doctorbrody Posted March 30, 2009 Share Posted March 30, 2009 These tires are made in South Carolina. Radical new tire design by Michelin - they had a pair at the Philadelphia car show. http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r129/doctorbrody/ATT00002.jpg http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r129/doctorbrody/ATT00003.jpg http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r129/doctorbrody/ATT00001.jpg http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r129/doctorbrody/ATT00000.jpg Pretty cool, right? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alaskajoel Posted March 30, 2009 Share Posted March 30, 2009 creative, but rediculous Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gmoe Posted March 30, 2009 Share Posted March 30, 2009 Not a tire.. Called a "tweel" if I remember correctly. Yes, very cool though. ^ I think there's no sidewall just to show what's going on inside. I assume a production model would have a sidewall and would look 99% the same as a reg. tire. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alaskajoel Posted March 30, 2009 Share Posted March 30, 2009 i would hope so - i can't imagine driving in snow or mud with these...you would get it all stuck in the tire and throw the balance off horribly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jerboa113 Posted March 30, 2009 Share Posted March 30, 2009 these have been around since the car in the pic was new. never released.. I think its a great idea.. put sidewalls on it like a normal tire and make it so they dont require air. Then the politicians who think we can save gas by inflating tires will have nothing to say. and construction workers will be VERY happy when they run over an entire box cutter and it gets into the tire.. and they can keep driving. "The penalty good men pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men." - Plato Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JonLGT Posted March 30, 2009 Share Posted March 30, 2009 If I see this again.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dark-V Posted March 30, 2009 Share Posted March 30, 2009 I think them not being released yet (if they are still even planning on it) is a good thing so long term reliability is established. And never needing to worry about blowing a tire is a great thing. But there could be issues with some of the supports breaking or tearing... Lots to think about. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F-WDC Spec B Posted March 30, 2009 Share Posted March 30, 2009 it would seam like a con to this design would be the transfer of force from the tire to the rim. in other words when you would hit a pot hole or something the force of the shock would transfer directly to the rim via the (for lack of a better term) semi rigid spokes where as air does act like a cusion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LGT Dave Posted March 30, 2009 Share Posted March 30, 2009 I'd like to know what kind of weight differences there are between these and regular tires too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F-WDC Spec B Posted March 30, 2009 Share Posted March 30, 2009 actually i just noticed that the spokes of the rim meet the spoke of the tire. maybe it is just a coinsidence but maybe that was done because those areas could take more.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jerboa113 Posted March 30, 2009 Share Posted March 30, 2009 this could be a good idea in runflats at least.. "The penalty good men pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men." - Plato Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rubberman Posted March 31, 2009 Share Posted March 31, 2009 The tweels do have some design improvements to go through, noise being one since the exposed spokes are open and cause air turbulence. They are being used in some construction & Bobcat type skidsteer markets (no flat tires is good for reducing downtime). They are a pretty cool concept and very tunable by material / design for specific suspension response. They do offer some significant handling improvement potential over conventional tires, but it'll probably be years before any market products are available. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HansGT Posted March 31, 2009 Share Posted March 31, 2009 Didn't we see these over a year ago Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Levish Posted March 31, 2009 Share Posted March 31, 2009 I believe the car is a 02-03 so you probably saw it much longer ago Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
franklin Posted April 1, 2009 Share Posted April 1, 2009 Whats the point ? They are weird , but are they any better or just weird ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
underpowerd Posted April 1, 2009 Share Posted April 1, 2009 the first day they came out someone would put them on these http://tbn3.google.com/images?q=tbn:wcG7s29WAGEURM:http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a357/wickedbadretard/clear20wheel20seven.jpg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
loserpro2 Posted April 1, 2009 Share Posted April 1, 2009 ^just what i was thinking. those rims were the most stupid things to have come into the world....i thought, and i still do think that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stedler Posted April 8, 2009 Share Posted April 8, 2009 Originally debut as a tire on the Segway atv like Centaur.. Centaur never wen't into production and a couple of years later the showed up on that car. Different size obviously Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarkOblivion000 Posted April 8, 2009 Share Posted April 8, 2009 Didn't we see these over a year ago I remember the technology for this coming out a while ago. The concept was to have a tire... "tire", that could never go flat (obviously... since it has no air). Made from a very strong and superelastic rubbery compound, it is supposed to be very bendable and absorb everything the road can throw at it. I have no idea how handling would be though... I'd have to say I can't imagine it being all that good... or performance in snow or slush. But protection from the possibility of flats is a nice concept. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jerboa113 Posted April 8, 2009 Share Posted April 8, 2009 yea, it seems like it would have a lot of utilitarian/security/military uses. "The penalty good men pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men." - Plato Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rubberman Posted April 8, 2009 Share Posted April 8, 2009 Performance handling can be significantly better with tweels vs normal wheels. Military & utilitarian uses are also much better. I've seen video of actual tests where small explosions were used to examine the durability. The tweels took the hit and stayed intact, meaning that the vehicle could have improved durability since it could be hit and still drive away to safety. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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