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Compare the cost of nitrogen tyre filling against the fuel and tread savings its slower pressure loss actually delivers.
This calculator prices the one real advantage nitrogen tyre filling has — slower pressure loss — against what workshops charge for it. Ordinary air is already about 78% nitrogen, and a nitrogen fill takes that to roughly 95-99%; because oxygen permeates a butyl liner three to four times faster than nitrogen, a nitrogen-filled tyre loses pressure at roughly a third of the usual 1-2 psi a month. The saving is valued using the US Department of Energy figure of about 0.2% of fuel economy lost per psi of under-inflation, plus the tread life given up, and compared against the filling charge.
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Prices slower pressure loss through fuel burn and tread wear, not marketing claims.
Tells you the highest per-tyre charge at which nitrogen still pays.
Shows how much of the benefit disappears if you already check monthly.
Usually only if you top up infrequently and drive a lot. A typical car doing 12,000 km a year with quarterly top-ups gains roughly ₹600 a year of fuel and tread from nitrogen's slower leak rate, so a ₹100-per-tyre charge four times a year (₹1,600) loses money. The break-even charge in that case is under ₹40 a tyre per fill.
A healthy tyre on compressed air loses about 1-2 psi a month through the liner, bead and valve, and more in hot weather or with an ageing valve. Nitrogen typically loses about a third of that, because oxygen molecules diffuse through butyl rubber several times faster than nitrogen molecules do.
Yes. The US Department of Energy puts the loss at roughly 0.2% of fuel economy for every 1 psi that the average pressure of all four tyres falls below the placard figure. Under-inflation also wears the shoulders faster: a tyre run about 20% low can lose a comparable share of its tread life.
Yes, and you should not drive on a low tyre waiting for a nitrogen pump. Adding compressed air simply lowers the nitrogen purity and with it the retention benefit; there is no safety issue and no need to purge the tyre. Correct pressure always matters far more than which gas is in it.
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