Free Nitrogen filling for tyres
Discussion
Not sure if this has been posted before but I thaught i would pass it on. Costco in leckwith are filling car tyres with nitrogen for free as long as you are a member, it doesnt even matter if you did not buy tyres from them. It may sound like a gimick but a former aircraft engineer the science is sound and its free.
I really don't see the point myself.
All the talk that nitrogen molecules are smaller than air molecules and won't escape from tyres as quickly has been proven many times to be a load of rubbish as air is contains mainly nitrogen anyway.
The only benefit really is in racing cars where the pressure of nitrogen is more stable as temperature increases so you don't get tyres going off or taking ages to come on due to low/high pressure. Obviously this is of no real use on the road as 99% of the time you won't even be able to generate enough heat in road tyres and its only worth a few tenths anyway which you ain't going to notice.
Also having tried nitrogen in kart tyres its not as simple as people make out. Simply inflating tyres with nitrogen won't work becuase theres air already in there. You need to create a complete vacuum in the tyre first then fill with totaly pure nitrogen. Most compressors will let some form of moisture in for a start and even the slightest amount will defeat the object.
To do it properlly actually requires more than your usual garage compressor.
If its free then theres no harm in doing it but don't pay for it and don't expect it to make a difference.
I'd of thought it would have been debated on here before but if not do a search on various motor racing forums and its normally been debated to death and the general consensus is even for racing its more hassle than its worth.
All the talk that nitrogen molecules are smaller than air molecules and won't escape from tyres as quickly has been proven many times to be a load of rubbish as air is contains mainly nitrogen anyway.
The only benefit really is in racing cars where the pressure of nitrogen is more stable as temperature increases so you don't get tyres going off or taking ages to come on due to low/high pressure. Obviously this is of no real use on the road as 99% of the time you won't even be able to generate enough heat in road tyres and its only worth a few tenths anyway which you ain't going to notice.
Also having tried nitrogen in kart tyres its not as simple as people make out. Simply inflating tyres with nitrogen won't work becuase theres air already in there. You need to create a complete vacuum in the tyre first then fill with totaly pure nitrogen. Most compressors will let some form of moisture in for a start and even the slightest amount will defeat the object.
To do it properlly actually requires more than your usual garage compressor.
If its free then theres no harm in doing it but don't pay for it and don't expect it to make a difference.
I'd of thought it would have been debated on here before but if not do a search on various motor racing forums and its normally been debated to death and the general consensus is even for racing its more hassle than its worth.
Earl Grey said:
Unlike compressed AIR, Nitrogen does not expand as much as Air when HOT, so your tyre pressure does not rise as much as it would with nitrogen.
and when your tyre pressure rises it can have a profound effect on handling !
Fair point, but the car/tyre manufacturer would have allowed for this increase and, if you're correct, by filling it with nitrogen you'd be running at a lower pressure than they had allowed for.and when your tyre pressure rises it can have a profound effect on handling !
Earl Grey said:
Unlike compressed AIR, Nitrogen does not expand as much as Air when HOT, so your tyre pressure does not rise as much as it would with nitrogen.
and when your tyre pressure rises it can have a profound effect on handling !
And costco regulars care about that why? and when your tyre pressure rises it can have a profound effect on handling !
I have my own Nitrogen supply which is about 80% pure, I reckon that's good enough for most people.
blueyes said:
Earl Grey said:
Unlike compressed AIR, Nitrogen does not expand as much as Air when HOT, so your tyre pressure does not rise as much as it would with nitrogen.
and when your tyre pressure rises it can have a profound effect on handling !
Fair point, but the car/tyre manufacturer would have allowed for this increase and, if you're correct, by filling it with nitrogen you'd be running at a lower pressure than they had allowed for.and when your tyre pressure rises it can have a profound effect on handling !
You still fill the tyre to the recommended psi, it’s just with nitrogen it does not rise to the same scale as compressed air when the tyre is hot.
Tyre pressure can make such a large change to a cars handling, so if you start at 35psi in all 4 wheels on a FWD car, and this has been set on a cold day, if you give it some beans on a nice hot summers day, the tyre pressure WILL rise over 40 psi, and make the car drive very poor. You can reduce this factor by using nitrogen. It is an all round good thing for normal use and track day use or even fast road use and racing.
I suggest you go on a track day and you will soon see what I mean. Set your pressures at 35psi to start and see how long it takes to hit the wall!
the ONLY reason to use Nitrogen is to make the guesswork of starting pressures less of a guestimate, the variations from hot to cold are less so you can start from cold closer to the optimal psi when hot, it does't stop tyres overheating and it doesn't allow tyres to heat up or cool down any quicker, just removed some variations to make psi choice more accurate, that's all
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