FearNo1

I have the 2010 accord v6 coupe. According to the specs it gets about 18/29 mpg. I have heard about the benefits of using nitrogen in tires instead of air, supposedly 4-10% increase in fuel economy. Has any accord owners noticed a noticeable improvement using nitrogen or is this all hot air? I live in chi where gas can be $4.49 per gallon It costs about $20 to put nitrogen in tires.

GoLowDrew

I've asked the same question about nitrogen on this forum. It's not something I would pay for. If you can get them "free," sure. But don't expect an improvement in MPG. Nitrogen is good that it's better at keeping the tire at a more specific pressure/temperature, so less likely of a blowout under extreme conditions. Plus, isn't the air already contain 20% nitrogen, so something like that?

Summary. I would not pay for it. Don't see it as a benefit. If given to me free, I'll take it.

BTW, my V6 Accord can get 30.04 MPG in mostly VCM mode on the hwy. That's better than EPA numbers. And I was not trying. Just driving normal on a trip.

MSchu

I've gotten CLOSE to 30 in ideal situations on a long highway trip once in my 6-6, but usually I am hard on the pedal and get no where near that. One thing is certain is that this beast is a thirsty one.

FearNo1

Yeah normally the mpg for cars are based on perfect driving environments, e.g. empty trunk, non-windy day, one person in car, not mashing on accelerator, etc.

Back to nitrogen in tires, I wonder if any honda dealer will do it for free or at a much cheaper price. Gas is so high here and its p*ssing me off.

GoLowDrew

My dealer was selling that package of lifetime nitro for $XXX. Don't remember because it was a rip off IMO.

When you buy tires are Costco, they use it, so it's included in the price. Just bring your car in and they will check/fill it.

BLKFLSH

I think you would be better off spending that $20 on gas, instead of nitrogen. I don't see how it can improve your mileage.

GoLowDrew

The dealer's selling angle (BS) I recall was that it the gas was suppose to be lighter.

Then again, it probably was BS because these are items that F&I guys try to push.

fleabag

don't spend a dime putting nitrogen in your tires.. I use nitrogen in my tires all the time, but where I live, you can get free nitrogen to inflate your tires at costco. Nitrogen is worth having, but I wouldn't PAY to have it. I like the nitrogen because I find my tires stay inflated longer than they normally do with just air.

clubsfit

the main reason for Nitro is because there is virtually no moisture in the tire, keeping any corrosion from forming on the wheels. Normal air has moisture, which is the reason there is psi changes with temperature etc... With nitro, it stays the same psi no matter the driving conditions. So it is lighter because there is no h2o in the air. I can't confirm MPG gains, but it could save your wheels in the long run?

90sedan

Do people realize that air is close to 80% nitrogen to begin with? And nitrogen generators can only produce ~95% true nitrogen, and given that tires aren't filled in a vacuum, you probably only get a 5% increase in nitrogen when filling it with compressed nitrogen instead of air. Unless of course the tire tech inflates, deflates, inflates, deflates multiple times, then you might see closer to 90% nitrogen in the tire.

The only real benefit of use of compressed nitrogen in car tires is that it leaks slower than compressed air. While nitrogen has some other benefits, its inert so it won't combust, won't oxidize and doesn't react to temperature changes like air. But these are really only concerns for heavy duty equipment or military vehicles that have much tougher safety requirements, and much higher tire pressures. Like NASA which fill their space shuttle tires to over 300psi.

Nitrogen is better than using air for tire inflation, but not enough to warrant spending any money on it. My advice would be to save the $20 and practice better driving habits if you want to get the most mpg.

99blackcivicSi

we used to have a nitrofill station where i'm at and we got rid of it it too WAY too long to do since it did deflate, inflate, deflate, inflate and there just wasn't enough benifit for it although the valve caps they sold with it were nice double o-ring instead of the standard one. i used it in my car and didn't notice a difference in the winter to the spring but i do check my pressure once a week.

fleabag

I mostly agree with this post... However I gotta say, if you can get the nitrogen for free, DOOOEEIT!

The nitrogen refill station at costco is absolutely ****ing amazing. Nothing will inflate your tires quicker than what they have there. I mean you remove the valve core from a completely deflated truck tire, hook up the inflater and in about 2 minutes you'll have a nicely inflated tire.

TunerN00b

Purging for nitrogen is a bit of a waste of time on wheels not designed for it.

Fill from one side, purge from the other.

99blackcivicSi

how is this any different than using a machine that pulls a vacuum on the wheel tire assembly not once but twice.

the nitrofill machine we were using ran on the same principle as an a/c recovery machine once you get it all out and the system was open you pull a vacuum on it although not as severe as an a/c machine to boil the moisture out of the system (26+ hg of vacuum) still same theory once pressure is gone all that remains is vacuum then it purges the air from the lines then fills it with nitrogen....

also stupid question maybe....nitrogen is being filled in aircraft tires...are they doing it wrong since they only have 1 valve stem?

TunerN00b

Different in final result: none.
Different in amount of time needed: significant.

That's why I wrote "waste of time". There isn't any huge gain from using nitrogen in tires. It's a minimal gain at best. No reason to spend much time on minimal gain. Now, if you can get 90%+ of the way there for less than 10% of the time...

Neither method is "wrong".

In fact, you already agreed with me there: