No more Fix-a-flat, no more air compressors, no more spare tires!

[Klackamas]

Now this is what I call a tire!

Dave sent this over to me and I have to say that for military purposes, and even off-road or possibly even racing, these are some really cool looking tires!

No more Fix-a-flat, no more air compressors, no more spare tires, no more auto jacks, no more tools rattling in the trunk. Will it reduce the price of cars? Will it reduce the cost of roadside service? Will some business' s go out of business?

Coming soon!

They have been testing these for several years now.

Resilient Tech was developing them for the military.

These tires are amazing!

Michelin Tires... Absolutely SCARY looking...

Look for 'em in August.

These tires are made in South Carolina , USA ..

SEE THROUGH TIRES

Radical new tire design by Michelin.

The next generation of tires.

They had a pair at the Philadelphia car show.

Yes, those are 'spoke' like connections to the inner part

Of the tire from the outside tread 'wrap!' The next picture

Shows how odd it looks in motion...

The bad news for law enforcement is that spike strips will not work on these.

Just think of the impact on existing technology:

A. No more air valves..
B. No more air compressors at gas stations...
C. No more repair kits..
D. No more flats...

These are actual pictures taken at the South Carolina plant of Michelin

Check out the pictures below!





http://www.windows8central.com/index.php/en/just-cool/item/804-no-more-fix-a-flat-no-more-air-compressors-no-more-spare-tires

[hotrodalex]

Saw an article about this in a C&D or Automobile from like 2012. Need to close in the sidewalls or make it a one piece wheel/tire combination so it doesn't look so odd.

Also, tire pressure adjustability is kinda nice to change grip level on the fly. Nice for autocross and such.

[280Z Turbo]

Saw an article about this in a C&D or Automobile from like 2012. Need to close in the sidewalls or make it a one piece wheel/tire combination so it doesn't look so odd.

Also, tire pressure adjustability is kinda nice to change grip level on the fly. Nice for autocross and such.

I think it's left open to showcase the technology.

They would never go into production with the tire being open like this due to durability and balance concerns. They'd be way out of balance in the snow.

They've been talking about these tires for a while. I don't see much potential here.

[12,000 RPM]

I'd imagine performance on these tires will suck. They seem.... "under inflated"

[Rupert]

I don't think underinflated-seeming applies to these things.

Looks like awesome possibilities for off-road tires, but kind of pointless otherwise. Too heavy for a performance car, unless they somehow improve performance?

[280Z Turbo]

I'd imagine performance on these tires will suck. They seem.... "under inflated"

No problem, just use harder durometer spokes.

[MX793]

Would be interesting if they set these up to work like a mousse-innertube combo in off-road motorcycle tires.  With this setup, you have a foam donut that fits around a small inner tube.  It makes it harder to get a puncture, and if you do, the tire doesn't really go flat, just a little softer.  And the small inner tube, you get some pressure adjustment for better traction on different types of surfaces.  Other times guys will just run a solid foam mousse which doesn't offer any pressure adjustment, but never goes flat.

[Byteme]

1
They would never go into production with the tire being open like this due to durability and balance concerns. They'd be way out of balance in the snow.

Not to mention turbulence causing wind resistance and noise.

[MX793]

Not to mention turbulence causing wind resistance and noise.

That's actually probably not much of an issue.  Unless you notice a lot of wind noise from spoke wheels on bicycle and motorcycle tires.

[Rupert]

These wheels are much wider than those, though I don't imagine that would matter much.

[GoCougs]

Interesting but the issue is it's going to be very very hard to beat rubber tires. They're cheap, they're effective, they're low inertia and ~50 years suspension and chassis design and tuning would have to change dramatically.

[Byteme]

That's actually probably not much of an issue.  Unless you notice a lot of wind noise from spoke wheels on bicycle and motorcycle tires.

Any noise generated by motorcycle wheel spokes would be covered by ambient noise and the noise of the motor and road noise so it wouldn't be an issue.   Pretty much the same thing for bicycle spokes, absent the motor noise.

I seem to recall reading that auto manufacturers do look at the wind resistance of wheel designs.

[AutobahnSHO]

They have been working on them for a while, obviously something isn't 100% right or we'd be buying them already.