Airless tyres?
Discussion
I searched for "airless tyres" and found nought, so I'm assuming this hasn't been discussed yet - apologies if it's a repost 
:
More info at:
http://smokeriders.net/temp/newtires.
www.michelinman.com/difference/releases/pressrelease01102005a.html
: More info at:
http://smokeriders.net/temp/newtires.
www.michelinman.com/difference/releases/pressrelease01102005a.html
Surely it has more "sidewall" than a conventional tyre? Not only that but the lateral stregth of those webs should be considerably greater that the flexy sidewall of a conventional tyre (remember the air keeps the wheel off the ground, not the sidewall, which is mainly for lateral stability). Think how much sharper handling gets by switching to low profiles; that's because there is less lateral movement of the tread in relation to the wheel, because the shorter sidewall flexes less. These airless tyres potentially have close to zero lateral flex, and should therefore offer pin sharp handling.
Do they offer the same ride quality as a good pneumatic tyre though? Do the webs create any sort of frequency vibration? And the biggie - how much extra unspring weight do they carry. I guess on that last the wheel itself is potentially lighter as it's much smaller, so maybe there isn't much difference.
How would one cope with 500 ft/lb of torque though? Would it just leave a track like a tank and dump your wheel-less car on the tarmac?
Do they offer the same ride quality as a good pneumatic tyre though? Do the webs create any sort of frequency vibration? And the biggie - how much extra unspring weight do they carry. I guess on that last the wheel itself is potentially lighter as it's much smaller, so maybe there isn't much difference.
How would one cope with 500 ft/lb of torque though? Would it just leave a track like a tank and dump your wheel-less car on the tarmac?
schmoo said:
cos if you let water inside it would bugger up the balancing of the wheel and make you go all wobbly
not sure how safe this tyre would be going round corners as there is no widewall for strength
not sure how safe this tyre would be going round corners as there is no widewall for strength
Only report I've read on them said the tyre was superior in all respects, including equivelant sidewall strength.
Biggest problem for me is they look utter pants.
Balmoral Green said:
Just a thought, why does it have the usual tread type pattern to disperse water? It could have holes all over the tread pattern and the water could be forced through the tyre and it would drain off inside.
If the holes were angled like jets to spray the water out of the wheel that would work, but I wouldn't want to follow one down a wet motorway, the spray would be horrendous. Maybe they could spray inside, and have mudflaps under the car to keep the spray down. Unfortunately the first time you went down a freshly tarmacced road in the UK you would end up with spiked tyres as chippings embedded themselves neatly in every hole!
These things have been around for ages havent they, haven't caught on yet.
Anyone remember those twin tyre things as well, with what seemed like two tyres on the same rim supposed to give better puncture protection and better for water clearence? They also looked fugly and sank without a trace.
Anyone remember those twin tyre things as well, with what seemed like two tyres on the same rim supposed to give better puncture protection and better for water clearence? They also looked fugly and sank without a trace.
r988 said:
These things have been around for ages havent they, haven't caught on yet.
Anyone remember those twin tyre things as well, with what seemed like two tyres on the same rim supposed to give better puncture protection and better for water clearence? They also looked fugly and sank without a trace.
Yes, they have, and have been undergoing development for some time too. If you followed the links you'd have noticed that at the Philadelphia Car Show it looked like Michelin were gearing up for official release. Anyone remember those twin tyre things as well, with what seemed like two tyres on the same rim supposed to give better puncture protection and better for water clearence? They also looked fugly and sank without a trace.
That's a pretty recent pic from the Audi beig used, so I wouldn't dismiss this as old news so quickly.
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