I was sitting around a little bored and a thought popped in my head. We all know that repeated heating and cooling deteriorates matter (erosion). So, it would make sense that air in the tires would also go bad because it cools and heats every time we drive. So since I needed to rotate my tires anyway, I figured I would swap out air while at it. The procedure is simple. Deflate all the way. I am sure there was some air still in there but not enough to cause any problems. Inflate back to your desired PSI (38 for my needs). Went out for a drive on Mulholland to test it out. I know this is very subjective, but the car did feel better. A little more responsive and for some reason a little less road noise.
Was the PSI 38 before you deflated? I'm sure it was, as you seem the type to keep up on that kind of thing. I'll have to give that a try, maybe get a couple more months out of my tires. Maybe this should go in that science thread. Mark
WHAT? You released British air into the California atmosphere without a permit. Your asking for big trouble with those California air quality control guys. California has adopted regulations requiring owner's of motor vehicles manufactured in foreign country's to capture OEM air fill when purging before tire replacement. Emissions of greenhouse gases (GHGs), beginning in model year 2004. The Clean Air Act, however, generally preempts states from adopting their own emission standards for mobile sources of air pollution. In order for the regulations to go into effect, therefore, the state must obtain a waiver of the Free Clean Air Act’s preemption from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. VIOLATORS ARE SUBJECT TO FINE. California -Free Clean Air Act I was bored too....
The best time to do a tire air swap is when humidity is low. For you in So Cal you would also want a the winds to be coming out of the east to keep the salt content low.
:lol: I didn't think I would remember this until April 1st. Actually, better. Maybe I should bottle and sell it? :devil:
I think you are wrong. You want the salt content as it would stiffen up the sidewall of the tire thus resulting in better track times due to diminished sidewall flex.
you might, or might not, believe how many people ask me if filling the tires with helium is a good idea.
Yep, very foolish - you will also now find that the car will pull to right on straight roads as British tyre air (please, not "tire air"...) naturally will pull to the left and so the car's steering has been set up to suit that. Anyway, don't you know nuffink? The gas that gives optimum tyre performance is compressed wiring harness smoke. This is quite hard to come by on new Minis, though if you also have a classic Mini, you're bound to have at least a garage-full of the stuff just hanging around. I cannot say if shop-bought wiring harness smoke works as well, as I've never tried it myself. :idea: Andrew
It worked, looks like 3 more months of tire wear was added. Also played around with the muffler bearing, +10HP at least Mark
I ordered my air from a vendor on another site. It was drop shipped, and when it arrived I saw it was for an MCS. Will I still be able to use it in my Cooper, and is it going to increase performance?
Typical, order one thing, get another. Good luck getting a refund:lol: The muffler bearing tweak is easy, and the performance gains are awesome. Mark
I don't know if it's still being done, but helium has been used to fill tires in track cycling competition (including the US Olympic cycling team). As I understand it, not so much for weight (just a few grams difference) but with the hope that the good thermal conduction properties of helium might help the very thin, fragile track tires. I've read that they concluded any effects were negligible and maybe not even measurable. However, it could be one of those self perpetuating things where if your competition is using helium, you're afraid not to, just in case it might make that one-hundredth of a second difference between winning or losing. I wonder how many useless things are out there based solely on fear of being at a disadvantage. Sometimes these things are necessary to gain placebo effect (which should never be underestimated :lol.
:lol::lol::lol::lol: They'll give you a discount if you put their name in your sig. Let me know if you need some synthetic turn signal fluid.