New Michelin tire design
 

http://img48.exs.cx/img48/5017/miche...ense9au.th.jpg

Info and more pics :arrow: Here

What a cool idea. Tires with no air and that never have to be inflated.

craziness! so simple........but smart

Wow I like that. I won't have to buy new tires when a screw gets in the sidewall...

if they figure this out for highspeed applications, i think we can kiss all other tire makers goodbye.

It's a very cool idea but I would hope they will cover the sides though.

edit:
cirtainly an interesting idea, but i dont think it could have the ends justified by the meants... i mean, pressurized air doesnt weigh much... and how strong could the sidewalls be? cirtailny, the tire wont go flat... but its not looking like it will be the next generation of sports car tire design. mabey we will see this on SUV's... or something... i just cant see it replacing the versatility of air pressurre...

Clever...but I hope we will be able to fit rims on the whole wheel, these look a bit awkward to say the least...

wudnt it juz take a little pen knife for those lamers to create havoc on ur tyres?
the strips look sooo easy to cut :roll:

another concern: cant imagine how the sidewall holds up ... esp during high G corners

that just looks weird and not cool. Looks like it will fall apart anytime :P

this for real, very intresing.

they look shit thoe, they should make sidewalls just for the visual aspect me thinks.

i can't stop staring at the picture... it freaks me out, haha

interesting concept, though it would definitely freak me out to see something like that rolling down the road. I can't imagine with that current design that corndering would work too well...

Same sort of idea has been 'invented' by a Swedish guy named, Hans-Erik Hansson, a few years ago. His purpose was to achieve less rolling resistance. Also the thread of this tire is perforated so water can be drained away more easily, which reduces aquaplanning. This tire should also produce less noise.

The special S-shaped spokes of the composite rim have to do the job of the elasticity of the air in normal tires to guarantee enough comfort.

http://img26.exs.cx/img26/264/luchtl...band2kb.th.jpg

Wow, can't really imagine cars rolling on this thing :) ..but, as ever, it is a matter of getting used to it I reckon.

Very interesting idea :D
Interesting to see how many years will pass before something like that will go to production.

And this swedesh guy idea - this rim wuold not survive 5 munutes on our roads :D

I cant imagine it can withstand lateral forces very well.