Should I fill my car tires with nitrogen?

Nitrogen-filled tires are popular with racing cars and airplanes. Vehicles operating at high speeds, the friction with the road surface is large, causing the tires to generate a lot of heat.

With that characteristic, racing tires and airplane tires are forced to use Nitrogen gas because of its low heat generation feature, while also helping to maintain stable tire pressure and slow deflation.

Normal gas is not suitable in this case. At high temperatures, normal gas is unstable and volatile.

The volatility of normal gas (left) is higher than that of Nitrogen gas (right).Graphic image: cartoq.

Benefits of Nitrogen Gas

Nitrogen offers many benefits to tires, the most notable being better tire pressure retention, improved fuel economy, and potentially longer tire life.

In changing temperature environments, nitrogen-filled tires have less pressure change than conventional air. Thanks to that, the tire has more stable operation.

Because they are less likely to deflate, nitrogen-filled tires are always maintained at optimal pressure, helping to save fuel for the vehicle. The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) says that for every 1 psi drop in tire pressure, the vehicle will consume 0.3% more fuel.

Inflating tires with nitrogen has many advantages over regular air.Photo: cartoq.

Unlike regular gas, nitrogen is less affected by moisture, which helps reduce tire corrosion, increase tire life, and reduce tire maintenance or replacement costs.

The amount of oxygen in the air usually accounts for 21%, including water vapor, so when pumped into the tire, it will maintain moisture inside. This moisture is the culprit leading to the reaction that causes the rubber to age quickly, the metal to oxidize, causing the entire wheel to quickly deteriorate.

Meanwhile, Nitrogen is an inert, dry gas that does not increase humidity, so it hardly participates in oxidation reactions. That is why pumping Nitrogen gas helps increase tire life more than pumping normal gas.

Most tire blowouts are caused by tires operating at lower than recommended pressures at high speeds. Because nitrogen stays in the tire longer than regular air, it is less likely to deflate.

Nitrogen gas helps tires deflate slowly, increasing tire life.Photo: edmunds.

Nitrogen gas allows tires to run at low temperatures without affecting safe operation.

When to use?

With so many advantages, why not just use Nitrogen instead of using regular gas to inflate tires?

Depending on the purpose of using the vehicle, the owner decides whether to pump nitrogen gas into the tires or not.

If you rarely use your car, often leave it in storage for long periods of time, or often drive on the highway during the day, you can consider inflating your tires with Nitrogen to save money and reduce wear and tear.

Nitrogen gas is mainly used for racing or high performance car tires.Photo: jalopnik.

When driving at high speeds (on the highway) and during the day, Nitrogen will keep the tire cooler and prevent the tire from losing pressure as often.

If this is not the case, the car owner can inflate the tire with regular air. As long as the tire pressure is checked regularly, pneumatic tires still bring the same benefits as nitrogen-filled tires.

From another perspective, normal gas is of course safer than gas like Nitrogen.

Additionally, the cost of filling Nitrogen gas is much higher than regular gas, and not every store has the means to fill this type of gas.

The cost of filling Nitrogen gas is much higher than regular gas.Photo: Consumer Reports.

This leads to a situation where if the tire is punctured on the road, it is very difficult to find a place to pump nitrogen gas immediately. The cost for each pumping is quite high, making the goal of reducing initial costs no longer reasonable.

In a controversial move, the Indian Parliament is considering making it mandatory for car owners to fill their tyres with nitrogen.