[s-cars] Nitrogen in tires?

[ccohen5]

Thanks -
----- Original Message -----
From: "Charlie Smith" <charlie at elektro.cmhnet.org>
To: <ccohen5 at compuserve.com>
Cc: "Audi S Car List" <s-car-list at audifans.com>; "Audi S Car List"
<s-car-list at egroups.com>
Sent: Sunday, April 28, 2002 10:41 AM
Subject: Re: [s-cars] Nitrogen in tires?


|
| Earlier, ccohen5 wrote:
| >
| > How does one get the stuff into the tires without mixing it with air.
Or is
| > it acceptable to have a N concentration but not pure N except for those
F1
| > folks who probably fill their tires in a vacuum chamber??
|
| Use of nitrogen in tires is a common practice with racers, because
| tire pressure is critical for best handling.  They carry a pressure
| bottle, similar to an oxygen tank used with welders.  To set up
| something like this, you'll need a high pressure regulator just
| like on a welding tank.
|
| After installation, inflate the tire and deflate it once,
| then inflate it again.  That gets rid of most of the air.
| With a race tire, the sidewalls are very thin and flexible,
| so one can 'squish' the tire and get most of the air-nitrogen
| out of it before the second filling.  Since race tires leak
| like crazy, subsequent fillings will have even less air in
| them.  Figure, this will greatly reduce the pressure change with
| temperature change, and that's what's important.
|
| Also figure - race tires are more sensitive to pressure being
| exactly spot-on.  Plus, the benefits of nitrogen allow the pressure
| to be right even on the first lap before the tires are fully heated up.
|
|     - Charlie
|
|