momo Posted October 23, 2015 Report Share Posted October 23, 2015 So had an issue of late with my passenger rear where it kept dropping pressure every couple of weeks. I'd fill it up to my usual 42 psi - by the following week it'd be down at 30psi. I'd left it a few weeks unfortunately and let it drop to 10psi. Quickly checked the tyre on the car - it looked ok so filled it back up and kept up with the weekly checks. Today I bit the bullet and got the tyre removed - EGGED TO F*CK!! Seems as though that 10psi episode killed it.. Queue a call today to my local supplier - Click on Tyres Found Vorti tyres (Sessantas are end of life) for £120 each. Found Camskill doing them for £99 each! Click on matched the price for me - but also offered fitting TODAY!! Out with the old - in with the new! Only done literally a couple of miles in them - but already they feel like the old ones I took off.. The Sessantas needed a few miles to "bed in" - these are bang on from the off!! I like! However I noticed something odd - Does anyone else notice something odd? Yep - they're both 255/35/R18 Y tyres - but the Vorti has a NOTICEABLY larger contact patch!! It's a much bigger tyre! Got both new tyres filled with Nitrogen this time. With the larger Nitrogen molecules - it should mean there's less chance of air leaking out from the rusty old wheels (or so they say).. They also do free nitrogen pressure refill/checks for the next 5 years! All for £2 per wheel. lol. I'll get the fronts done next time im down there methinks. Has anyone else had Nitrogen in their tyres? Is it better at all? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daz 330 Cs Posted October 23, 2015 Report Share Posted October 23, 2015 I had it in my Yokohamas a few years back. Didn't notice any difference. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TriggerFish Posted October 23, 2015 Report Share Posted October 23, 2015 I found the Vorti to be much better than the Sessentas. I'd not buy the latter again, that's for sure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
momo Posted October 23, 2015 Author Report Share Posted October 23, 2015 Yeah don't expect to notice any difference.. I just need to make sure I remember i've got Nitrogen in there the next time I go to check air pressures. lol. Trigger - did you notice the contact patch size difference? Almost looks like a 265 wide tyre.. The fitter double-checked it too when I pointed it out. It's much wider than the Sessantas. Hope these last as long - must have had the Sessantas for about 2 years now and they were only down to around 4-5mm.. The_Judge_ 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TriggerFish Posted October 23, 2015 Report Share Posted October 23, 2015 No, I didn't - I went from 18s to 17s with tyres with to a fresh set of Sessentas, so hard to compare My rear sessentas only lasted 5-6k, at most Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
momo Posted October 23, 2015 Author Report Share Posted October 23, 2015 Jeez! You must drive like a man posessed! lol. I do about 5-6k a year. So probably done 10-12k in the time they wore down to 4-5mm.. It'd be interesting to see if anyone else has noticed this difference with contact patch. I was thinking if I had spacers in there before - they might struggle now with the wider patch. My arches are pressed flat too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TriggerFish Posted October 23, 2015 Report Share Posted October 23, 2015 I don't think I do, though. The previous Bridgestones, with a much lower tread wear rating, lasted for much, much longer, and weren't on the car when I got it. The Vortis lasted for about a year, I'd guess. Around 10-15k? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StuBeeDoo Posted October 23, 2015 Report Share Posted October 23, 2015 Has anyone else had Nitrogen in their tyres? Is it better at all? I had it in my Yokohamas a few years back. Didn't notice any difference. The local tyre place I used to use claimed to put nitrogen in as a matter of course. I didn't notice any difference, either. .........But one of the reasons I stopped using them was that as soon as I got home from there I'd have to put air in - sometimes as much as 10psi-worth. I don't know what my new preferred tyre depot uses for inflation and TBH I couldn't care less, as long as the tyres are somewhere near the right pressure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
momo Posted October 23, 2015 Author Report Share Posted October 23, 2015 10psi? They say you're not meant to mix Nitrogen with normal air.. Maybe this is why? Maybe all you were doing is replacing the water content in the air. Or maybe their machine simply wasn't calibrated properly? I know how the rear of my car feels with 42Psi - it feels bang on as it should at that pressure with the nitrogen they put in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stonesie Posted October 23, 2015 Report Share Posted October 23, 2015 (edited) I have to laugh at that, air is 78% Nitrogen, so I have never seen the point of having it in normal road tyres, maybe if I was in high level motorsport and needed the tyre pressure to be more consistant at high temperatures, but i'm not. 10psi? They say you're not meant to mix Nitrogen with normal air.. Edited October 23, 2015 by Stonesie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StuBeeDoo Posted October 23, 2015 Report Share Posted October 23, 2015 (edited) 10psi? They say you're not meant to mix Nitrogen with normal air.. The depot of which I speak are a bunch of cowboys. They never said anything about not inflating with air. Mind, as soon as the tyre is mounted on the rim the chamber is full of air, so when they inflate the tyre with nitrogen they're mixing it with air anyway. Unless they purge the chamber (which they don't...) there will always be air in. Edited October 23, 2015 by StuBeeDoo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
momo Posted October 23, 2015 Author Report Share Posted October 23, 2015 I think the idea is there's less water vapour and oxygen in the Nitrogen than air so it's less prone to expanding/contracting with temperature and as the molecules are larger they wont escape from the tyre as quickly. The stuff they put in tyres is 98% nitrogen so while yes there WILL be normal air/water in there it'll be a lot less! It's reducing the air mix of 20% oxygen/water in the air etc.. To less than 7% in the Nitrogen mix. If you mix the Nitrogen fill with normal air then you're just re-introducing the oxygen/water again so it's pointless of you having the nitrogen fill to start with! You may aswell have just put air in there to start with.. Anyway - for £2 a tyre you can't go wrong I think! If it helps with keeping the tyre pressures up then I'm all for it! Especially after having to replace 2 half-worn tyres because one of them was slowly letting air out. Let's see how it goes.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StuBeeDoo Posted October 23, 2015 Report Share Posted October 23, 2015 Let's see how it goes.. This ^^^ ....... But I still think it's snake oil, until someone (you, Momo??) can definitively prove me wrong. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
momo Posted October 23, 2015 Author Report Share Posted October 23, 2015 We shall indeed see! I'm planning on doing bi-monthly pressure checks with them so we'll see how it goes.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
starkie7 Posted October 23, 2015 Report Share Posted October 23, 2015 Re: nitrogen - didn't fifth gear do a test on nitrogen filled tyres and found it all a load of hype? Re: sessantta vs vorti - I feel the exact opposite. The new vorti aren't a patch on the old sessanttas, whether wet or dry they had better grip, more progression and more feel. In standing water the difference is night and day. Tomorrow I will post up a picture of the old sessanttas against vorti to show any width difference Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
momo Posted October 24, 2015 Author Report Share Posted October 24, 2015 Just seen it.. V. Interesting! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kmnZ4-EUbIk According to Tiff it's actually worse for consistent pressures! Hmmmmm.. Problem with that test for me is the machine used to fill the nitrogen looks like a normal air machine with an N2 badge on it! This is how it's supposed to be done: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pwycYHucnyI They're meant to suck all the air out of the tyre, then refill with Nitrogen. Tbh i'm pretty sure they DIDN'T do that on mine! I bet the Fifth gear test was filled the same as mine. Mount the tyre and just fill with N2 instead of purging, THEN filling. The more I read about it - the more I see the same +'s and -'s.. The main positive being that you get a consistent tyre pressure for longer. But as above, it seems that would only be the case if it was filled properly to start with. I'm going to check my pressures weekly for now then head back down to the shop in a month (providing pressures remain ok) and ask them to purge and refill this time. lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StuBeeDoo Posted October 24, 2015 Report Share Posted October 24, 2015 They're meant to suck all the air out of the tyre, then refill with Nitrogen. I rest my case. i'm pretty sure they DIDN'T do that on mine! The place I used to go to definitely didn't do it. ..........And the place I go to now don't claim to use nitrogen. Next time I'm in I'll ask them their thoughts - if I remember. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
330CDT Posted December 2, 2015 Report Share Posted December 2, 2015 Very interesting read momo thanks for this.. Especially for me as I have Vred Sessanta's on the rear that are getting below 3mm each now. Over the last week as I've been getting more and more comfortable / confident with the car I've stepped the back end out a couple of times (In the wet being hamfisted with the throttle..) But I will need to fork out and have them both replaced soon. I have Eagle F1's on the front with 5mm on, wondering about matching the rears.. Any update on how these Vorti's are holding up? Interesting point when I got my car on 120500 miles the rears were showing just over 4mm literally about 4.1mm lol. Now it's on 129900 so 10k+ miles later and just under 3mm on each. I can't fault them for that! But I don't know any better. Cheers! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
momo Posted December 3, 2015 Author Report Share Posted December 3, 2015 Tyres seems to be doing quite well! However you have to bear in mind I don't drive much. I probably do around 50miles a week (regular driving) so I've only done a few hundred miles since fitting them! lol Tbh since getting them fitted it seems as though the top layer has worn off - now they're a little slippy! The Sessantas weren't like this. Problem is i'm not sure if this is because of the tyres, or the fact that there's now salt everywhere and the cooler temps. I'll probably allow the temps to warm up next year before making a final decision on them tbh.. To me - they don't seem much of an improvement over the Sessanta's.. But that's not saying they're crap as I thought the Sessanta's were SUPERB for the money! In my view they offer better grip than my old Dunlop Sport Maxx GT's, and they're in a different league to Falken FK452s.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
