Like everyone else who drives, you’ve been feeling the pressure on your pocketbook from rising gas prices. The days of cheap gas for our cars are probably over. And now you need to know how to make buying that tank of gas less of a pain.
There are many things you can do to save on your gas bill, and one thing that may be overlooked is increasing the gas mileage through your tires. Yes, proper inflation will help a bit, it makes for a more comfortable and safer ride, but have you ever considered inflating your tires with nitrogen?
The latest ingenuity in automotive tires is nitrogen inflation. Automotive racers (such as NASCAR) use nitrogen instead of air in their tires due to many advantages, the least of which is improved fuel economy. Can increase your gas mileage by 5-15% by simply filling your tires with nitrogen, which can be done at a nominal cost of $3 to $5, and you won’t have to worry as much about properly inflating your tires.
Our air is made up of nitrogen, oxygen and other gases, but filling your tires with nitrogen eliminates the problems oxygen has with our tires. Air corrodes aluminum and steel wheels, causing them to leak through valve stems, wheel flanges, and around tire beads. Air also migrates through the rubber. In fact, air escapes through the rubber, whether there is a leak or not. Also, there is moisture in the air, which accelerates rust and corrosion. If you’ve ever wondered how a tire can “look low,” here’s why. You could be losing 2 psi per month with air, compared to 6 months with nitrogen. By maintaining better air pressures, it improves rolling resistance, has better tread wear and reduces fuel consumption.
Nitrogen tires will also run cooler than air-inflated tires, which keeps tire pressure more constant (it won’t increase or decrease with increasing or decreasing temperatures). It is better able to maintain tire pressure at the recommended pressure, which will also improve tire life and gas mileage.
But how much can you really save? Let’s say you add nitrogen to the tires on your regular full-size pickup truck. You were getting about 15 mpg average and now you get about 16 mpg average. It doesn’t sound like much, but over time it can add up to substantial savings. It cost you $3 per tire, or $12 to fill your tires with nitrogen to get a 6 2/3% increase in gas mileage, which equates to a 6 2/3% savings on every gallon of gas you buy. If you buy gasoline for $3 per gallon, you save almost $0.20 per gallon. You’ll save $3 with each 15-gallon fill or pay back after 4 fills. And then you can start counting the profits on your quick and easy investment in nitrogen-filled tires.
If you want to save money on gas, start driving less. If you can’t do that, improve your gas mileage, and one of the easiest ways to do that is to ride on nitrogen.
Learn how to save more in our age of rising fuel prices at http://www.savingyourwaytosuccess.com/