Tire Stores Invite Customers To Get 'Nitro-Nized' With Nitrogen Tire Inflation

ALLEN PARK, Mich., April 17 -- Starting today at Belle Tire stores in Michigan and Ohio, drivers can get better, safer, longer-lasting and more consistent performance from their tires by Nitro-Nizing them. Belle Tire Nitro-Nizes tires with their state-of-the-art system that inflates tires with nitrogen rather than compressed air. Nitrogen has several important advantages over air and is now available free at Belle Tire for a limited time with the purchase of any new tire. Even if you don't need new tires right now, you still can gain all the advantages nitrogen offers by Nitro-Nizing your existing tires for a nominal fee.

"Now Belle Tire customers can get the same high-tech advantages previously available only on airliners, business jets, race cars and the NASA Space Shuttle," said Don Barnes, president of Belle Tire. "Just as we helped shape the retail tire industry with our 'out the door' pricing, Belle Tire is doing it again with the launch of Nitro-Nize. We're committed to bringing our customers the best technology, performance and safety available anywhere. I'm confident they'll love the many benefits of nitrogen-inflated tires."

Nitro-Nized tires maintain proper pressure up to three times longer because nitrogen diffuses through tire walls more slowly than air. This gives drivers several important safety and performance advantages:

  *  Problems associated with under-inflation are reduced. Under-inflated
     tires run hotter and wear faster due to increased rolling resistance. A
     tire that is 10 percent under-inflated will lose approximately seven
     percent of its service life.
  *  Tires maintain their strength longer. Nitrogen-filled tires show twice
     the life to failure in both field and laboratory tests due to absence
     of interior oxidation caused by the oxygen in compressed air.
  *  Tires perform better. Nitrogen can help increase tire mileage by as
     much as 25 percent. Tires that are properly inflated respond better to
     steering input and handle better.
  *  Tire pressure is more consistent. Compressed air expands at varying
     rates depending on the amount of water vapor it contains; nitrogen is
     "dry" and expands at a consistent, predictable rate.

In addition, nitrogen tire inflation is better for your wallet and better for the environment. Belle Tire estimates customers can save up to $125 per year in vehicle operating costs if they Nitro-Nize their tires, depending on the number of miles driven annually. On a larger scale, Americans could save 3.7 billion gallons of gas per year if they maintained proper tire pressure with nitrogen. Examine the facts:

  *  Americans use about 375 million gallons of gasoline per day.
     SOURCE: http://www.eia.doe.gov/ ; Energy Information Administration
  *  That equals 136,875,000,000 gallons per year.
     SOURCE: Official Energy Statistics from the U.S. Government
  *  220 million vehicles in the U.S. drive 11,600 miles per year.
     SOURCE: Energy Information Administration; http://www.eia.doe.gov/
  *  That equals 6,991,780,821.918 combined miles per day.
     SOURCE: Official Energy Statistics from the U.S. Government;
     http://www.eia.doe.gov/
  *  You can improve your gas mileage by around 3.3 percent by keeping tires
     inflated to the proper pressure. Under-inflated tires can lower gas
     mileage by 0.4 percent for every 1 psi drop in pressure of all four
     tires.
     SOURCE: US Dept. of Energy, US Environmental Protection Agency;
     http://www.fueleconomy.gov/
  *  Every gallon of gasoline a vehicle burns puts 20 pounds of carbon
     dioxide into the atmosphere.
     SOURCE: US Dept. of Energy, US Environmental Protection Agency;
     http://www.fueleconomy.gov/
  *  The U.S. uses about 20 million barrels of oil per day, two-thirds of
     which is used for transportation. One barrel of crude oil (42 gallons)
     produces approximately 19.9 gallons of finished motor gasoline.
     SOURCE: US Dept. of Energy, US Environmental Protection Agency;
     http://www.fueleconomy.gov/
  *  As many as 85 percent of motorists do not properly check their tire
     inflation pressure.
     SOURCE: Rubber Manufacturers Association, February 2003 RMA survey;
     http://www.rma.org/

CONCLUSION: If 85 percent of the 220 million vehicles on the road today improved their gas mileage by 3.3 percent, the U.S. would save: 3,716,692,884.802 gallons of gas per year.

Information provided by http://www.getnitrogen.org/ . Visit their web site for more information on nitrogen and its benefits.

Belle Tire is family-owned and operated, has 75 stores in Michigan and Ohio, and is based in Allen Park, Mich. For more information visit the web site at http://www.belletire.com/ .