If you watch a car race or go to a supercar show or other event and pay close attention, you will see each car’s tires being filled with nitrogen instead of oxygen.
This may seem strange to you, as it has been the standard practice to fill tires with oxygen. After all, oxygen is plentiful, easy to obtain and is inexpensive.
However, nitrogen is used for several very specific reasons.
There are a number of reasons as to why a vehicle’s tires should be filled with nitrogen, and all are related to the performance of the vehicle.
Thankfully this practice is not limited only to supercars, as the tires of regular, every day vehicles can also be filled with nitrogen. Some of the many advantages of this practice are listed here.
The Tire Pressure Stays Stable
Oxygen goes through rubber naturally. This means that the tire pressure in tires filled with standard, regular oxygen go up and down regularly. It may change due to the weather, for example, if your climate goes through periods of hot and cold, or due to the simple fact that you drive on them all of the time.
Using nitrogen in the tires, however, means that the tire pressure stays relatively stable. This is due to the fact that nitrogen does not go through rubber very well, and will stay within the tires. It is possible to put nitrogen into a standard vehicle tire, and doing so will eventually push all of the oxygen out.
Humidity Will Not Get Inside of the Tires
When adding air to your tires at a gas station, there is a good chance that water from the hose can get inside of your tires.
This can corrode the wheels, as well as alter the tire pressure. The next time you are at a gas station, walk up to the hose that is attached to the air pump and put your finger up to it. Odds are, you will feel water leak out.
This water will end up inside your tires when you do to fill them, and will make the wheel wells, as well as the inside of the wheels themselves, start to rust.
Nitrogen does not contain water, so this scenario will not play out if the tires are filled with it.
Supercars are expensive and everything on them, down to the tires and the wheels themselves are pricey. This is why they are protected by the use of nitrogen in the tires.
Tread Life and Fuel Mileage Both Increase
If you think that ordinary tires are expensive, then you obviously have never priced the tires that are used on supercars.
They tires can cost hundreds or thousands of dollars, depending on the manufacturer and amount of customization of each of them.
Because of this, the owners of supercars want their tires to last as long as possible.
Supercars use nitrogen in the tires as it keep the air pressure within them stable, preventing the treads from wearing unevenly and the tires from needing to be replaced as often.
It will also save on fuel mileage as well, since a properly inflated tire with a good tread on it and stable air pressure will use fuel more efficiently.
It is standard practice that Supercars Use Nitrogen instead of oxygen. Doing this adds to the life of the tires, most of which are very expensive, and will prevent the inside of the wheel wells from corroding.
They also help keep tire pressure stable, which comes in handy when these supercars are raced.
