Tire of the future?

[desertdragon]

"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 tires. This is what great R&D will do, and just think of the impact on existing technology:

A. no more air valvesB. no more air compressors at gas stations C. no more repair kitsD. no more flats

These are actual pictures taken in the South Carolina plant of Michelin."

What do you guys think?

[squik]

I heard they can not go over 65 MPH.

[dangeris]

Interesting but I guess Low-Pros will be a thing of the past????

[Darius]

So much for being able to adjust your tire pressure during auto-cross or track tracing.

As for the low profile comment, I imagine they would start to develop lower sidewall heights and stiffer support structure as research continues.

I wonder what the difference in production costs are versus a normal tire?

[08Coupe]

This design has been around for awhile, secret service, government, armored cars(solid type there). Just becoming mass marketed shortly..

[LongBeachCoupe]

i guess you CAN reinvent the wheel...

[guitarist982]

i guess you CAN reinvent the wheel...

I remember seeing some videos of these a while back. I think the verdict was that ride quality and road noise above 55mph was absolutely horrible.

[desertdragon]

I just imaging trying to keep these clean in the desert with all the dust and stuff, or worse yet, for all our friends that live in the snow country.

[Absolute Zero]

I just imaging trying to keep these clean in the desert with all the dust and stuff, or worse yet, for all our friends that live in the snow country.

I'm sure the final versions will look like regular tires... but there isn't a point for them to take pictures that look like regular tires, you wouldn't be able to see what was going on inside.

[Xenoseal]

There's a nice article on them on howstuffwork.com, that's where I first read about these a few months back. Development for cars has kinda been put on hold due to nasty vibrations at normal highway speeds. But definately a very interesting concept.

[D-Roll]

The ugliest ever

[desertdragon]

I'm sure the final versions will look like regular tires... but there isn't a point for them to take pictures that look like regular tires, you wouldn't be able to see what was going on inside.

You might have a good point there, or might not:If they don't need the side wall for structural purposes, (hence the pictures)Why would they just add side walls for cosmetic purposes?You are just adding an unnecessary process for manufacturing, hence adding cost. Oh well, I was wrong before...

[LinkNuc]

OLD NEWS, like 2000

[kyle@stillen]

This project has been going on for a LONG time. My Uncle actually helped with the development on the project. Cool idea but very expensive.

[shift_mikey]

The picture of the Audi cornering...... looks like there would be a tremendous amount more roll and weight transfers in corners. I think that stiffening of the suspension might help. One benefit is the amount of tread surface in contact with the road

[kuhan]

it looks awesome when the tire is spinning, but bloody ugly when it is not.

[chow]

Umm, so if these tires are twice as expensive, a million times more ugly and they will STILL need to be replaced because of tread wear.. Why would you buy them?Is it THAT hard to worry about pumping air into a tire? How many flats do you get in a year? if any? And now with the TPMS sensors being stock in every new car (or becoming more avaliable) who needs to worry about riding on a flat?

Im not paying for these things.

[altimacruiser]

It is called the "TWHEEL" and it is a long way from production but if Michelin does decide to produce it they will start with motorcycles and it might be a little on the pricey side because the hub and "tire" portion of the Twheel will be produced together which kind of takes aftermarket wheels out of the picture because whatever Michelin thinks looks good will be what the consumers get. There are pros and cons but it will probably be up to personal preferences if the Tweel goes into production. I will do some digging and try to find the exact article if anyone wants to know more.

[08altima35]

what size are those. 245/100R10's? looks like 26's are outta the question