Tire + Wheel = Tweel
- Thread starter nelg
- Start date
THAT looks kewl, but it sounds like it'll be a while before I can buy 'em for me mini-van. 
Can't help but wonder how susceptible a design like that would be to material fatigue. You wouldn't want a catastrophic failure while taking a corner at high speed... Doesn't look very aerodynamic either I might add.
I'd guess that production versions would have sidewalls like a normal tyre, but they are using these to convey the point.
Bouncing Zabaglione Bros.
Legend
I guess these would effectively be puncture-proof and would always have the correct contact patch as they don't rely on air pressure for their shape.
Yeah, and I'm betting there are kids out there already planning on how to inject liquid thru that sidewall and into a compartment just to mess up someone.....kind of the future of tire-slashing.DaveBaumann said:
Make a damned good cocktail shaker...
You could attach those "spokies" you used to get free in cereal packets.
I bet the ride and handling is pretty unnerving - you could feel quite detached from the road. They probably step out during heavy cornering in quite a dramatic fashion. Very cool concept though.
I bet the ride and handling is pretty unnerving - you could feel quite detached from the road. They probably step out during heavy cornering in quite a dramatic fashion. Very cool concept though.
OMG, shove a little bicycle horn into each tire compartment. The squeezy-ball kind, with the squeezy-ball jammed into the hole.
You'd be honking the whole time going down the road....
You'd be honking the whole time going down the road....
Yeah, I didn't mean that it'd be worse. Just might be a little bit odd for drivers that are used to a lot of feedback from low-profile tires and quite a sympathetic grip "break" when cornering (although this is as much to do with the balance of the car and drive configuration as anything else).
I'd have thought one of the reasons why a low profile tire gives better feedback is that it minimises lateral distortion when turning the wheel. These things look like they could achieve the same by basically placing the support plains at right angles to the outer surface. Net result is that you get the benifit of greater damping of bumps from the taller tire without the horizontal 'slopyness' you get from a conventional tire.
Be interresting if they ever come to anything...
John.
Be interresting if they ever come to anything...
John.
There used to be a time where the real proving ground for road vehicles for such new technologies / implementations was F1 - ABS, Traction Control, Active suspension, CVT. Although many of these were not actually invented by F1 teams first, their adoption often signalled that if they were robust enough to last there then road cars would end up with them sooner or later, as they have with many - I suspect it would be the same with this. Still, if the FIA bans it before it even gets to a ran then we know it'll probably end up on a road car sooner or later.
The real question is how they look with spinners.
*bling bling*
*bling bling*
Bouncing Zabaglione Bros.
Legend
_xxx_ said:
Err - a tyre that doesn't deflate due to a puncture or faulty valve, can't suffer blowout due to sidewall damage, is always at the right pressure (so offers the best grip) despite lazy drivers that never check their pressure, has lower unsprung weight (no steel belts) and keeps a good contact patch even on broken/bumpy surfaces isn't going to be safer?
If you read the article, they are starting with low speed versions, but are working towards high speed versions. Most tyres that are considered high speed are for 130+ mph, so even versions not rated for high speed will still cover most of the vehicles and drivers out there.
Bouncing Zabaglione Bros.
Legend
_xxx_ said:
Those are just engineering problems. The basic idea is sound, offers many advantages over today's tyres (especially safety), and moves away from the 100 year old "tube of air" design. They are not claiming to break the laws of physics or anything here.
If one of the spokes break, there are a load of others to support the weight. You could hammer a dozen nails into these tweels, pull half of them out, and the tyre would drive at virtually one hundred percent of maximum grip, performance and safety.
You suggested the idea wasn't as safe or going to last as long. I gave you many examples why it's safer, and it only has to last as long as the tread does on today's tyres. These are just issues of design and material that every new product goes through.
If you're seriously worried about "things that might go wrong if they don't make it properly and it breaks", you wouldn't get into any car today, let alone something as complex as an airplane.
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