Is nitrogen a magic pill to save fuel and tires?

There’s a new strategy everyone is talking about to save gas, money and more. In reality, you are using one type of gas to save another type of gas. The gas you save is the liquid gas you fuel your car with. The gas I would use is nitrogen instead of air.

Racing cars have used this strategy for a long time. Airlines have used this same strategy on their jets and planes. Even the big retailers are starting to offer it to their customers. Now you may be saying to yourself, okay, what is this all about? It is the new trend in tires for cars and trucks. That new fad is to fill tires with nitrogen instead of air.

Filling tires with nitrogen instead of air is becoming so popular that even Costco now offers it to customers when they buy new tires. Why do people want to fill their tires with nitrogen? What do they know that we don’t? Why do race cars and jets use nitrogen?

This is what nitrogen is supposed to do. It is supposed to keep tires inflated to the proper level longer than air. Apparently, nitrogen leaches out of tires at a rate three times slower than air. The logic here is that if your tires are kept at the proper pressure for a longer period of time, you will save gas because under-inflated tires increase friction and decrease fuel economy.

Nitrogen advocates also claim that in addition to the fuel economy benefits, there are other benefits to using nitrogen. Nitrogen supposedly runs cooler than air. So your tires will run cooler and there will be less expansion in the tire. That means your tires will require less maintenance and can have a longer life.

The benefits of nitrogen are reinforced by claims that there will be less internal corrosion of the rubber and tire. Since air contains oxygen, it begins to oxidize anything it comes into contact with. That means the tire rim will rust as soon as it is exposed to the air that fills the tire. The tire itself also oxidizes and eventually breaks down. Filling a tire with pure nitrogen means that there is no oxygen in the tire. Therefore, no oxidation occurs. The claimed result? Your tires will last longer and be safer.

Are these statements true? Is nitrogen a miracle drug for your tires? It is certainly worth a thorough investigation. The jury is still out on this.