The use of nitrogen gas to inflate car tyres has started to become a rising trend in Pakistan. Many car tyre shops across the country have been promoting the use of nitrogen to inflate tyres. Although the use of nitrogen to inflate car tyres has been something new for commercial vehicles, it has been used for racing cars and air crafts for a long time now. Nitrogen gas is expensive when compared to normal air for tyres. The cost of filling nitrogen into your tyres can go as high as 500 rupees at some tyre shops. But is it really worth it?
Also Read: Five Tips That Can Increase the Life of Your Car Tires
Drivers across Pakistan have many questions regarding the use of Nitrogen for car tyres. Questions like what does Nitrogen do to car tyres? Is the use of nitrogen gas safe? Is the additional cost justifiable? Are on the minds of many.
Well let’s start off with the basic question, what is nitrogen? Nitrogen is a colourless gas that makes 78% of our atmosphere. It is odourless and tasteless. And yes, there are some benefits of using Nitrogen gas for inflating car tyres. Here are a few of them:
Nitrogen is known to reduce the temperature of car tyres
- The car runs smoother
- The life of the tyre is increased
- Tyre pressure is maintained
- It doesn’t affect the rims
I am going to discuss a few Questions many might have regarding the use of Nitrogen to inflate car tyres.
Does Nitrogen gas keep the tyres cool?
Well according to research, the dryer the air the cooler the tyre remains. Regular compressed air has a considerable amount of moisture in it, thus resulting in the tyres to heat up at high speeds. Nitrogen contains less moisture, and that is why it keeps tyres cooler. So it might be a good idea to fill nitrogen in your tyres if you travel a lot and speed a lot.
Does Nitrogen make the car feel smoother?
No, there is no difference to the feel of the ride. There is no scientific reason or research to support this claim. The car would feel the same with either nitrogen or regular air. Though, at high speeds the ride quality might improve since nitrogen would maintain the temperature of the tyres better than normal air.
Will Nitrogen increase your tyres life?
Well yes, since temperature is reduced by nitrogen gas it will increase your tyres life. High temperatures do cause more wear and tear of tyres. Though this doesn’t mean that a car tyre life would be doubled, regularly check the condition of your tyres, and I would recommend changing tyres every four to five years.
Does Nitrogen maintain tyre pressure?
Tyre pressure changes with temperature. It is a good practice to check tyre pressures regularly, especially when the weather gets colder. Tyre pressure of normal air is said to increase with an increase in temperature. Nitrogen gas, on the other hand, has a stable pressure to temperature range, therefore maintaining tyre pressure better than normal compressed air.
Does Nitrogen gas escape tyres slowly compared to normal air?
The air of your tyres will eventually leak over time; this is something that does happen over time. This is because tubes and the tyre linings are porous to some extent. It is, therefore, a good practice to check tyre pressure regularly. Nitrogen leaks slower than normal air because of its chemical structure.
There are many other questions that come to mind when you consider using nitrogen in your car tyres. You should know that once you fill nitrogen into your car’s tyre, you have to fill nitrogen in them each time you go for a top up. The use of nitrogen does not mean that you never need to check tyre pressure either. Cost and availability are a huge factor to consider especially for the ordinary Pakistani. In my opinion, it’s really not worth the cost, unless of course, you own a sports car.
Normal air in tyres already have 78% Nitrogen gas in it.. There is no concept as 100% nitrogen gas for tyres.. The max nitrogen availability is 90% in so called nitrogen gas filled tyres. I acknowledge 90% nitrogen leaks lesser than normal 78% nitrogen filled air, but cost wise not economic. Durability is max 4X times. In Rs. 500, I can fill up my tyres as much as 25 times in a year whereas if you fill up nitrogen of Rs 500 x max 6 times makes your wallet bleed..
I wish if you had done some more research towards viability as well…
My dear, Please confirm me how much bioavailability of NITROGEN is there in Nitrogen gas vs 78% Nitrogen in simple air..
Four tyres refill cost 20 Rupess in Islamabad. In 500, can get 25 times refill……………….LOL to Nitrogen Gas
Yes this is what I was thinking about. If we are pumping simple air in it, it already has 78% Nitrogen. And if the max. Nitrogen level that can be achieved is 90%, then the only difference of mere 12% can’t just greatly multiply the time you get your tyres refilled.
what about filling LPG?
After a long time read something new and informative on pak wheels. so thumbs up for that .
Reading other commenters , i agree partially that yes the price increase should be appropriate to the benefits gained. and 500rs is too much .. may be if it was like 80-100 Rs then i might have gone for it. especially if tyres are new and and not damaged or worn out. then the long life and longer refill time would be worth it.
Boom!
No real benefit for road cars as the article reminds us that Air itself contains almost 80% nitrogen.
In racing you are playing around with minute details to gain tenths or hundredths of seconds, which explains the use of nitrogen and maintaining temperature. In everyday driving it just looks, sounds and feels impractical.
LoL. LPG……. Big BbBbbbbbbOOOOOoooooooooOOOOMMMMMMMMM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
* Tyre long life (through remaining cool): For the same budget, you have 2 options:1) Buy cheap tires and expensive refills, 2) Buy good quality expensive tires and cheap refill. As you may know, good quality tires from brands such as Michelin retain their properties for a very long time as compared to Pakistani or Chinese brands.
Therefore the choice is clear: Buy good brand name tires and use regular air.
* Maintaining tyre pressure and keeping it cooler: Again, good quality rubber will maintain its properties for a longer time. Therefore, prefer good quality tyres. Recently there are more and more TPMS and it has become easier to monitor the tyre pressure. And again, General tyres become grey and lose their grip once they heatup, but Michelin, Toyo, Sumitomo withstand extreme conditions to a great extent.
* Problem is our consumer behaviour. We do not demand necessary things like ABS, collapsible steering columns and quality spare parts, yet we jump on latest “shashkay” like anything regardless if the shashkay are useful or not.
correction guys, you can get 95 – 97% nitrogen per 100 psi. It depends on the filling setup, this very viable but questions raised as to the economical factors, weight out the usage in normal cars
Nitrogen is great if you have an expensive car like at least a beamer or benz.
For the rest of us TEEN-DABBA drivers I don’t think its even worth the price as too many other factors come in to play as well.
From where i can find nitrogen gas in Lahore ?
nitrogen gas need plz contect me…..0333-4327649
This statement is not correct>>> “once you fill nitrogen into your car’s tyre, you have to fill nitrogen in them each time you go for a top up.”
Nitrogen and air get along very well. When you fill your tire from an old-fashioned compressor more than 78 per cent of it is nitrogen. The rest is oxygen (21 per cent) and a minuscule amount of miscellaneous gases. Mixing air and nitrogen won’t cause any damage.
This statement is not correct>>> “once you fill nitrogen into your car’s tyre, you have to fill nitrogen in them each time you go for a top up.”
Nitrogen and air get along very well. When you fill your tire from an old-fashioned compressor more than 78 per cent of it is nitrogen. The rest is oxygen (21 per cent) and a minuscule amount of miscellaneous gases. Mixing air and nitrogen won’t cause any damage.