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If you fill your tires with nitrogen will you save gas? Many nitrogen advocates say yes. Here is the reasoning behind their answer. One of the biggest drains on fuel economy is under inflated tires. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says that properly inflated tires can improve gas mileage by nearly 3 percent. The EPA estimates that at least 30% of the cars on the road have at least one under inflated tire. The EPA has also estimated that under inflated tires cause the loss of more than 2 million gallons of gasoline every single day. A tire with low pressure starts to flatten which adds additional surface area between the tire and the highway. This increases friction between the road and your car and results in your engine needing to work harder. When an engine needs to work harder it uses more gasoline. The more the tire is under inflated, the more tire surface meets the road, the more friction is generated and more gas is used.As the friction continues to increase it takes more and more power to roll that tire. More power means worse fuel economy. A tire that is properly inflated will roll more easily using less power and less gas. How does all of this relate to nitrogen? It has to do with how tires loose pressure. As has been described earlier under inflated tires require the engine to burn more gas. But why do tires become under inflated? It is a common characteristic of all tires, they loose air over time. That doesn't mean you have a leak. Permeable materials are used in making tires. The permeable material allows the small oxygen molecules in the air to escape from the tires over time. As the small molecules of air permeate out of the tire it results in the tire becoming under inflated. It is an malady that all tires suffer from. It is why car experts maintain that you need to check your tire pressure every month. A tire that is inflated with Nitrogen looses its pressure 3 times slower than if it were inflated with air. This is because Nitrogen is denser than Oxygen which means it has larger molecules and will seep out of the tire less easily than air. That will result in a significantly slower loss of tire pressure over time. Your tires will maintain themselves at close to the full pressure longer with the nitrogen because the pressure loss is so much slower. The result is properly inflated tires, with less friction, and less gasoline needed to move your car. That is how nitrogen helps you get better fuel economy. The cost of filling your tires with nitrogen is around $10.00 per tire. Is it worth it? Those who advocate nitrogen say absolutely it is. However there are those that don't agree. Before you run off and spend $40.00 getting your tires filled with nitrogen it might make sense to hear from the other camp.
Article Source: http://www.bizpong.com
Scott Siegel is the author of a 143 page manual of industry insider secrets on saving gas and money at the pump (beatthegaspump.com). Visit us to learn how you can get better gas mileage. Find out how to increase gas mileage. You can get a unique content version of this article.
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