Filling Tires with Nitrogen

One of my tires needed to be changed as it was leaking air slowly. Actually, all of them needed to get changed anyway as they were getting quite worn out. So this afternoon, I headed over to AutoBacs. It’s near my house, and they open on Sundays. Ok, so there I was with AutoBacs people recommending the right tire for me. Then I learnt something new: They fill the tires with nitrogen. They had a “promotion” where if I bought 4 tires (which was my intention anyway), I’d get free “lifetime” refilling of nitrogen gas for my tires.

Hmm, I must be getting a bit sua ku. I didn’t know they fill tires with nitrogen gas. At least not until now, and by now, thanks to the Internet I’ve found out more about the use of nitrogen gas. Anyway, at AutoBacs, I thought it sounded cool and fancy. Not that they really needed to sell me the idea of changing all 4 tires anyway; I already had that intention in mind when I went there.

It seems nitrogen gas is used in tires of race cars, aircrafts and even the space shuttle. There are claims that it improves gas mileage because the tire stays properly inflated longer. It is also better able to resist heat build-up… which is probably a common problem in super-hot Singapore.

A banner hung up at AutoBacs claims filling tires with nitrogen gas also lowers noise level and improves comfort. I don’t know how it can do that. It further claims to “help environmental protection.” This, I find, odd. If you don’t use nitrogen, you’d pump normal air (which is 78% nitrogen anyway). How is this worse for the environment?