The Argument For Nitrogen, Tires And Saving Gas By Scott Siegel Does filling your tires with nitrogen save you gas? There is a large group of advocates who say yes. Here is why they say that.
A significant factor in poor fuel economy is under inflated tires. The EPA agency that monitors fuel usage has found that properly inflated tires can improve gas mileage by 3 percent. The EPA also estimates that 30% of the cars on the road have at least one tire under inflated.
It is estimated that drivers in the US aggregately loose more than 2 million gallons of gas every day due to under inflated tires. Decreased air pressure causes the tire to flatten which creates more surface area between the tire and the road. The greater surface area increases friction which causes the engine work harder.
When an engine works harder it uses more fuel. The more under inflated the tire is, the greater the surface that meets the highway. This in turn adds more friction and more gas is used. As the friction continues to increase it takes more and more energy to move that tire. More energy means more fuel. If a tire is properly inflated it will roll easily using less energy and less fuel.
This is where nitrogen comes into the picture. It has to do with the way tires loose air pressure. Why do tires loose air over time? It is a common characteristic of the kinds of materials that tires are made of.
Tires are made with permeable materials. That means that the small air molecules can escape from the tires over time. As the molecules of air escape the tire looses pressure. It is a natural occurrence for all tires. That is why it is suggested that you should check your tires once a month.
It
appears that tires inflated with nitrogen loose pressure 3 times slower than tires with conventional air fills. This is because nitrogen has a higher density than oxygen. Higher density translates into larger molecules. Larger molecules will not permeate through the tire as easily as smaller molecules so nitrogen with it's larger molecules stays in the tire longer. That creates a slower loss of tire pressure over time.
Your tires will maintain themselves at close to the full pressure longer with the nitrogen because the pressure loss is so much slower. The result is properly inflated tires, with less friction, and less gasoline needed to move your car.
The price to fill your tires with nitrogen is around $40.00 per set of 4 tires. Is it worth $40.00? Those who support nitrogen as a substitute for air say absolutely it is. There is, however another side to this issue. There are those that argue that it is not worth $40.00. It might be worthwhile to find out why critics of nitrogen suggest not using it before you commit to spending that $40.00.
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