I ran nitrogen in my tires once, only once. I will never do it again, the performance gains were too massive and it also had some terrifying side effects.

I was at the dealership getting service on our chevy hhr and the dealer offered me a one time special price on nitrogen for only $52/tire. He said they had the new special performance nitrogen that makes your tire last for 400 years and gives you approximately 7000 whp give or take a whp.

I was skeptical but I said why not, I had a few hundred dollars in my pocket that i had been saving up to either flush down the toilet or invest in some shamwows (i was aware of the fact to stay away from shamwow imitators though).

I went for it, added the nitrogen and here is my story of what happened.

Oddly as I was leaving the dealership I noticed another hhr there waiting to get service that looked a lot like mine but I thought nothing of it and continued on. The first thing I noticed was that my car appeared to be much lighter. I thought to myself no that has to be a placebo effect but then realized I was being silly because a dealership would never lie to me in order to make money, heck they have always been 100% honest with me when I bought cars from them. As i drove straight to the track to see if I gained any power I felt like my car was floating in the air but I never thought much of it.

Well a few minutes later I arrived at the track, paid my fees (wondering why the ticket booth appeared to be so much shorter than it was the last time I was there, almost like the car was floating above them). As I pulled up in the staging lanes I wondered why everyone was giving me weird looks but I went on with my business and just figured it was because I was racing a HHR. As I pulled up to the lights I could feel the nitrogen in my tires taking hold and transforming my car into a powerhouse. I power braked it and took my rpms up to 2100 rpms and waited for the 2nd yellow light. I glance over and notice I am up against a 1000whp dragster but I know deep down inside that the nitrogen in my tires will not let me down.

WE LAUNCH!

The car takes off like a bat out of hell with its ***** dipped in gasoline and set on fire. The speedometer immediately pegs at 120mph in 1st gear and when I hit second the needle flys off the gauge and everything start getting blurry like it does in the fast and furious movies when they hit nitrous (except this is for real dawg!). When I reach the end of the track I realize I actually arrived there 1 hour earlier than when I started! I was so scared that I took the car back to the dealership to get the nitrogen removed but I had to wait for 45 minutes because there was some guy there getting his hhr serviced and getting nitrogen put in his tires. I started to warn him but he looked just like me and that creeped me out so I just waited for him to leave.

Moral of my story? DO NOT DO THE NITROGEN! It is too much power for mankind to hold, ultimate power corrupts!

 

Erzer, well put. I too agree nitrogen is not worth much to the average driver.

 

I'm sure that all gasses obey the laws of physics (Boyles Law). I also know that how much and at what temperatures gases expand is different for different gases. What I don't know is the properties of Nitrogen vs atmospheric air mixture. The quoted statement implies that they are the same and if the little that I've read on the subject is true, they are not the same.

Cheers,

Phillip Scott Givens

 

Everything you ever wanted to know about Nitrogen Vs Air...:

Tire Tech Information - Clearing the Air About Nitrogen Tire Inflation

Bottom line, if your running at a Track, go nitro, if your running normal, save your money and buy a good tire gauge...

 

I just got a set of new Michelins and West Coast Tires charged me $5 a tire for lifetime Nitrogen. Since I always check my tire pressure when I fill up (or used to), I wouldn't have gotten the Nitrogen if it cost much more than that.

The trade off is that I have to trust that Nitrogen actually holds its pressure because I don't want to be testing it all the time and letting the air out. Yes, I could just take it back and have it topped off, but a hassle is a hassle.

 

First of all, excellent reference article, but this article disagrees with your conclusion. I have a daily driver and use my Crossfire less frequently. Because of this, this article says that I should use Nitrogen.

Also, as good as this article is, it has to be taken with a grain of salt. It states, This statement is of course ridiculous because atmospheric pressure is much lower than that of the pressure inside the tire.

Cheers,

Phillip

 

Nitrogen is the new bottled water, it has academic benefits and little more. This is a sales deal and there are no more free air chucks so "" people "" get charged more and accept it. Woody

 

A Reference Article is just that, a reference, no matter how good or bad it may be.

As always, one must use their own inherant judgement.

If your Xfire is a garage queen and nitro makes sense for your usage and pocket, and the refill and top off is not a hassle for you, then by all means use it.

For me personally, I think it is another one of those parlor games to separate you from your money...