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Airless Tires Roll Towards Consumer Vehicles

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1–10 of 56 posts

Re: Airless Tires Roll Towards Consumer Vehicles

#4
post #3

The demo video touts them as "eco-friendly", and I'm assuming they mean relative to traditional pneumatic tires, so how are they actually better in that regard?

There might be multiple factors: how much you pollute to produce them (much less, considering that there is almost no metal involved, unlike with traditional tires which have alloy wheels); how much they get consumed by usage, compared to traditional tires; how much they pollute to dispose of them.

Re: Airless Tires Roll Towards Consumer Vehicles

#5
post #3

The demo video touts them as "eco-friendly", and I'm assuming they mean relative to traditional pneumatic tires, so how are they actually better in that regard?

The video says they're recyclable, and have low rolling resistance for better fuel efficiency.

Re: Airless Tires Roll Towards Consumer Vehicles

#7
I am pretty happy with my run flat tires on my bmw, even after a blowout they remain normal and handling is near normal as well, plus you can drive like 100miles and 50mph to a nearest tire shop. The only downside is they are more expensive and sometimes if you cought nail close to a tire sidewall it means you I'll have to replace a tire since it's not fixable

Re: Airless Tires Roll Towards Consumer Vehicles

#8
> The series of “rigorous tests” that the company is putting its tires through are meant to prove their durability, hardness (efficiency), stability, ability to take high-speed turns (slalom), and ability to maintain their integrity at high speeds (up to 130 kilometers per hour).

That's only 80 MPH. I'm interested in the no flats and potential fuel savings but I'd want to be able to travel at freeway speeds on long trips with them too without having to change out tires.

Re: Airless Tires Roll Towards Consumer Vehicles

#9
Michelin has been marketing their "Tweel" (http://www.michelintweel.com/) product for industrial applications for a while, and I've read a couple of articles about their trials of the Tweel on passenger vehicles. I suppose that the challenges of higher speed applications have prevented that product from appearing.

Personally, I want some Mattracks :) (https://www.mattracks.com/)

Re: Airless Tires Roll Towards Consumer Vehicles

#10
post #6

These have been around a long tme, especially for armored cars (I saw them on an Audi W12). I was told the ride is rougher than pneumatic tires but have the advantage that they can't be punctured by gunfire, or whatever.

The point of these is, presumably, to be as comfortable as conventional tires.
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