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Goodyear's 'On TheGo' Self Inflating Tire
SternisheFan writes with a bit of maintenance saving tech for drivers. From the article: "When was the last time you checked your tire pressure? If you're scratching your head, you might want to put a set of Goodyear's new self-inflating tires on your ride. The company's Air Maintenance Technology was rolled out of the lab this week for debut at a car show in Germany. Commercial truckers will be the first to put the rubber to test, but a consumer version is in the works. A regulator in the tire senses when tire-inflation pressure drops below a pre-set point and opens to allow air flow into the pumping tube. As the tire rolls, deformation flattens the tube, pushing air through the tire to the inlet valve and then into the tire cavity. All this technology, in Goodyear's words, eliminates the need for 'external inflation pressure intervention.'"
The bike on inflates itself simply by rolling. I would love to have these, but they're not exactly mass production yet and I've got a lot of goofy tire sizes on my bikes.
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Ask yourself, would you pay $50/tire more, if you got 2-4mpg more in your vehicle?
$4,000 = 20,000 miles at 20mpg @$4/gallon (approx estimates)
$3,636 = 20,000 miles at 22mpg @$4/gallon
That's nearly $400 savings in 20,000 miles. So if they can do that for under $100/tire, you're about break even. Even 1mpg more would be about $200 (which would cover $50/tire). If your fleet averaged more than 20,000 miles per year. You might even end up saving $$$ in your annual budget.
Some cars do display the PSI of the tires via TPMS, it could be combined with this system to let you know "Tire Failure is Eminent" of course this would require some sort of software and memory to keep track of normal air pressure loss. Probably be limited to the more expensive cars.
-5 idiotic to GP post.
Solid tires suck, there is a reason we use pneumatic tires. Foam filled ones ride harshly and weigh more than air filled ones. There are foam filled tires out there, generally used where ride quality is not a concern.
At least, I presume he means that because he says "Don't need air"
Tires with a self sealing foam system still need air. Tires get low because the bead and valve aren't prefect, not because there are holes.
Never answer an anonymous letter. - Yogi Berra
Typically most drivers don't re-inflate the tires themselves. This is usually done when getting the next oil change or taking a trip to the dealership. But yes, it does require those pesky warning lights to grab their attention and remind them.
Where this technology really has a benefit would be for 18 wheelers like the article states. Living in Houston, I constantly see blown tire tread all curled on the highways. It's a port city, so the level of 18 wheeler traffic is to be expected. But the problem is when tire pressure is low. This generates a lot of heat (in an already hot and humid city) and shortens the life of the tire. Eventually it breaks down and disintegrates all over the public road ways causing a life hazard for other motorists. Tire tread is a lot of mass to be hitting at 65 to 70 MPH. If it doesn't cause you to wreck, at the very least it will cause major cosmetic damage to the front bumper's plastics.
Life is not for the lazy.