If I fill my tires with helium will my car be lighter and use less gas?

Question

If I fill my tires with helium will my car be lighter and use less gas?

Answer 1

Make sure your tires are inflated to the correct tire pressure. Over or under inflation can affect you fuel economy. Purchase a tire pressure gauge and use it at every fill up.

Answer 2

Unless you use tractor tires then no.

There would not be enough helium in the small tires to significantly affect your car's weight.

Also, the differences in density between air and helium is different and may present a problem. Tires might pop easier etc.

Answer 3

well it might; experiment it out first because it might also throw you off the road

Answer 4

Sounds like a fun idea to me.  Don't think it would work, though and probably cost you lots of money for enough helium to get good pressure.  What about running the car on Helium, though?  See:

http://www.helium.com/items/1157155-heli...

Answer 5

Helium is so light that you would have to pack so much pressure into the tires to keep those tires inflated.

Helium is 1/8th the weight of oxygen (4 atomic units vs. O2 and it's 32 atomic unit weight), so I'd rather not fill my tires to 300 PSI to keep my tires inflated.

Net savings = zero.

Possible damage = a lot.

Answer 6

you will have to tie it to the parking meter to keep it from floating away...there would not be enough helium to make the car lighter..

Answer 7

no - plus it will leak out - blimps need a lot of refills

Answer 8

It will be so slightly lighter the gas savings would not justify the cost of the helium (which does leak out) You might save 0.01 gallons if you drove all day. Not worth it.

Answer 9

Yes it will definitely be lighter by a totally insignificant amount and you'll have to fill up again everyday because rubber is porous to Helium, it leaks right through!