Check out the Tweel -- no more flats

[ainsane]

Check out this new airless tire that Michelin is working on. It looks pretty crazy.

http://www.gizmag.com/pictures/hero/3603_01.jpg
http://www.gizmag.com/pictures/3603_02.jpg
http://www.gizmag.com/pictures/3603_03.jpg
http://www.technovelgy.com/graphics/content05/tweel.jpg

[SoNgMaN]

but they just look sostupid

[deep]

Well, they look odd on todays cars....I can imagine some designs that would play off that look and be sweet.

I can't wait to try a set, personally.

[GangStarr]

it looks horrible, and whats the point, even if you get a nail puncture or a slow leak in your tire you can still manage to get to a gas station and re-fill it 90% of the time. I know alot of people with slow leaks that just fill up there tire every time they fill up there tank.


The only thing I could see this saving is sidewall damage, where as you wouldnt have to buy a new tire. Other then that keep rubber the way it is

looks like someone retrofitted some bike tires on a car

[trini]

they've been out for a long time on forklifts.

[Nacster]

Totally wicked indeed :eek:

[Taiphun]

Looks pretty neat.

Betcha some people thought spinner wheels were stupid now have pimped their rides with'em :cheesygri

[NDman]

It may not look the nicest, but I think this is the way to go ultimately. Seems very practical and cool. Yeah, seen those in a car mag a little while ago when they were still in the concept stage

[actng]

This is a design in the making... what's with the hatin' y0? It's not supposed to look fancy. It's just supposed to work!

[ainsane]

it looks horrible, and whats the point, even if you get a nail puncture or a slow leak in your tire you can still manage to get to a gas station and re-fill it 90% of the time. I know alot of people with slow leaks that just fill up there tire every time they fill up there tank.


The only thing I could see this saving is sidewall damage, where as you wouldnt have to buy a new tire. Other then that keep rubber the way it is

looks like someone retrofitted some bike tires on a car

The reason why this tire is so good is that you can optimize both lateral and vertical stiffness for optimum ride comfort and cornering. You can have a really soft, comfortable ride and still have really strong tires that can handle hard cornering.

[ainsane]

but they just look sostupid

I agree :) But I'm assuming they won't leave it totally exposed when they finally make these things for cars. The Canadian winters would kill these things if they were used like this. Imagine tons of ice and snow stuck inside.

I'm guessing they will either cover up the side walls with some sort of rubber, or even just fill the inside with a really light foam that doesn't affect the performance of it.

[malbadon]

I would make the same guess as Ainsane, test models may have no sides, but you can bet when they finally become consumer-grade for cars they will have a sidewall that makes them look like standard tires. It may just be a "smoke and mirrors" thin sidewall, but still a sidewall so we can shine 'em up real nice :cheesygri

[joshmxpx]

so do those bounce back into shape when they are bent like in the pictures? if so, what kind of material are they made of?

[Hurk]

I think those look pretty cool, I wonder if they'd be stiffer in cold weather, and softer in warm weather.

[akito925]

I don't think this would be safe for highway driving... high speed cornering.. you know how soft the tire gonna be.. its gonna be wiggling left and right... if its loose like that.. and might just break off if you turn fast enuf..

[ainsane]

I don't think this would be safe for highway driving... high speed cornering.. you know how soft the tire gonna be.. its gonna be wiggling left and right... if its loose like that.. and might just break off if you turn fast enuf..

Not true. As I was saying in a previous post, they can supposedly corner really well and also have a soft ride. This is from an article on the tweel at gizmag.com.


Michelin has also found that it can tune Tweel performances independently of each other, which is a significant change from conventional tires. This means that vertical stiffness (which primarily affects ride comfort) and lateral stiffness (which affects handling and cornering) can both be optimised, pushing the performance envelope in these applications and enabling new performances not possible for current inflated tires.

[peterbrowne]

i can see it now on a news site

POLICE SWITCH FROM TIRES ON VEHICLES
but don't think you can out drive (or should that be ride) them with their new Tweel bike wheels for vehicles from Michiline.

[Mr. D]

There also might be different types of them. One for Summertime and the other type just for snowy weather...