Can Nitrogen Gas Save Fuel for Your Car?
by Scott Siegel
A new strategy that is being talked about claims that it will save you gasoline and dollars and more. In essence it is using one kind of gas to save another kind of gas. The gas you will save is the liquid gasoline you fill your car with. The gas you use is nitrogen instead of plain old air.
Airlines have used this on their planes and jets. Race car crews have used nitrogen for quite some time. Even giant retail outlets are starting to offer it to their customers.
Alright already, what is this strategy? It is the new rage in truck and car tires. It is using nitrogen in your tires instead of air.
Costco now is offering nitrogen fill ups for new tire customers. That is how popular this strategy has become. Why fill your tires with nitrogen? What do race car crews and airlines know that we don't?
Nitrogen is supposed to offer some advantages over air. It is claimed to keep your tires at the proper pressure longer than air will. Allegedly nitrogen loss from your tires is at a rate of up to three times slower than air. The thinking here is that if your tires are at the correct pressure for longer then you will save gasoline because under pressurized tires increase friction and decrease gas economy.
Nitrogen advocates state that in addition to fuel saving benefits there are other advantages. Nitrogen is thought to run at cooler temperatures than air. If this is the case your tires will run at a cooler temperature creating less expansion in the tire. With less expansion your tires should require less maintenance and last longer.
Less internal corrosion of the rubber and the rim are other benefits that advocates of nitrogen use explain. Because air contains oxygen it naturally begins to oxidize objects it is in contact with. The tire rim will be oxidizing or rusting when it is exposed to the air in the tire. The tire walls itself are also oxidizing and breaking down.
By filling a tire with pure nitrogen the oxygen is eliminated. Without oxygen no oxidation will happen. If your tires are not breaking down from oxygen exposure they should be safer and last longer.
Are these claims true? Is nitrogen a wonder drug for your tires? It is certainly worth a thorough investigation. The Jury is still out on this.
Scott Siegel has written a 143 page book of industry insider secrets on saving gas and money at the pump (beatthegaspump.com/. Visit us to discover how you can get
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