Temporarily disable AWD for long trip

[C420sailor]

Why do they say this? Nitrogen is generally inert. I see no reason to not do it other than cost.

That’s exactly why. It doesn’t violate any warranties or such, but Honda is a very customer oriented company, and their philosophy has a strong emphasis on value and trust. They likely don’t want their dealers trying to fleece their customers with gaseous snake oil, harming the brand image, so they made it a practice that runs contrary to the manufacturer’s recommendations.

Which means you’ll likely be hard pressed to find Honda dealers pushing or even offering it.

 

[1998Exp]

Why do they say this? Nitrogen is generally inert. I see no reason to not do it other than cost.

Quoting from Honda statement:

Here’s why we say no to nitrogen:

• Nitrogen generators produce nitrogen gas from ambient air, but it’s at something less than 100 percent purity. To get just that same level of purity into a tire, you’d have to deflate and fill it several times to purge the remaining air. And if you don’t do that, the purity level drops even more. Compressed air is already about 78 percent nitrogen.

• Although tires filled with nitrogen leak more slowly over time than those with compressed air, they still leak. If you can’t find a place that offers nitrogen, your only option is to fill with compressed air, which, as we’ve said, drops the nitrogen purity.

• Nitrogen doesn’t offer any better protection than compressed air against cuts and punctures from road hazards. So no matter what you fill the tires with, you’ve still got to check their condition and pressures at least once a month, as we clearly state in the owner’s manual. And on vehicles with TPMS, filling the tires with nitrogen won’t reduce the frequency of the low tire pressure indicator coming on in cold weather.

• Tires filled with compressed air and properly maintained offer the same fuel efficiency and performance as those filled with nitrogen.

So here’s the bottom line: Although nitrogen offers certain advantages for commercial, government, and motorsport applications, for automobile tires you’re better off with dry, compressed air. That’s why we say no to nitrogen. We also clearly state this in the Dealer Operations Manual.

 

[94Eddie]

Quoting from Honda statement:

Here’s why we say no to nitrogen:

• Nitrogen generators produce nitrogen gas from ambient air, but it’s at something less than 100 percent purity. To get just that same level of purity into a tire, you’d have to deflate and fill it several times to purge the remaining air. And if you don’t do that, the purity level drops even more. Compressed air is already about 78 percent nitrogen.

• Although tires filled with nitrogen leak more slowly over time than those with compressed air, they still leak. If you can’t find a place that offers nitrogen, your only option is to fill with compressed air, which, as we’ve said, drops the nitrogen purity.

• Nitrogen doesn’t offer any better protection than compressed air against cuts and punctures from road hazards. So no matter what you fill the tires with, you’ve still got to check their condition and pressures at least once a month, as we clearly state in the owner’s manual. And on vehicles with TPMS, filling the tires with nitrogen won’t reduce the frequency of the low tire pressure indicator coming on in cold weather.

• Tires filled with compressed air and properly maintained offer the same fuel efficiency and performance as those filled with nitrogen.

So here’s the bottom line: Although nitrogen offers certain advantages for commercial, government, and motorsport applications, for automobile tires you’re better off with dry, compressed air. That’s why we say no to nitrogen. We also clearly state this in the Dealer Operations Manual.

So it appears that their is no harmful reason to not use nitrogen. They are saying it isn't necessary. My personal experience with nitrogen was I never once had to add any additional nitrogen for the life of the tires. Tire pressure was consistent for this entire time. I doubt nitrogen behaves much different than air regarding temperature fluctuations. Also, if there are benefits to using nitrogen in other use types then these benefits will filter down to passenger car use to some extent. IMO, the biggest benefit of nitrogen is very little to no air loss over long periods of time. This is mostly due to molecule size but also might be affected by a lack of moisture and reactivity of other gasses found in air. I am not promoting that anyone use nitrogen. I am just giving my personal experience from having done it one time.

 

[94Eddie]

That’s exactly why. It doesn’t violate any warranties or such, but Honda is a very customer oriented company, and their philosophy has a strong emphasis on value and trust. They likely don’t want their dealers trying to fleece their customers with gaseous snake oil, harming the brand image, so they made it a practice that runs contrary to the manufacturer’s recommendations.

Which means you’ll likely be hard pressed to find Honda dealers pushing or even offering it.

My curiosity was regarding if there was a negative reason from a science aspect to not use it.

 

[SenseiJ]

sooooo looks like I won't disconnect the driveshaft after all, ever.