• Cart
    • Checkout
  • Account Login
  • About Us
  • Contact Us

TyreSales.co.nz

  • Home
  • Blog
  • Better Tyres
  • Tyres
    • Car Tyres
    • Van Tyres
    • 4WD Tyres
  • Tyre Brands
    • Hankook Tyre Story
    • Kingstar Tyres
    • Crosswind Tyres
    • Ovation Tyres
    • Hankook Race and Rally Tyres
    • Winda Tyres
    • Sunny Wanli Tyre Corporation
    • Greenmax Eco Tyres
  • Tyre Facts
    • Secondhand Tyres
    • Basic WOF Tyre Rules
    • Reading your tyres sidewall
    • Our Tyre Mission
    • Benefits of Correct Tyre Tressure
    • Benefits of our MTA Membership
  • FAQ
    • Frequently Asked Questions
    • Terms and Conditions
    • Privacy Policy
  • Tyre Fitting
  • Freight
You are here: Home / BetterTyres / Nitrogen Filled Tyre Report – Believers and Deniers

Nitrogen Filled Tyre Report – Believers and Deniers

02/07/2016 By Tyre Sales 2 Comments

Benefits of filling tyres with nitrogen. Is it a waste of time.

Nitrogen Generator (membrane technology)

One of the most frequent queries we receive at the Campaign for Better Tyres is “Does Nitrogen filling of tyres work?”; fervent supporters of the program say yes and other folks say it is a con!

This Tyre industry promotion, in the words of Consumer Magazine and the Automobile Association “centre’s around the so-called benefits of having car tyres filled with nitrogen. Wondrous claims are often made that are either mis-leading or simply plain wrong….;”

Reduce tyre wear by up to 50%
Incorrect tyre inflation is the main factor with excessive tyre wear, not what you inflate the tyre with.

Nitrogen molecules are bigger than oxygen molecules, and hence your tyres will leak less and you will not need to check your tyres air pressure as often
Motorists pump “atmospheric air” into their cars tyres normally, which consists of 79% nitrogen. Consumer Magazine did a 12 month test of this, and had trouble measuring the difference between the two it was so small. And regardless of what tyres are filled with, their pressure must be checked at least monthly to detect leaks caused by punctures.

Nitrogen will improve the car’s ride
Nitrogen and “atmospheric air” have almost exactly the same compressibility, since atmospheric air is 79%  nitrogen.

Nitrogen will improve the car’s fuel economy
Correct tyre inflation (and regular checking) will have the bigger impact on fuel economy. As will the use of your right foot.

Nitrogen will reduce tyre rot and corrosion
Take a look at the outside of any car tyre, which is continuously exposed to “atmospheric air” and you won’t observe tyre rot. Any honest tyre shop can tell you that while environmental factors may cause a tyres external rubber to degrade, this never happens inside a tyre regardless of what it is pumped up with.

The tyre Nitrogen filling fad is driven by some tyre shop marketing plans and marketers of Nitrogen generating plants which are leased out to tyre shop operators contracted to buy a stipulated quantity of green valve caps each month. Sometimes consumers have to pay for nitrogen fills and other times the service may be free when the customer is buying a full set of tyres. Regardless, the consumer is getting nothing more than a set of green plastic caps!

A very small number of tyre shops may be offering Nitrogen fills from gas bottles supplied by reputable companies like BOC which will certainly be 99% pure. This gas is quite expensive and you can expect to pay for it. But most tyre shops get their Nitrogen from a Nitrogen generator; the process is quite simple. The generator is hooked up to the shops regular air compressor and the air flow is passed though a membrane with separates the Nitrogen from the air flow. At very best, these generators are harvesting Nitrogen up to 95% pure, or they could be pumping out 100% regular air.

These Nitrogen generators can be bought out of China for prices as low as $500.00 and are of wildly varying quality. After installation the machines are not calibrated and their nitrogen purity is not tested. The salient point here is that a faulty generator could be pumping 100% regular air into customers tyres, no one would ever know!bettertyres

Sure, aircraft and heavy truck tyres benefit from being filled with Nitrogen, but authoritative organisations like the Automobile Association and Consumer advise these benefits to not extend to car, van and 4wd tyres. All the benefits claimed by Nitrogen filling believers can be achieved simply by keeping your vehicles tyre correctly inflated and going easy on the accelerator pedal.

Campaign for Better Tyres – Working for safer tyres and a safer motoring experience for Kiwi motorists.

Filed Under: BetterTyres, Blog, commentary, Featured, Tyre facts, Tyre Safety

Comments

  1. Manfred says

    15/10/2016 at 7:51 am

    Thank goodness! So good to read sense regarding this issue, one that obeys the laws of physics. The fact that so many believe it is an indictment of NZ school science education.

    Reply
    • Tyre Sales says

      15/10/2016 at 8:30 am

      Thanks for your post Manfred.
      Simon

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Search the Blog

mta-logo-screen2

All prices include GST and freight to urban addresses.

Contact Us

Contact Us

Our Location Use the form … [Read More...]

BetterTyres Blog

Visit the Better Tyres Blog

Visit the Better Tyres Blog

Visit us on Facebook

Visit us on Facebook

Recent BetterTyres Blog Posts

  • It’s Winter Tyre Check Time!
  • New Laufenn LV01 Light Truck Tyre
  • Yes, Tyresales Sells Tyres to the Pacific Islands Too!
  • Triangle Sportex TH201
  • Triangle Tyres come to Tyresales!

Recent BetterTyres Blog Comments

  • Tyre Sales on Whitewall Tyre Availability
  • Matt on Whitewall Tyre Availability
  • Tyre Sales on Retread and Remould Tyres
  • Dan Fray on Retread and Remould Tyres
  • Tyre Sales on Whitewall Tyre Availability

Customer Service

  • Contact Us
  • Returns
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms & Conditions
  • Specials

Tyre Brands

  • Crosswind
  • Hankook
  • Kingstar
  • Linglong

Customer Account Login

Lost password?

View your shopping cart

TyreSales Location

TyreSales is a New Zealand Company

Sign up to our Newsletter

Copyright © 2018 · Website Design and Hosting by CurvePress · Log in