Airless Tyres

[Clunk]

Like the idea of these bot sure how they would go in the sand or mud though...... also looks like the US military have been testing the on their Humvees as well.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pja6vKnEV4E


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4jYcX_D09ig&feature=related

[growler2058]

Good idea looks like theyd work well on rocks, dunno about mud And lookin at that hummer i wouldnt wanna be hitting the skids at 100kmh tho

[Clunk]

I've seen something similar around for road cars (not for sale though unfortunately), Michelin I think they were but never for offroaders.............. will be interesting to see how durable they are and if they ever make it to the market place.

[twisty]

I saw these years ago as well. From wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tweel)

The Tweel (a portmanteau (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portmanteau) of tire and wheel) is an experimental tire (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tire) design developed by the French (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/France) tire company Michelin (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michelin). The tire uses no air, and therefore cannot burst or become flat. Instead, the Tweel's hub connects to flexible polyurethane (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polyurethane) spokes (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spoke) which are used to support an outer rim and assume the shock-absorbing role of a traditional tire's pneumatic properties.

The Tweel does have several flaws, however, the worst being vibration. Above 50 mph (80 km/h), the Tweel vibrates considerably. That in itself is a big problem, but it also causes two other things: noise and heat. A fast moving Tweel is unpleasantly loud. Also, long-distance driving at high speeds generates more heat than Michelin engineers would like, which might lead to premature failure. The Tweel can also withstand a police 'stinger' spike strip, which would force law enforcement to adapt in order to catch a suspect in a vehicle equipped with Tweels.

No more air compressors or tyre guages ... or high speed crashes ...

[Finly Owner]

Low speed, High noise..............Not applicable in OZ I reckon.


Tim

[Clunk]

Low speed, High noise..............Not applicable in OZ I reckon.


Tim
you never know what may happen, the way technology advances mate................ and besides for me, I'm rarely on a road that I can drive on any faster than 80kph,

[megatexture]

the tyres on the hummer do look suspect when they brake apears like it will ring its self off under emergency braking

[ryusteve]

Maybe if they covered in the side walls somehow it would eliminate the noise problem. Pretty cool none the less.


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[axl]

Be interesting to see how torque they could handle before they came apart.