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Airless Tires Roll Towards Consumer Vehicles

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Re: Airless Tires Roll Towards Consumer Vehicles

#41

Post by cpkscpks »

hakcermani wrote: post #30

Would love to see a bicycle tire with this. Way too many glass pieces on bike lanes :-(

Puncture proof bike tires work extremely well. I have Continental Top Contact tires. Except for overinflation (my fault), never had a flat over thousands of miles. They feel nice to ride on too. Before that, I had Panaracer ribmo tires. No flats, ever. However, the ride was a little bit stiff.

Both were a little heavy, but worth the extra weight.

If you're getting flats, that's a much better solution.

Re: Airless Tires Roll Towards Consumer Vehicles

#42

Post by city41 »

usaphp wrote: post #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

I was also under the assumption that if you actually drive the 50-100 miles on your run-flats after they've been punctured, then the tire will be so damaged as to require replacing.

I have run-flats on my Mini, and the Mini community very adamantly insists that regular tires are smoother, quieter and offer much better traction. I plan to make the switch soon.

Re: Airless Tires Roll Towards Consumer Vehicles

#43

Post by ferongr »

usaphp wrote: post #39
seanp2k2 wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And they ride more harshly, are less compliant, are heavier (look at how much some spend on light-weight rims; tires are even further from the center of the wheel), more expensive, can get bent / dented, and rely on finicky tire pressure monitoring systems.

They might be heavier but they allow you to get rid of a spare wheel, so overall the car is lighter.

Great unsprung weight seriously affects comfort and handling. I'm not sure this tradeoff is a good one.

Re: Airless Tires Roll Towards Consumer Vehicles

#44

Post by TD-Linux »

coldcode wrote: post #22

I wonder if you can 3d print a rubber tire shape someday. You might be able to engineer a shape that might be hard to make otherwise and solve some of the issues not having air.

NinjaFlex is a new type of material that some people are printing for rubber-like things, including little toy tires. Don't think it's ready for a car yet, but it's fun to play with.

Re: Airless Tires Roll Towards Consumer Vehicles

#45

Post by usaphp »

ferongr wrote: post #43
usaphp wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They might be heavier but they allow you to get rid of a spare wheel, so overall the car is lighter.

Great unsprung weight seriously affects comfort and handling. I'm not sure this tradeoff is a good one.

I have a 5 series bmw (f10 latest one), and I have had other premium cars before and I (and many car experts) can tell you nothing comes close in this price range in terms of handling and comfort of BMW, run flat tires make no difference for me compared to regular tires on my previous Merc and my friend's audi a6.

Why downvoting? It's my personal experience and opinion? Sometimes I don't understand HN users...

Re: Airless Tires Roll Towards Consumer Vehicles

#46

Post by ak217 »

ChuckMcM wrote: post #17

Something I always wonder about is the mass. Airless tires have a lot more mass around their edges than pneumatic ones do and so at higher RPMs would seem to put more stress on both the axle and the wheel, especially when turning. That seems like a really hard problem which gas solved really well.

Yes, also known as unsprung weight. This is one of the reasons airless tires have a long way to go before they can hope to replace regular tires.

Re: Airless Tires Roll Towards Consumer Vehicles

#47

Post by rpcope1 »

ChuckMcM wrote: post #17

Something I always wonder about is the mass. Airless tires have a lot more mass around their edges than pneumatic ones do and so at higher RPMs would seem to put more stress on both the axle and the wheel, especially when turning. That seems like a really hard problem which gas solved really well.

There are lots of ugly problems with airless tires; another beyond the ones you mention is that servicing the wheel gets more difficult. A lot of Bobcats shipped with foam filled tires and you virtually could not separate wheel and tire without chipping the tire away. These wheels + tires were also harder to get on and off because not the weight; on a road vehicle I'd imagine the potential increase in weight will also make balancing difficult to impossible.

Re: Airless Tires Roll Towards Consumer Vehicles

#48

Post by avian »

hakcermani wrote: post #30

Would love to see a bicycle tire with this. Way too many glass pieces on bike lanes :-(

Rent-a-bikes in my city actually use airless tires, so they seem to already exist for this purpose. I don't know what is inside, but from the outside they look like normal bike tires. The ride is noticeably less comfortable though.

Re: Airless Tires Roll Towards Consumer Vehicles

#49

Post by rpcope1 »

usaphp wrote: post #39
seanp2k2 wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And they ride more harshly, are less compliant, are heavier (look at how much some spend on light-weight rims; tires are even further from the center of the wheel), more expensive, can get bent / dented, and rely on finicky tire pressure monitoring systems.

They might be heavier but they allow you to get rid of a spare wheel, so overall the car is lighter.

Beyond the issue with unsprung weight, that seems like a truly awful trade-off. A run-flat still needs to be serviced if punctured and is still vulnerable to sidewall damage and potential blow-outs. If you carry a full size spare (I sure do) in the event of most tire failures, you still have the ability to get much further down the road with less drama.

Re: Airless Tires Roll Towards Consumer Vehicles

#50

Post by mkempe »

commandar wrote: post #15
rtkwe wrote: post #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 t…

What exactly do you consider freeway speeds? Even in the metro ATL area which is notorious for thinking the speed limit is a suggestion, the vast majority of traffic is moving under 85 MPH.

In many countries people are free to drive faster than in the USA.
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