Automotive Tires Without Air

pcman writes "It appears that in 10 years or so Michelin will have an airless tire. They are presenting them at the Paris Auto Show this week. They hope to adapt them for motorcycles, cars and heavier vehicles. They are non-pneumatic and made of elastic. You can read the whole story here. I am very interested and look forward to the day when I don't have to check tire air pressure. It is the 21st century after all."

Comments

You don't have to check your tire pressure

[exp(pi*sqrt(163))]

Some cars check it for you.

Prior art

[0x20]

Airless tires have been around since the 1920s, at least... here's proof.

Wouldn't want adjustability or anything...

[fmaxwell]

I am very interested and look forward to the day when I don't have to check tire air pressure. It is the 21st century after all.

God knows that people in the 21st century wouldn't want to add air to compensate for heavier loads or towing. People in the 21st century wouldn't want to adjust tire pressure to acount for differences in weight between two vehicles that use the same size tires. Modern people in the 21st century won't want to reduce air pressure for traction in the snow. Oh, and we'll all have personal helicopters. I saw it in Popular Science.

Re:Wouldn't want adjustability or anything...

[fmaxwell]

Given that the average city driver never does any of these things, yes, you're absolutely right.

That an average city drive does not properly adjust his/her tire pressure for load, vehicle weight, weather conditions, etc., is a good argument in favor of mass transportation. But I don't believe that the answer is dumbing down something as simple as a tire. Take their licenses away, instead.

Re:Why stop at motor vehicles?

[real_smiff]

air has several advantages, one is comfort, but also it has a very low density, this means in bike speak low rolling resistance - weight around the edge of the wheel is probably the single most important factor in performance of a human powered bike... although it may have a market in chinese road cycles i wouldn't want to swap my mtb inner tubes for solid rubber, or even some "light" web that would add plenty of weight. the same physics would hold true for cars and anything else but i don't know how significant extra weight is if you have an engine. i haven't rtfa'd.

Well, no

[El]

Wouldn't rotational mass be a bigger problem for a car tire at 100mph than for a bicycle tire at 10mph? I'm not talking about replacing racing bike tires here, I'm talking about wide tires. Plus, I imagine they are using a foamed product that isn't much denser than compressed air.

By the way, I beleive the problem with wheel weight relates to turning and accelerating/decelerating, since each wheel is essentially a large gyroscope. It really shouldn't effect your steady velocity straight-ahead performance any more than, say, carrying a tire pump and flat repair kit!

michelin already has foam tire inserts for offroad

[Polo]

Michelin already makes foam off-road tire inserts for off-road motorcycles. I think the problem is heat build-up. They don't last that long and they aren't for on-road use.

Here is more info on the off-road tire inserts:
http://motous.webmichelin.com/tires/mousse.htm

Was I the only one who thought the fuel-cell comment was a gratuitous use enviro-buzzwords?

• This tire would react better to road conditions and to turning corners, and would be able to operate via a cleaner electric fuel-cell engine, said Miraton.

Re:Why stop at motor vehicles?

[hughbar]

I use these in London (glass everywhere) and south west France (iron-like thorns everywhere). They give quite a hard ride but (for me) it's better than constant puncture repair. The first bicycle tires were solid, so this is an elightened step backward using new materials.