i just got a new set of Bridgestone G111's and got nitro inflation bec i saw some hype about it on ACA meant to be better ride and handling and wear,
anyway they inflated it to 39psi on a 225/60 tyre and it feels as rough as it would with 39psi of air, its a hard ride as hard as a 50 or 45 series, not happy with it. but they reckon thats te right inflation for the nitro.

does anyone know about it, im thinking of letting it out and just pumping with air.

and how much did you pay for it?

6$ a tyre, 24$

i guess that isn't too much. Maybe your Spring+Shock is really stiff? I have my Front at 39 all the time. I feel every bump on the road too. haha... hope new shocks will change that a bit.

its really noticable after changing from the old tyres that were smoother with the same shocks.
Im thinking about getting the springs compressed instead of getting sports lowered springs if its possible bec i seen it mentioned on here b4, figure that would keep the same stiffness rate that i really like on the car but still lower it a bit.

225/60? That's bit too big diameter for Magna, isn't it? What rim size? 17? If 15", then ok.

Anyway, 39 is quite high. Try few steps less. Some people swear on the nitro - but, I haven't done it yet. And I don't think I will. Too much hassle when adding pressures etc, even thought they claim it doesn't leak etc. And doesn't increase the pressure when warm etc.
Hint: buy reliable hand pressure gauge. Try pressures from 32 - 40 and stop when it feels ok on freeway and corners. Too low is nice and sloppy on freeway, but gives in on corners. Too high is very light on freeway and hard on corners and rough road. Find a compromise and stick to that
I use 36 on 235/45/17 Falkens.
Every tyre is bit different though, side walls can be firmer and so on.
Good luck.


i just got a new set of Bridgestone G111's and got nitro inflation bec i saw some hype about it on ACA meant to be better ride and handling and wear,
anyway they inflated it to 39psi on a 225/60 tyre and it feels as rough as it would with 39psi of air, its a hard ride as hard as a 50 or 45 series, not happy with it. but they reckon thats te right inflation for the nitro.

does anyone know about it, im thinking of letting it out and just pumping with air.

apprarantly the nitro is supposed to not expand when it's hot and compress when it's cold, and even bla bla!
i run on 50 series and they are way way smoother than the 75 series i had before!
on 40 most of the time!

apprarantly the nitro is supposed to not expand when it's hot and compress when it's cold, and even bla bla!
i run on 50 series and they are way way smoother than the 75 series i had before!
on 40 most of the time!

Yeah that's right pure nitrogen has different heat properties to "air" (which is around 70% nitrogen, 16% oxygen ... 'cept in sydney where its 90% Carbon monoxide, 10% sulphuric acid lol )
They used to use nitrogen inflates in the old school mag wheels and racing wheels coz when they were under flame they didn't explode and cause the magnesium (yes old wheels were magnesium alloys) to explode and burst in to white hot car melting fire (OK that may not be completely accurate but that's what Im lead to believe). Yeah Nitrogen doesn't expand as much under heat, doesn't shrink as much when cold, a pretty boring gas - because you're tyres aren't going up and down all the time when driving it's supposed to be better for tyre longevity.

because you're tyres aren't going up and down all the time when driving it's supposed to be better for tyre longevity.

True,

But its yet to be proven.

I reckon that $24 went to a round of beers for the guys at the tyre place after work :)

Mr Bain it is proven as all rally cars use nitrogen unless they are stupid! of course they can afford the cash!

apprarantly the nitro is supposed to not expand when it's hot and compress when it's cold, and even bla bla!
i run on 50 series and they are way way smoother than the 75 series i had before!
on 40 most of the time!
funny enough, mercury as a specific weight of 13odd so it is used in thermometers because it reacts to change in temperature 13~times as much as water. i imagine air is quite low on the specific weight and that nitrogen is even lower, not enough to make one bit of difference in a road car tho ;) it would in turn make a smaller moment of enetia about the axel and ur car would be faster

Mr Bain it is proven as all rally cars use nitrogen unless they are stupid! of course they can afford the cash!

Theres quite a bit of difference between a rally car and a daily driver.

For the common driver the only benefit the nitrogen inflation would have is not having to get out of your car every 2 months to check tyre pressure.. woopty doo...

I haven't tried Nitrogen inflation myself because it would be a pain relying on a tyre shop to fill up the air every time.

Use a mechanical dial gauge which will be the most accurate, not the digital, pen-shape, or service station gauges. I have a Michelin foot pump with built-in dial gauge + check the tyre pressures once a week when the tyres are cold.

Advantage of using Nitrogen on the road is probably nil, unless you drive very hard. On the track Nitrogen is good in maintaining a very constant pressure amongst all 4 tyres hence even traction/handling characteristics.

If you don't have Nitrogen, what you can do is this: Pump all the tyres up to say 36psi (cold) then go for 2 warm up laps. Measure all 4 tyres and and let out enough air in each tyre so it they are all equal and at your desired hot pressure (most people use about 44-46 HOT pressure on the track). When your car cools down you will see that the cold pressures are now uneven. This is because depending on the track, each tyre is not stressed equally and heats up to a different amount. Record these cold pressures, and then next time you go to that track you can set the car up to have even hot pressures at all 4 tyres without going through the whole process again.

well im sure now its pure bull that u get a smoother ride with nitro. i think its more about even wear on the tyre having a consistent temp with the nitrogen, when u under-inflate tyres they wear on the edges, when u overinflate they wear in the centre more, so with nitro it would never be expanding or contracting to increase or decrease pressure and affect wear. i dont think thats necessary if you manage your wheel alignments and tyre pressures properly, ive had nice even wear b4 without using nitro.


i think maybe theres another property of the nitro apart from the temp consistency. i think it doesnt compress like air, like it has no give in the tyre when you hit a bump. last night i took out 7 psi , should be down to about 32 psi, and it was still stiff as. on the w/e i will let it all out and fill it back up with air, bec a 60 series tyre shouldnt ride that rough im sure, i mean things rattle and loud suspension thumps just on normal little bumps.

If it's true that there is a higher resistance to compression, then I might go for Nitro... I love a super duper hard ride :D. Just need to check in the old chemistry textbooks lol

The other positive point I have heard is that your wheels will not rust as much because Nitrogen will not absorb moisture from the air.

i have to say from pure chemistry perspective its all bull.
Air being 79-80% nitrogen its not really like theres gonna be a massive difference to just pure nitrogen considering only 20% is going ot have different thermal properties. And of the 20% the majority of that is oxygen which isnt all that different to nitrogen for thermal properties anyway.

The Specific Heat Capacitys
oxygen 920 J/(kg.K)
nitrogen 1042 J/(kg.K)

And of course nitrogen expands with heat. Thats basic gas law, PV=nRT, the pressure will increase with temperature, no exceptions.

The main 'drawcards' for using Nitrogen instead of air are simply these:
1. Nitrogen is more inert than good old fashioned free air. (meaning it doesnt expand and contract as much, nor does it heat up as much), we all know that heat is a major killer of tyres.
2. It permeates (travels) through your tyre at a much slower rate than good old fashioned free air. This means you dont need to check and adjust your tyre pressures as often. This is apparently good for tyre life.

I'll stick with good old fashioned free air in my tyres because:
1. Its been working fine for how many years (ie: If it aint broke dont fix it)
2. Its free (and this also means i can do my own tyre pressures at any servo)

ok everyone whether they agree or disagree knows why the nitro is meant to be better with the temperature properties. but no-one knows why the ride is so hard, which was the question. i just rang bridgestone and found out why, 39psi was way too high, should have only be 32 just like with plain air.

quote "Flavas post"

ok that makes no sense. Chemical inertness has no relation whatsoever on a substances thermal properties. And as for the permiability of nitrogen and air, molecular nitrogen has a molar mass greater then the average molar mass of air which means that basically Nitrogen will leave the tyre quicker than air will. Also as ive already stated with facts, Nitrogen is almost idential for thermal properties to air which means they will be effected by heat almost exactly the same. They will expand the same amount and contract the same amount. That was the whole point of me putting the specific heat capacities, air percentages and gas law here. To show there is such a minimal difference between air and nitrogen its not funny.

When Industry does a fractional distillation of air most gases have some use. Nitrogen on the other hand can be used for fertiliser and not much else. So what are they gonna do with all this left over nitrogen. Flog it off as some gimmick to try and make money. SO basically you are buying industires waste product.

i know fall about chemistry but think if it was really any good everyone would have it by now, i wasted 24$.

I seem to recall though that they used nitrogen in tyres when the original mags were made out of magnesium to stop oxidisation and white hot fires. Given that mag wheels are no longer magnesium but alloys, this is no longer an issue. I know that aircraft and race cars still use nitrogen to inflate ... they must be doing it for a reason.

Doing a quick google some manufacturers are recommending nitrogen to avoid oxidising of rims valves and tyre interiors. Apparently it slows the perishing process fo rubber (New Scientist) New Scientist (http://www.newscientist.com/lastword/article.jsp?id=lw624).