Posted on 10/26/2009
The practice/concept of filling street car tires (tires that are driven on city streets) with nitrogen has been around for the last few years. The idea has its foundation in the racing industry where nitrogen has been used to fill race tires and run air tools for decades. What is good for race cars must be good for street cars, right? Not so fast! There are reasons why nitrogen is used in the racing industry that do not transfer to everyday, street-driven vehicles.: 1. The nitrogen molecule is larger than the mixture of molecules in regular air. Race tires are purposely built for adhesion and not for longevity, so must be as light as possible. Therefore, the race tire sidewall is not as thick and durable as on street tires. In short, race tires do not do a good job of holding inflation for long periods of time. They tend to go flat within weeks. Thus, the larger nitrogen molecules help them stay inflated longer. Street tires are very durable, and hold inflation quite well, so the ... read more