Anyone seen these before? Don't think they'll look good with Fuchs!
 

My friend sent me these pics...weird tyres!


http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1168607531.jpg http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1168607545.jpg http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1168607568.jpg http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1168607579.jpg

Debatable looks but they should make a rather light weight wheel over all. No?

the idea was presented years ago. Not a horrible idea by any means but man does it look weird

There goes the market for 19" and 20" wheels.

I don't think they are going to make these. Why? Too good, that's why. The situation reminds me of why the oil companies aren't backing the development of hydrogen powered cars. Those tires look like high mileage units to me.

Just an opinion. I have no data on them. These have been discussed here before and I think there are some reasons why we don't see them in production. I'd use them in a heartbeat on one or another car just to see what it's all about.

One of my favorite quotes: Want to read more?
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/off-topic-discussions/214977-next-gen-tire-tweel-pics-inside.html?highlight=tweel

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/porsche-911-technical-forum/209426-twas-tweel-thing.html?highlight=tweel

It looks ugly but I am sure they could come up with a "sidewall" that would look decent to cover it.

First bit of mud and just imagine how insanely out of balance they would be!

There goes the Mexican sandal market.

yeah but companies that make the rubber would still be able to make them. Only people who might get mad are the ones that sell air..

A good friend of mine is a tire engineer for Michelin and two years ago and he drew this very tire on a napkin. Said that this was his project. After looking at the tire I told him that I felt nauseous. He said get used to it!

Something about that wheel scares me...since it is flexible enough to absorb curbs/steps, how is it under hard cornering and hard braking? Seems like it would act like a blowout/folded tire.

Geez guys- the sidewall is off for demonstration purposes! It will look like a normal tire.

Greetings from 2004...

I hear people say that from time to time.

Just curious, why would one ever expect an oil company to back the development of a hydrogen powered car??

Oil companies aren't in the car development business, or the hydrogen business. Just like they aren't in the television business, or the fine china business, so they don't back the development of high definition TVs or fine dinnerware, either.

Ummm...yeah, isn't that just a regular tire missing its sidewall?

No. A regular tire is filled with nothing but . . . air.

That newfangled thingy is filled with a bunch of triangular pieces, which they call "flexible spokes."

I'm not chucking my tire pressure guage just yet...

you would need a 3 piece wheel to mount those i would think

anyone have any 12" rims for sale?

I read an article on those a couple of years back - the pics you see are prototypes for demonstration of the inner cores. The tires will have sidewall so they resemble any other tire.

They were designed as airless, run flat - since they will never flat, and can take quite a hit (good sized rocks and pot holes) and bounce right back.

They are also supposedly quite the performance tire since there is virtually no sidewall flex and can be very low profile.

So, I imagine special wheels will be required for these tires, or can they use any wheel, i.e. Fuchs?

Who is the manufacturer?

I wonder what they look like on Fuchs? Photoshop anyone?

The biggest problem the tweels is said to have is the transmission of noise and vibration.

Just think. The accurate placement of some playing cards flapping against the sidewall spokes should produce a nice engine-like noise since the electric motors powering the car will be basically noiseless.

Sherwood

That is a Fikse FM 10 Center there using on the wheel.http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1168692835.jpg

Clearly this tire is just for those advertising; there will be a sidewall on it for production. I bet that they will still be filled with air to help absorb the impacts of daily driving.
I wold put them on my cars without hesitation. Good insurance for you and your family. No more roadside tire changes.

Just this once, you missed my point entirely. I am stating that all commercial enterprises are prone to selling as many consumables as possible in as short of time span as possible and not apt to kill the golden goose. Certainly few companies are in business for the purpose of protecting the environment over making a profit.

Actually, I hold Michelin in higher esteem than any oil producing/processing company. Whether this device will last longer than a conventional tire remains to be seen. But, it is obvious that that the millions of tires scrapped every year due to road hazzard damage will be significanly reduced, thereby allowing for fewer unit sales.

As far as design is concerned, I prefer the open sides and I would tend to believe that a small crown on the interior circumferrence would provide for the shaking off of any foreign debris such as mud or snow that would affect balance.

Speaking of balancing........

Yeah, I think its off like a cut away view of what could be a very nice run-flat tire.

Actually, I think they make that noise w/o the cards. Note that the development of these continues to add more and more spokes. If you can imagine, the early ones are like putting a rubber-band around an octagon --think about how that would "roll."

The tweel engineers would (and did) need to increase the number of spokes to smoothen the ride & noise. Else, they would have to stiffen the 'rim' . . which defeats the needed compliance. -- a balance and optimization problem for sure. Having to add a sidewall (to keep road guck out) adds to the cost, complexity and ultimate viability. (reg old "Tires" are a tough act to follow.)

All seriousness aside, these sidewall supports could provide added suspension tuning. They could be "active" in that they could contain electro-magnetic properties, energized by an interactive ECU signal to change the flexibility characteristics and thus create any type of jounce and rebound rate desired/needed for each corner depending on road and driving conditions/requirements - similar to ECU-controlled shock damping.

Sherwood

Those won't necessarily last forever! The treading will wear down and that will have to be changed very so many miles!

Looks geometrically similar to the wheels on the moon buggy