Is Filling Your Tires With Nitrogen Worth The Hassle?

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You may have noticed that a growing number of tire outlets and auto repair shops are selling customers on filling their tires with nitrogen instead of oxygen. Even auto manufacturers are getting into the act by filling tires with nitrogen before their vehicles leave the factory floor. In addition to better fuel economy, many proponents claim that nitrogen-filled tires last longer and offer better performance. However, you have to wonder if these claims are worth the added expense and effort.

Clearing the Air about Nitrogen

Only 21 percent of the Earth's atmosphere consists of oxygen. The rest is made up largely of nitrogen, an extraordinarily common element that's highly abundant in a variety of chemicals, compounds and other everyday items. 

As it turns out, the stuff that's going into today's tires is as close to 100-percent pure as can be. So why use pure nitrogen in your car's tires? According to proponents, there are several advantages that nitrogen offers when compared to ordinary air:

  • Nitrogen molecules are slightly larger than their oxygen counterparts, making it harder for nitrogen molecules to pass through the rubber material. This makes nitrogen slower to leak out of your tires.
  • A nitrogen-only environment helps prevent oxidation, thereby protecting steel and alloy wheels from the effects of corrosion. This also prevents corrosion-related tire leaks and other structural problems.
  • Nitrogen isn't affected by temperature changes, due to the fact that there is little to no moisture available for expansion at high temperatures. This prevents temperature-related increases and decreases in tire pressures, making them more stable throughout a long drive.

The Good News

The good news is that filling your tires with nitrogen does have some tangible benefits. In addition to the previous advantages, a recent Consumer Reports study found that nitrogen reduced tire pressure loss over time, although there was only a 1.3-psi difference between pressure losses in their nitrogen-filled test tire and a similar air-filled tire. However, the slight improvement in pressure retention could buy you a little time in between tire checks.

Nitrogen's ability to keep your tires properly inflated a little longer might also offer minor fuel savings. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, your car's fuel economy takes a 0.3-percent hit for every 1 psi you lose in tire pressure.

The Bad News

Unfortunately, the fuel savings you'll get by using nitrogen won't be enough to offset the cost of a fill-up. According to Angie's List, the price of a nitrogen fill-up averages about $5 per tire, with some shops charging $30 to $70 to fill all four wheels. Meanwhile, most gas stations offer air pumps that are often free or cost little more than $1 to use.

As far as corrosion prevention goes, nitrogen's protective qualities only apply if the tire and wheel were both installed brand-new, with as much oxygen purged from the tire as possible. In addition, most wheels are designed to cope with moisture inside of the tire, usually through the use of special corrosion-resistant coatings.

The performance benefits of nitrogen over ordinary air are also negligible. For instance, fluctuations in temperature experienced by air-filled tires are more or less unnoticeable to the everyday driver. So it's highly doubtful that an average driver will feel any noticeable change when using nitrogen-filled tires.

Final Verdict

In most respects, the cost of using nitrogen in your tires greatly outweighs what few benefits there are. If your tires already use ordinary air, then you might want to hold off on making the switch to the green cap. For tires that are already nitrogen-filled, you're better off finding a cheap or free source of nitrogen before reverting back to plain old air.

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8 October 2015

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