Gas your tyres

Nov 9 2009 Maurice Glover

Gas your tyres

TOPPING up tyres with extra nitrogen can save money, boost performance and help improve road safety.

Tests have shown that tyres filled with the gas hold their correct pressure for 25 per cent longer to maintain peak performance properties and add up to five per cent to fuel economy.

After a study by the US Department of Transportation's National Highway Traffic Safety Administration showed nitrogen to be a major factor in retaining handling characteristics, low rolling resistance and durability, Kwik-Fit is offering drivers the option of having car and van tyres filled with nitrogen at all its centres.

Says Kwik-Fit company chief Mike Wise:'Tyres are the only part of a vehicle that are in contact with the road so it is vital that they are in tip-top condition to maximise road safety. Maintaining tyre pressure at the level recommended by vehicle manufacturers is a safety essential.

'Statistics from the Department for Transport show that 73 per cent of tyres are inflated to the incorrect pressure and that 86 per cent of cars in traffic accidents have incorrectly inflated tyres.

'Either through oversight or laziness, checking tyre pressure regularly is not a frontline priority for many drivers. Inflating tyres with nitrogen is not a substitute for regular pressure checks but it can help maintain tyre performance and therefore improve safety, tyre life and fuel economy,' adds Mr Wise.

According to Kwik-Fit, inflating tyres with gas mixtures containing more than 90% nitrogen has long been claimed to be beneficial to performance, but tyres are typically inflated at dealerships and on garage forecourts with air that contains approximately 78 per cent nitrogen, 21 per cent oxygen and one per cent of other gases.

In the 90-day static laboratory NHSTA test, the inflation pressure loss for new tyres inflated with nitrogen was approximately two-thirds of the loss rate of new tyres inflated with air. The average pressure loss rate for tyres inflated with air was 2.13 per cent per month compared with an average 1.39 per cent monthly loss rate for tyres inflated with gas containing between 95 and 99 per cent nitrogen.