Anyone running Nitrogen in their Race Tyres?

[BigDon]

Opinions? worth it (its only $30 for 4 tyres), any difference?
Pressures compared to air?

I have 205/50/15 DZO2Gs on my track car and i normally run 27 rear 28 front with air.

[Stealer Of Souls]

Interesting thought. What made you think of it?

I believe (could be totally wrong) that they use nitrogen in airplane tyres. One of the reasons being the pressure doesn't vary much with temperature compared to air.

If this is true, then I guess it'll be the same in a car tyre. You'd probably need to run them a few psi more as they won't heat up and gain pressure.

All assuming I heard and remember correctly about using nitrogen in airplane tyres...

[Mr Revhead]

a spy at ferrari sent him a document....

look out! tiny todt and mad max will have your buttocks!!


i believe the statement on temperature is correct.

[Logan]

yes i did for a while and was a complete waste of time, you still see pressure increases with temp, but only fractionally less that normal air. Tyre pressures are a fine art, and you should be able to get the tyres to temp and then pressure stabilises with temperature. If you pressure keeps ramping up you are probably overcooking your tyres anyway so not going to help. eg, with air 5psi incresae cold to hot, n2 was like 3 or 4. $&#$% all in it. Just know you tyres and your driving and your usual temp increases and it makes no difference.

[mjrstar]

yes nitrogen is used in aircraft tyres, but mostly because it is both dry and inert. so less danger with brake fires etc.. but it does have a lower coefficient of expansion but not worth the money in my opinion.

[KinLoud]

I run 78% nitrogen in my race tyres (and all the other tyres on allllll of the cars I own)


Ken
Ham
021 408 863

[d1 mule]

I run 78% nitrogen in my race tyres (and all the other tyres on allllll of the cars I own)

I thought nitrogen was about 70-80% in air anyway? or are you taking the piss lol

[Akane]

I run 78% nitrogen in my race tyres (and all the other tyres on allllll of the cars I own)

[nz_climber]

been said up above but they run nitrogen in aircraft tyres because it is dry and prevents any corrosion also because its inert too, and because it doesn't expand as much... wouldn't pay for it thou!

[KinLoud]

yeah... sorry... I was taking the piss!
Air is 78% nitrogen!

Pure nitrogen is used because it is dry - this means that the change in pressure as the tyre heats up is more predictable. Any moisture (from what I understand) can expand at a different rate and make it harder to set cold tyre pressures that will be correct when the tyre is up to temperature.
With different humidity on different days the effect of varying amounts of moisture in the air is difficult to predict.

If you have a racecar and can drive it at a level that the tyre pressures have to be accurate when hot within less than 0.5psi then your race budget will include having a big bottle of nitrogen at the racetrack for your teams use.

Ken
Ham
021 408 863

[matt dunn]

I should be using it in my race car, but I don't as for the amount of time I use it, and the fact I would have to cart around a bottle and a regulator to all the tracks would be a PITA.

The main advantage is the low pressure change between tyre temps.

It is actually quite noticeable, but only if you conststantly drive the same car the same way often enough.
I can tell the difference between2 psi too low or too high in my car with normal air.
2 psi too low and my car has no grip for the first lap or two of a 6 lap race,
at the right pressure it's pretty good from the start line after one warm up lap,
and 2 psi too high and at the end of the race the car is way too tail happy too push for that last position.
If I ran nitrogen I could raise that start pressure a bit more without suffering from too much pressure at the end of the race.

We do run it in the enduro cars though which run the same type and compound as my car.
We get way less than 1/2 the pressure gain my car gets between hot and cold, and in the enduro you need to be able to push hard for quite a few laps in a row, as well as be fast straight away after putting around behind the safety car for 10 mins where the tyres cool down.


So if you can afford it and can be bothered dragging it around, for race applications it's quite good.

[MasCam]

An aircraft engineer told me that one of the reasons they use it in aircraft tyres is it dosent migrate through the rubber as much as air so you have consistent pressures for longer. This is probably important when you are taking your tyres to lower pressure are'a for good lenghts of time (i.e.e high)

Have never verified this though, if it is true nitrogen would be better off in road tyres that don't get checked as much.

[NZ_AE86]

I have used it and will be again, it made a big difference for me, I can notice the smallest change in my tyres when at a track and 1or2psi makes a huge difference to lap times and how easy the car is to drive.
I would not use it for anything other then track racing.

[blitza]

all valid points above, I wouldn't pay for it.

Firestone offers it for $15 a tire on the benefits of longer lasting, more stable pressure.

[Racinghard]

Well I wouldn't use it on a tin top car. might as well spend it on car set-up first.
with my single seater we use it, but then again when we ran out of it at one meeting we just used normal air in the rear two tyres.(and asking to use some from a nother team is like asking to use there girl friend!) In a 8lap race I did notice it but drove around it. If your thinking of getting it then you should be able to drive around the loss of your tyres going off.
your tyres are always going to go off but car set up and with better adapting to drive your car dif then you can stop them going off so quick.
If you have full slicks on then maby you should have gotten it a long time ago anyway.
there thats my 10cence....

[Malcolm]

we have used it in the past (but didn't last year) on the FSAE car, and we're planning to do so again this year.

Of course if you don't somehow evacuate your tyres beforehand then at 1 bar tyre pressure, half of what's in there will still be normal air, so you'll still have moisture.

I'm not sure how much a bottle of nitrogen from BOC costs (will do soon though), but I'd imagine it's significantly cheaper to get a bottle and fill your tyres yourself than it is to get it done at somewhere like firestone