yet another post about cars...
...well, tires actually.
Attached are pictures of some new Michelin tires. Here is the web site that explains more about this new tire, called a
Tweel.(couldn't they have come up with a better name than "Tweel") For more pix, do a Google image search on Tweel. These tires are airless and are scheduled to be out on the market soon. The bad news for law enforcement is that spike strips will not work on these tires. Just think of the impact on existing technology: no more air valves... no more air compressors at gas stations... no more repair kits.
Attached are pictures of some new Michelin tires. Here is the web site that explains more about this new tire, called a
Tweel.(couldn't they have come up with a better name than "Tweel") For more pix, do a Google image search on Tweel. These tires are airless and are scheduled to be out on the market soon. The bad news for law enforcement is that spike strips will not work on these tires. Just think of the impact on existing technology: no more air valves... no more air compressors at gas stations... no more repair kits.
posted by Jim Brannick at 12:57 PM
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7 Comments:
They look pretty cool, I think that I remember reading about these several years ago in Popular-whatever- magazine. It might have been when I had more 'free time' on my hands. But I can't be sure.
I checked out the website. Anybody hear anything about the stiffness of these things?
Looking at those pictures I can see a time where the wheel and tire will be molded as one unit, so the factory will save time and money, but then it'll suck because the consumer will end up having to buy all new rims when the tires go bad. Same thinking as the bearing hub assembly on my truck.
Mark my words, the wheel/tire assembly idea is being talked about as we speak.
Being talked about? Oh Hell Yeah I hope so. Do you have any idea how much money an automaker could save if we didn't have a tire bay? No more tire mounting. No more tire inflation. No more wheel balance. That's 10's of millions in equipment and whole lot of people could do something else. That would be sweet.
Too bad they look stupid.
According to the article, those tires are supposed to handle corners as good as or better than regular tires... and still have a smooth ride. One major drawback I can see (especially in the case of trucks) is the inability to adjust air pressure based on load weight. Also, some people adjust their passenger car tire pressure frequently to cut down on gas mileage (i.e. pump up their psi), or to smoothen their ride (reduce psi). The "Tweels" would eliminate that option to adjust.
Possibly the biggest revelation I had while reading that article was finding out the Michelin Man's real name: Bibendum (which sounds like one of Garble's superhero villains). I still think he looks like the Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man (Bibendum... not Garble. haha)
Jack, don't worry about how they look now. These are engineering prototypes. They'll look better when the arts and crafts people get done with them.
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