Filling tires with nitrogen debated

An increasing number of auto-repair shops and car dealerships are charging customers $20 to $50 to fill their tires with nitrogen.

Their pitch is that pure nitrogen maintains better tire pressure, which gives you better gas mileage, longer wear and a smoother and safer ride.

The idea of riding on nitrogen isn't new. It's been done for years in race cars, commercial airplanes and long-distance trucks.

More recently, a number of car dealerships across the country are using it in new car tires -- basically, a luxury "extra" to impress buyers.

The thinking is that nitrogen has larger molecules, which prevent it from seeping out of the tire as quickly as air and thereby maintain more stable pressure.

Tires filled with regular air tend to fluctuate in pressure level -- increasing in summer and decreasing during the cold season.

Tire pressure is vital. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says maintaining the proper pressure can improve gas mileage by almost 3 percent.

The government also estimates that underinflated tires cost the nation about 2 million gallons of gas every day. Low tire pressure can cause wheels to lose traction, making the car work harder and burn more fuel.

But is filling your tires with nitrogen really a good solution?

"This is still a heavily debated issue," said Steve Phillips, AAA Carolinas' traffic-safety manager. Some Goodyear and Michelin experts have reported that tires lose pressure from the areas around the valves and rims whether they are filled with air or nitrogen, Phillips said.

"So there is no guarantee that you are going to get better pressure," he said.

Phillips worries about what he calls the "fill-it-and-forget-it" mentality.

"Our fear is that people will put nitrogen in their tires and never check them again," he said. "They still have to check for tread [wear] and punctures."

According to a survey by Uniroyal Tire, nearly 50 percent of Americans say they check their tires once a month.

Source: Star-Telegram, 11/10/07

Yokahama to plant trees, help environment

The Yokohama Rubber Co. Ltd. will hold a tree-planting ceremony on Nov. 11 at its Hiratsuka, Japan, factory as part of its "Yokohama Forever Forest" project -- a long-term project being carried out as part of the Yokohama Rubber Group's environmental preservation activities.

Local residents and employees of the Yokohama Rubber Group and their families -- about 3,500 people -- will plant 30,000 trees that day.

The company points out that if forests are created around factories and similar facilities, they will absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. They also will contribute in other respects, including safety and recreation.

Over the coming 10 years, the Hiratsuka factory, six other Japanese plants and 11 plants at overseas affiliates will plant a total of 500,000 trees, creating about about 25 acres of new forests.

Professor Emeritus Akira Miyawaki of Yokohama National University will supervise the planting, which will be followed by various events including a discussion on stage between Tadashi Tateuchi, a noted automotive journalist, and Ukyo Katayama, a former F1 driver.

Dr. Akira Miyawaki is a biologist known for the concept of "potential natural vegetation," which is vegetation that is most suitable to the native area and habitat, supported by the existing conditions of location in the absence of any human intervention.

He has guided more than 1,500 tree-planting efforts both domestically and abroad, having thus helped in the planting of 30 million trees.

Source: Modern Tire Dealer, 11/05/07