Anyone seen/heard about these...

"Radical new tire design by Michelin. The next generation of tires. They had a set at the Philadelphia car show. These tires are airless and are scheduled to be out on the market very soon. The bad news for law enforcement is that spike strips will not work on these tires.

This is what great R&D will do, and just think of the impact on existing technology:
a. no more air valves
b. no more air compressors at gas stations
c. no more repair kits

These are actual pictures taken in the South Carolina plant of Michelin.
It will be awhile before they are available to the automotive industry."

They would have to have a side wall i think but this may make em a little bit too hard and stiff...






Thoughts?

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these pics have been around for a few years, i dont think i would trust the sideways not to fold during high speed cornering...

Agreed, look at the photo on the bottom right. That wheel is compressing a fairly large amount in comparison to a low profile radial. A lot more R&D is required before anything like this hits the streets imo.

Id say buying a tyre like that would be much like buying a new suspension inrelation to stiffness etc.

quite odd. prob as smooth as shaving your face with a brick.

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wot did the 5 fingers say to the face........SLAP!!
(rick james bitch).

Plus with a tyre that has air they will tend to bounce if u hit something solid ... i think these might collapse onto a solid object. EG hitting a large brick type object thats been dropped on the freeway.

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The "Tweel" as it is called was shown back in 2005 if I remember correctly. I think the major selling point of this wheel is not performance based, but for traveling in areas where a puncture would not be good. i.e. for military use, four wheel driving etc.

As for general road use... I would wait about 10 years.

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[COLOR="Gray"]550Nm off a 2L... Just wish it was in the dak dak...[/COLOR]

They look like crap, i'd hate to have them on some nice cromz. Plus if a spike went through that it would shred to peice's.

How do they look like crap? You are looking at a prototype with no sidewall on the tyre to show they are airless. With a sidewall they look exactly like a normal tyre.

If a spike went through your tyre right now, I'm sure it would be in pieces too.

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[COLOR="Gray"]550Nm off a 2L... Just wish it was in the dak dak...[/COLOR]

r&d sounds good but it looks like ass