What percent of the air in Costco’s tires is Nitrogen?
Nicole L asked:
I’ve been told that Costco fills their tires up with nitrogen and I should only get them refilled at Costco.
I’ve been told that Costco fills their tires up with nitrogen and I should only get them refilled at Costco.
What percent of Costco’s “nitrogen” air is Nitrogen? The air we breathe is 78% N, so does that mean standard air at the gas station is 78% N, or is it a different amount.
If I have Costco air in my tires will it be harmful to refill it with standard air?
I have seen no good reason to use anything other than air to fill tires with 78% nitrogen. Do not worry about what Costco uses. Your tires will be fine using normal air.
Think about it clearly. What automobile tire company would make general purpose tires that you cannot fill with air at an ordinary gas station? Nobody would buy them. It would be bad business mistake.
I think somebody is playing with your head.
The short answer is that filling your tires with regular air isn’t going to have a large detrimental effect on your tires. There is however a possibility that your tires were filled with pure nitrogen instead of regular air (I hear this is becoming more common especially for replacement tires). There are several reasons why some claim this is beneficial. The main one is that nitrogen is said to diffuse out of tires more slowly than regular air. Additionally, pure nitrogen won’t have water vapor in it that may condense or re-evaporate with varying temperature and pressure conditions. Additionally nitrogen is inert and won’t degrade/corrode the inner lining of your tire (though it is important to note that for most tires the lifespan is limited by how long the tread lasts, and not how long the lining lasts so this benefit most likely has negligible value). These benefits lead some to fill their tires with nitrogen, given that it will usually only cost a couple extra dollars when you get your tires, and can make some tire maintenance easier. Overall, if you monitor your tires regularly and make sure the pressure is right, then the difference between air and pure nitrogen is virtually zero. If you are one who avoids checking your tires until it looks like something is visibly wrong, you may find you get better gas mileage by having the auto shop fill them with nitrogen instead (having properly inflated tires can provide something like a 3-5% increase in gas mileage…while your tires themselves don’t care if the inflation is from air or nitrogen. Nitrogen has been shown to leak more slowly than air from tires, whether or not you think it’s worth it is up to you.).