Why Nitrogen?
Safer, cheaper and greener!
Nitrogen is an inert, non poisonous, non explosive gas that is plentiful in the atmosphere. The air we breathe is approximately 79% nitrogen and 21% oxygen. Nitrogen has physical properties that, when used in your tires, are very beneficial to the safe and efficient operation of your vehicle.
It’s not about nitrogen; it’s about reducing oxygen and moisture.
Oxidation occurs when oxygen reacts at high temperatures and pressures, and it damages inner liners, belt packages and rims. Oxygen is also wet, supports combustion and is corrosive.
Nitrogen In Your Tires: Safety First
You and your family will be safer when you’re riding on nitrogen.
Every day – as you drive to and from work, drop the kids at daycare or soccer practice, buy groceries – air is constantly escaping through the walls of your tires. Oxygen molecules, which are smaller than nitrogen molecules, seep through three to four times faster. A tire filled with “plain old air” will lose 1.5 psi in less than a month; with nitrogen, this can take six months or longer.
If you’re not constantly watching your tire pressure, escaping oxygen leads to under-inflated tires.
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) at the U.S. Department of Transportation, approximately 41,730 people were killed and 3,031,000 were injured on the nation's public roads and highways in the year 2001. NHTSA estimates that proper tire inflation could help save 50 to 80 lives and prevent 6,600 to 10,600 injuries each year.
With nitrogen in your tires, they will maintain proper pressure longer. Properly inflated tires not only reduce the chance of a blowout, they also ensure that the recommended “contact patch” is on the road. That improves your vehicle’s handling so you can react more quickly and decisively in potentially dangerous road conditions and situations.
Nitrogen Takes You Farther
With gas prices going up every day, every little bit helps.
Nitrogen in your tires maintains proper pressure, which keeps the recommended “contact patch” on the road longer and reduces rolling resistance, which translates to better fuel economy. In fact, properly inflated tires can improve your gas mileage by about 3.3 percent. That’s a savings no one would scoff at.
But that’s not all. With nitrogen maintaining more consistent pressure, your tires won’t wear as fast on the shoulders from under-inflation or in the center from over-inflation.
There’s more. By replacing oxygen with nitrogen, there is less oxidation. Oxidation occurs when oxygen reacts at high temperatures and pressures, and it damages inner liners, belt packages and rims. In fact, some tire manufacturers claim nitrogen use extends tire life as much as 25 percent.
With nitrogen, you won’t have to have your tires serviced as often and, in the long run, you’ll buy fewer tires.
Think Globally, Act Locally
You can make our world a better, safer place by filling your tires with nitrogen. It sounds trite, but it’s true.
Nitrogen in tires maintains proper pressure, keeps the recommended “contact patch” on the road longer and reduces rolling resistance. That translates to better fuel economy and fewer toxic emissions into our atmosphere.
But that’s not all. With more consistent pressure, your tires won’t wear as fast. Theoretically, if everyone used nitrogen we could decrease the demand for tires. Manufacturing fewer tires would decrease pressure on natural resources used in the process, lower toxic emissions coming from manufacturing plants, decrease shipping of tires and…well, you get the idea.
When it comes to protecting the environment, every little bit helps. You can pitch in by using nitrogen in your tires.
Saves you unnecessary visits to the dealership
If you own a newer vehicle with tire pressure sensors, you may have already noticed that when the temperature outside is very cold (or very hot) the tire pressure indicator on your instrument panel will illuminate, indicating a tire pressure problem. You may travel to your repair shop only to find out that there are no leaks in your tires. The pressure in the tires dropped due to the oxygen reacting to the temperature change. Nitrogen filled tires are not subject to temperature related pressure change so you can save your time.
Nascar, NASA and the airline companies use nitrogen in all their tires
They always put safety first, yet performance and cost savings are also very important. They have all been using nitrogen in their tires for years!
Why Donnelly stores?
At all Donnelly stores, we believe so strongly in the benefits of nitrogen in tires, ALL the vehicles we sell come equipped with nitrogen filled tires. We also have helped hundreds of customers by changing the air in their tires to nitrogen. We will do this quickly and inexpensively while you wait.