I just had the tires on my HCH II filled with Nitrogen. It is supposed to give improved tire life, safety and increased fuel economy. I just got the vehicle this past weekend so I won't be able to really see if I get improved fuel economy.

Has any one had any experience with Nitrogen filled tires? Has it increased your mpg's?

If you want more info, you can check out their website at

http://www.whynitrofill.com/


They also checked the tires and said they could be inflated to 44psi. Is this a good idea to help increase fuel economy?

Thanks in advance for your insight....

 

Nitrogen fill: about 90% N2 for $20
Air: about 79% N2 for free from most gas stations

Difference? $20 from your wallet

 

It's a total, complete, 100% scam.

Nitrogen-filled tires are used by high-performance racecars. NASCAR, F1, Indy, etc. When you're going 180 MPH, your tires and brakes get really f'ing hot. Nitrogen is much less reactive to heat, thus making tire inflation changes much easier to predict. At these speeds, 1/4 lb of pressure in just one tire can make a significant difference. If you're driving your HCH at those speeds, under that kind of braking (sp?), you'd better be doing it on a racetrack. (Your MPG will also suck.)

 

Hee Hee...the only way a HCH will hit 180 MPH is if it is falling off a cliff!

 

Yes, keeping your tires at the max inflation will help your fuel economy. I don't know the numbers for the stock HCH2 tires. Hopefully someone will chime in on that.

 

Again, I don't know whether the Nitrogen will help or not. I guess I won't know for a long while or may never know for sure. I am/was hoping to get feedback from someone that has used it for a while.

They put a Nitrogen measuring device (looks like an electronic tire pressure guage) on one of the tires after the process and it registered more than 96% Nitrogen.

I watched them do the filling. They hooked up a hose to each tire. The air was removed until there is only 3psi in each tire. The tires are then refilled with the Nitrogen. Then the tires are deflated again until 3psi, and then reinflated to the proper pressure.

With many trying to squeeze every ounce of MPG out of their vehicle, I would have thought this was a good idea. And sometimes the numbers/specs don't tell the whole story - take for example the EPA mileage estimates for the Honda and Toyota Hybrids. Many in the forum are greatly exceeding mileage estimates.

I guess if the best results I get are just keeping the tires at constant pressure for 3-4 months, it will have be worth it.

I will check the tires monthly for the next few months and post the results.

Comments from anyone with hands on Nitrogen experience would be appreciated.

 

If you do a web search about nitrogen filled tires, there is a ton of info out there, much of it saying that it will do little or nothing to help in a passenger car. Others claim a 25% increase in tire life, although they never reference actual studies. Seems to me that the exterior of the tire is what takes the most abuse anyway, and that is still exposed to regular air.


How would it help your mileage?

 

44 PSI is the sidewall max. I'm currently running on 42 psi in all tires and my latest tank is pushing 52mpg (52.1 while going to work, 51.8 coming home). I can't imagine that using 90% nitrogen would make a substantial difference. Let us know how you make out.

 

Like others have mentioned, Nitrogen is used for racing because it does not expand as much when hot and tire psi can remain stable. That's really the only difference. 44 psi of Nitrogen looks the same to the road as 44 psi of air. Will be interesting to see what your experience is, but I'm betting you won't see a difference. Also, the difference (if there was any) would be undetectable over the noise caused by other things that affect MPG (weather for example). I'd put the $20 towards gas... :-)

On the topic of psi in general, you'll get lots of opinions. There are a lot of folks, including myself, that run high psi and have noticed a benefit (I run 44 psi - max is 51). A few here run at the sidewall max. I always backed off a bit from the max, but that's just me. With air, 10 degrees will change the psi by one.

 

The largest offender in air is water vapor. When the tires cool down, the vapor condenses into water and the pressure decreases. However as the tires heat up, the water vaporizes again and the pressure rises above the value predicted by Gay-Lussac's law.

Nitrogen has had not only oxygen but water vapor removed from it.