New Michelin tire design

[jon_s]

Just another site on them:

http://www.gizmo.com.au/go/3603/

[DUNKiNUTS]

they would have to be made for non drive wheels. the TQ would bend and mess up the tires. But if they can pull it off. more power to them.

[e46drew]

It looks like a car on stilts, maby if they pollish it up it might get in with the BLING BLING rappers

[ikon2003]

hahaha, i totally found a new york times article on this very topic which i meant to post but i completely forgot about it. thanks for starting this thread.

the article may still be up at www.nytimes.com (and if u don't have an account, go to www.bugmenot.com and get a fake).

they put forth a very convincing argument for this tire - most of which i unfortunately forget, but the concept of it made me a believer.

[Dirk]

Does this give a good ride comfort then?

[Wutputt]

^^^
Like explained in the article and above posts, with these airless tires the special rims are elastic and do the work air does in a conventional tire. So they should be approx. as comfortable as a conventional tire. But of course with these airless tires one should also make a compromise between handling and ride comfort.

[ikon2003]

Some exerpts from nyt:
"One of the basic shortcomings of a tire filled with air is that the inflation pressure is distributed equally around the tire, both up and down (vertically) as well as side-to side (laterally). That property keeps the tire round, but it also means that raising the pressure to improve cornering - increasing lateral stiffness - also adds up-down stiffness, making the ride harsher.

With the Tweel's injection-molded spokes, those characteristics are no longer linked - a point of particular excitement to an engineer like Mr. Thompson because of the potential it holds for improving handling response. The spokes can be engineered to give the Tweel five times as much lateral stiffness as current pneumatic tires without any loss of ride comfort. "

Apparently the tires are very noisy, and "There are other negatives: the flexibility, at this stage, contributes to greater friction, though it is within 5 percent of that generated by a conventional radial tire. And so far, the Tweel is no lighter than the tire and wheel it replaces."

thoughts are it will start in military vehicles, but maybe if development continues reach mainstream.