I am Road Testing The Nitrogen Tire Inflating

After three months, I finally got myself the long-delayed x-mas bonus. I scored a set of mags over at Bangkal "Motorway" aka Evangelista. Via Big-A Auto Tech, I traded my stock Honda SIR mags in exchange for 4 Concept One Mags. I added cash, of course. The Chicane Model is posted at Concept One website but I'll post the actual pic tomorrow so you can save and get urself one, err, four. Yes, save some, just like I did. But if you have sugar mama to take care of the bread then by all means head to your nearest tire/mag dealer.

With enough haggling, I was able to convince the OIC to give me the Nitrogen Tire Inflating at only P100.00. Regular price is, I believe, over P500.00. Reading their leaflet with the benefits of using nitrogen rather than oxygen, I say P100 or P25 per tire is worth it. The downside is, I should be forever be tied up with Nitrogen gas. If pressure goes down, I may have to go back at shop and have it filled. The OIC told me that, in case I need to pressurize the tire in emergency, there is no problem filling it with "gas station standard air".

As I read over here, here's the rundown of Nitrogen Gas Inflation:

* Better tire pressure retention – nitrogen migrates through a tire 3 to 4 times slower than oxygen. It may take 6 months to lose 2 psi with nitrogen compared to less than a month with oxygen.
* Improved fuel economy – a result of having the proper air pressure which lessens the rolling resistance. Under-inflated tires have a greater rolling resistance.
* Cooler running tires – tires inflated with nitrogen run cooler than tires inflated with regular air.
* Removal of oxidation – oxygen is a highly reactive element at high temperatures and pressures. Replacing the oxygen with nitrogen helps eliminate the oxidation that damages inner liners and belt packages.
* Improved retreadability – eliminating oxidation also improves the retreadability due to more flexibility in the tire casing. Less tire aging and tire cord rust could very well increase the number of retreadable casings and also increase the number of times a casing can be retreaded.
* Elimination of rim rust – since nitrogen is completely dry, condensation is eliminated which in turn eliminates rim rust.
* On-the-road reliability – tire failures can be significantly reduced which reduces down time and costly service calls.

As I went back home, I didn't notice that much of a difference in the handling. Maybe during long drives, it has. The fact that my tires have constant pressure, it should give me less vibration during the drive. But more than the handling, the benefit is that, it prolongs the life of tires and it saves gas because of improved efficiency. During the course of the year, with Nitrogen loaded, in accumulation, I should be saving more than P500 per year cost of Nitro. "Bawi Na!" I'll observe everything in 6 months and I'll keep you posted. Be patient. 179 days to go.