We rarely give any thought to the kind of air in the tires of our vehicles. We all assume that it’s just air and how different can it be. Turns out, there is quite a lot of difference and there is a reason some manufacturers use Nitrogen in tires rather than compressed air.
The reason behind this is a simple one. Air contains moisture. Compressed air contains even more moisture. This means that it can expand rapidly and unpredictably when heated up like in the case of hard driving. This could result in the tires over-expanding and working against the rubber’s effectiveness.
Nitrogen is a much drier substance and does not contain as much moisture as regular air. This means that the tires with nitrogen are less likely to expand as much as those with compressed air. The expansion of nitrogen can also be accurately monitored with temperature. This is why it is normally used in road racing.
You can learn more about it in the video below:
