What does that mean? It means that as the temperature of a gas in a closed system (like a tire) increases, the pressure increases proportionally.

The reason race teams use nitrogen instead of air is simple: air has water vapor in it. The amount of water vapor in the air influences the rate of expansion of said air in response to an increase in temperature. By contrast, nitrogen is a "dry" gas, so it will expand at the same rate regardless of how humid it is. Race teams like this predictability, so they use nitrogen instead of air.

In other words, nitrogen won't stop the pressure in your tires from fluctuating, it will only make them fluctuate more predictably. If you need to calculate the pressure response of your tires on a regular basis, you will find nitrogen useful. If you don't, you won't. It's that simple.

Regarding ride quality: many things influence ride quality, but what you fill your tires with is not one of them. For any given tire and car combination, a tire inflated to 30 psi with air will ride the same as a tire filled to 30 psi with nitrogen, or argon, or neon, for that matter.

Long story short, if someone tells you their car rides better because they filled their tires with nitrogen, they are a f&$%ing idiot. If someone is putting nitrogen in their passenger car tires, especially if those tires will never be used in a competition environment, they are a f%&$ing idiot. There are a lot of f^#$ing idiots out there. Don't be one of them.