CP

Hi,

This is interesting.
http://www.fastcoolcars.com/airless-tires.htm

These tires are airless and are scheduled to be out on the market very soon. The bad news for law enforcement is that spike strips will not work on these. Just think of the impact on existing technology:
A. no more air valves...
B. no more air compressors at gas stations...
C. no more repair kits...
D. no more flats...

Wondering how it rolls under 1g cornering load?

CP

TheOtherEric

Why do you think they're scheduled to be released soon? I'd be amazed if they're sold in the next ten years.

They first need to figure out how to prevent snow/ice build-up in the spokes. Talk about balance problems.

Seems like a good idea, though.

The Brewmeister

Maybe they plan to incorporate a sidewall to keep out the contaminates. Mud and gravel would wreek
balance havoc as well.

993_Pilot

Interesting idea, but according to the link you put up, they said:

"Although it appears to be a pretty good idea and concept, they probably will not be available to the general public soon."

CP

Don't know when they will be available, but according to a friend whi sent me this info.

SEE THROUGH TIRES
Radical new tire design by Michelin. The next generation of tires. They had a pair at the Philadelphia car show.

So at least they have shown these to the public.

CP

Geets

Michelin first announced the Tweel in 2005

The lateral stiffness of the Tweel is adjustable. For testing, Michelin equipped an Audi A4 with Tweels made with five times as much lateral stiffness as a pneumatic tire, resulting in “very responsive handling”

A test drive in a Tweel-equipped Audi A4 sedan on roads around Michelin's research center proved to be far less exotic than the construction method or appearance would suggest. The prototype Tweels are noisy because the spokes vibrate.

I think we will see them in this application before we see them on the roads.

IamSMC

Something similar in design is used now when cars go through "armoured" conversions.

They're used as inserts in tires. Even if the tires are shot out by gunfire, the tire's "inner" tire remains "inflated" for the getaway.

matt777

I've heard that the run flats reduce ride quality so I wonder what these will be like. Perhaps they can be considered a green tire since rolling resistance should stay constant unlike inflated tires.

bart1

My company is in collaboration with this company in making this similar tire:

http://www.resilienttech.com/product...pneumatic-tire

Mike M.

It will be interesting if that ever comes to fruition as Michelin incorporated the run-flat PAX system on Honda Odysseys. Due to the high cost of replacement, and limited training of how to mount and dismount wheels amongst general technicians, Honda dropped the PAX system, possibly after numerous consumer complaints and concerns for replacement. The other caveat is suspensions may have to be engineered for the different characteristics and sidewall stiffness of that setup, so swapping back and forth to a more conventional setup may prove difficult as well. While this can be seen for a higher end market, it is probably not ready for primetime yet. Nonetheless, as radials replaced bias ply, kudos to Michelin for attempting to innovate.