This article appeared in the August 2007 issue of our Behind The Wheel e-newsletter, but I thought it was valuable enough to make a second appearance.

If you’d like to save money at the gas pump and extend tire life by 25 percent, look no further than the air that fills your tires.

And then say hello to nitrogen. For years, race car owners, the military and airlines have filled tires with nitrogen to improve their performance and increase their lifespan.

Now this technology is available to you, and on vehicles equipped with Tire Pressure Monitoring Systems, nitrogen helps protect against false alarms—a.k.a. dashboard warning lights—due to extreme temperature changes. Effective in September, all new cars were required by law to be equipped with a TPMS.

While the pressurized air filling your tires is already 80% nitrogen, the problem lies with the gas making up the other 20%—oxygen. Consider these facts:

• Nitrogen leaks from your tires four times more slowly than oxygen—2.7 psi per month versus 0.7 psi. This helps prevent under-inflated tires, which increase fuel consumption and lead to premature tire wear.
• Nitrogen is not sensitive to air temperature extremes like oxygen. For every 10 degrees the ambient air temperature changes, your tire pressure will fluctuate more than half a pound. Consider how Chicago temps of 98 degrees can plummet to a seasonably cool 68 degrees within a few hours or how a winter daytime high of 50 degrees can drop to 20 degrees by evening. A tire that started out at 32 psi has now dropped to less than 29 psi.
• The amount of tread contracting the road changes as a tire expands and contracts with temperature. Because Nitrogen is more stable, these changes are minimized.
• Nitrogen helps prevent oxidation of the rim and wheel. Oxygen reacts with minute amounts of hydrogen in the tires to create water vapor that leaks through sidewalls and reduces air pressure or that causes rust to form on the rim. (Ever had a persistent slow leak because of a problematic rim?)

Investing in nitrogen doesn’t mean you can ignore tire maintenance. You’ll still want to have your tires inspected periodically for wear. But in the meantime, nitrogen will be there to lend a stabilizing hand.

Source: C&M Auto Service eNewsletter

Tomorrow’s collector cars are already parked in garages and displayed on showroom floors across America, and Hagerty Insurance Co. CEO McKeel Hagerty has compiled his choices for the Top 10 Future Collector Cars.

The good news: You don’t need to break the bank to get a hot and value-appreciating ride. All you have to do is wait.

”Many consumers may be driving a future collector car right now,” Hagerty says. ”Our goal was to find cars that drivers find appealing now, and that they may consider nostalgic in 15 to 20 years. Each car on Hagerty’s Hot List possesses a ‘buzz,’ a Wow Factor that resonates with consumers of all ages, many cars being daily drivers that turn heads already.”

Hagerty’s Hot List:

• Toyota FJ Cruiser – When Hot Wheels™ grow up, but their owners don’t.
• Mini Cooper – Proof that small doesn’t have to mean Spartan or soulless.
• Lotus Elise – Going back to its roots, Lotus rediscovers the meaning simply brilliant.
• Dodge Viper – Wrapped in a hot little body and powered with a V-10.
• Acura NSX – A credible supercar, even with the V-6 engine and great gas mileage.
• Toyota Scion – The hot ticket may be the xA, but the xB and tC will also be rare.
• Audi TT – New design and style standards for the inside and an exterior reintroduced from a storied past.
• Jaguar XK – The sexy curves that once defined Jaguar.
• Chrysler 300 – A reinterpretation of the classic American rear-drive car.
• Smart Car – Mercedes makes this city commuter desirable and fun.

In determining the Hagerty Hot List, the insurance company analyzed the reasons today’s collector cars are such hot commodities: pop-culture popularity, limited production numbers and the style of the next generation of collectors.

Source: Hagerty Hot List

The bad news: The number of vehicles recalled in 2007 increased more than 25 percent from 2006. The good news: The most extensive recalls affected older models, suggesting a quality bump in newer models.

A total of 14.2 million vehicles were recalled in 2007, up from 11.2 million the year before. But those numbers pale in comparison to the 30.8 million that were recalled in 2004.

This year’s increase is largely due to a Ford campaign to recall 3.6 million vehicles because of a cruise control switch that has been linked to engine fires. The campaign affects vehicles built between 1992 and 1994, and the carmaker has recalled 10.4 million vehicles since 1999.

“The vast majority of vehicles recalled were older models introduced a decade ago or even earlier,” Ford spokesman Dan Jarvis said. “They really are a world apart from the vehicles we’ve made in the last three to four years.” Jarvis said it’s important to note that Ford’s quality ratings have improved in recent years.

Volkswagen of America also took a hit this year with recalls on 1.5 million vehicles, primarily because it extended existing campaigns to more vehicles, including one for a faulty brake-light switch.

Recall numbers dropped for the other top automakers, with General Motors posting the best improvement. GM recalled 537,992 vehicles, a 61 percent drop from 1.37 million in 2006. Honda Motor Co. saw a 54 percent decline to 547,215 vehicles, from 1.19 million in 2006. Chrysler LLC and Toyota Motor Corp. also recalled fewer vehicles than last year, although the improvement was less dramatic.

While the number of total vehicles recalled declined, the number of campaigns did not. Automakers say the congressionally mandated early warning system is helping them to identify problems sooner. For example, GM had 18 recall campaigns in 2007 covering 537,992 vehicles, compared with 17 campaigns and 1.37 million recalled vehicles in 2006. In 2004, the company recalled 10.7 million vehicles.

Source: Detroit News