Tyre Pressure

Maintaining tyre pressure is one of the most important tasks you face as a driver. Incorrect tyre pressure can lead to reduced handling, inefficient grip and greater braking distances. On top of this, over or under inflated tyres can drastically decrease tyre life as they are worn more rapidly. To find out how to keep on top of checking your tyre pressure, take a look at Merityre’s helpful guide here.

Police forces across the UK recently undertook a roadside survey to monitor tyre pressure. On average they found that 75% of tyres checked had incorrect tyre pressure. On top of this, Road Traffic Accident Statistics show that 86% of tyres have incorrect pressures. If you are concerned about maintaining your tyre pressure, it may be a good idea to consider switching to Nitrogen filled tyres.

Compressed Air v Nitrogen

Aircraft and racing car tyres have been using purified nitrogen to inflate tyres for years as tyre pressure is reduced at a much slower rate. The compressed air which is usually used to inflate tyres is made up of 78% Nitrogen, and also contains Oxygen and water vapour. Tyres filled with pure Nitrogen will maintain their correct tyre pressure for longer because Nitrogen does not leak through the structure of the tyre whereas compressed air can permeate the tyre’s casing.

The Benefits of Nitrogen

The benefits of using Nitrogen instead of compressed air to inflate your tyres are:

• Slower rate of pressure loss
• Better road holding
• Up to 25% longer tread life
• Up to 5% reduction in fuel consumption
• No corrosion to the inside of the wheel
• Reduction of running temperature

Switching to Nitrogen

If you do decide to take up these benefits by using Nitrogen in your tyres, there are a few things you will need to bear in mind.

• Once your tyres have been filled with Nitrogen it is important that you only use Nitrogen when topping up.
• If you are in a situation where you can only re-inflate with compressed air you must deflate the tyre fully before you can re-inflate with Nitrogen.
• Using Nitrogen does not mean that you do not need to maintain your tyres. You should still check your tyre pressure, condition, wheel alignment and balance on a regular basis. For guidance on tyre maintenance click here.