Costco & Nitrogen :) too funny!

[jmarenas]

Shopping at Costco over the weekend, and they are now "selling" nitrogen for your tires substuting all the "bad" normal air. While there are benefits of running N02 in your tires, F1, nascar has using for years. (Costo lists them on the banner as you walk in the door)what a hoot for the normal public who has difficulties keeping "bad" air in their tires period.....just passing on the funny!

[82SC]

i'd say they are shooting for the rice rocket market...they hear race teams are doing it so they are gonna do it too...

they will think it makes their car faster...but they'll prob be carrying the tank in their trunk...negating all the benefit they got from running "good" air in the tires

Let just hope they don't confuse it with NOS hahaha

**BTW I believe the benifit is that race teams use it because they have a uniform homogenous air in the tires which reduces variability in tire expansion with increased heat load on the tires (also less mositure in the bottled nitrogen no?)

[Por_sha911]

NOS in the tires? Hey! then the street racers can get extra HP without adding a tank. The problem is that some would rather have the tank to look at than the extra HP (and that is another thread and I ain't going there). How about Helium all you lightweight fanatics? Makes the car lighter, right?

[Joeaksa]

We have used Nitrogen for years in the tires for airplanes but its just not needed on cars. Planes fly high where its -70 or so for hours and any moisture can and will freeze and cause problems.

Do not believe that most of the cars will ever get that high without a plane to carry them up there! If they do, Guinness will be very interested!

JoeA

[TerryH]

I grew up in North Dakota where the temperature can hit minus 70 without leaving the ground.

[petevb]

Nitrogen does not "leak" through the tires as quickly as air. You shouldn't need to air up your tires as often with nitrogen, which *would* help the average Joe. Not as useless as it might sound...

[HarryD]

Originally posted by petevb
Nitrogen does not "leak" through the tires as quickly as air. You shouldn't need to air up your tires as often with nitrogen, which *would* help the average Joe. Not as useless as it might sound...

I doubt this statement. Air is 80% Nitrogen. Also, a nitrogen moleculeis smaller than an oxgen molecule and slightly less polar therefore should actually leak out faster.

NASCAR teams use N2 because the bottles are cheap, contain lots of gas (at a very high pressure), and it is very dry. If you need a truly large supply, cryogenic Nitrogen is also very inexpensive.

[Maltese Falcon]

Maybe substituting helium at the Costco/Tires in Montebello CA. Now there's something HItek for the rice rocket cult , floating Hondas.
Perhaps bring in a film crew and do FastFurious3 ...

[morganb]

What does COSTCO list as the benefits of Nitrogen in the tyres?

[cegerer]

I heard it takes 15 minutes per tire to fill and most tire outlets charge $5/tire! There are benefits, but .......

[dvkk]

When you have Ni in your tires the pressure does not change as much with changes in temp when compared to regular air.

Edit: Oops, Ni is Nickle. But I guess if you had your tires full of nickle their pressure wouldn't change at all with temp changes!

[fireant911]

Going back to my Navy days... we had nitrogen to inflate emergency shaft seals in the event of leaks. The nitrogen eliminated or greatly reduced the likelihood of rubber degradation of the seals otherwise known as 'dry-rot (that was the explanation given to me). Though I do not recall seeing rubber degrade from the inside to the outside so I cannot vouch for the Costco claim.

[Wil Ferch]

Guys....it's not Ni, nor NOS nor NO2 ....it's simply N2.... gaseous nitrogen.

Breathing air is composed of approx 78% nitrogen and approx 21% oxygen. Rest is the rare gas elements like Krypton and Xenon.

Will leak out as fast as air.....I'd like to hear substantiated claims otherwise.

Nitrogen is an inert gas and does not contribute to oxidation of rubber ( the "dry-rot" post)...so there is some truth to this. Question is, how much does it help.


Wil

[zzwhm]

A plus for the track use if the pressure does not change as much with changes in temp. I'll try it at the DE this weekend just to satisfy my curiousity.

With Toyo R1s I generally start at 28lbs and get a gain of 8 at track temp. Anyone have starting point suggestions for nitrogen?
Bill

[briankeithsmith]

I always run Nitrogen in my track tires. Gives much more stable pressures that don't fluctuate as much. When I get them mounted, I take my tank and fill them up at the tire store instead of allowing the mounter to use his air.

It doesn't take any longer to fill up a tire with Nitro than normal air, assuming the source pressure is the same. 80psi from a tank, or 80psi from a air compressor, very little difference if any.

I do it simply so that I can set my pressures where I want them before going onto the track, and know that they will be pretty close to that when I come in after a session. Nothing more. Eliminates some (NOT ALL) of the pressure variance during a run.

Brian

[OldTee]

I think I will use my Costco money on blue shop towels or the big package of terry cloth towels. My 911 will never notice a tire temp difference when I drive.

[Joeaksa]

After the tire is mounted on the wheel, unless the air is sucked out of the interior of the tire, there will be a air/nitrogen mix inside when the gas is introduced. The air will be compressed by the incoming nitrogen but will still be there so it will never be a "pure" mix of gas.

JoeA

[briankeithsmith]

Joe:

That is 100% correct. I know I'm not getting 100% of the air out, but its alot better than them loading it up with air, then me trying to drain it out.

Brian

[Nine9six]

Originally posted by Por_sha911
NOS in the tires? Hey! ...

That would be N02, not NOS!

[Groesbeck Hurricane]

Actually, I would prefer to see the ricer's using hydrogen gas!

Of course, I'd like to see the cars after the gas does what comes naturally!