tweels? this is weird! - CEG Archives

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I got this in an email about a new tire in development. They don't require any air or pressure adjustments, cannot go flat, and are apparently immune to spike strips. The other pics are of a test run of these on an Audi. They are supposed to be available for regular consumer use in the next few years...

Even worse, these are in development:

I think they could be bennificial if they closed up the sidewalls, otherwise they are ugly. No word on how they add up in treadwear, durability, traction, handeling, etc.

Those are sick! And not in a good way.

Anyway... Re...

old news

decent idea....but ugly as hell

I saw these last summer. Michelin is doing research on them. They won't be out for cars for a while, but they'll be used for off-road applications soon.

I think it's a fantastic idea: the flexible "spokes" are 2-D, so they are very stiff laterally, meaning super-crisp handling, but great straight-line grip. Also no more flats!

No more flats...good idea.
Tweels...

They're not very nice looking at all. Hopefully they will come up with a nicer looking design before marketing them.

I've read about these. Its good that you don't have to worry about a tire going flat, but you will feel every bump in the road since there is no cushion of air to ride on. Also the aerodynamics of the "tweel" are not as good as a closed version.

A better idea is to integrate the two types of tires(air and airless) so you have the benefits of both tires. Don't have to worry about a flat or getting a massage when your driving.

They probably left the sidewalls off to compensate for the additional weight of the "spokes". Any mention of how much they weigh?

Originally posted by morbid:
They probably left the sidewalls off to compensate for the additional weight of the "spokes". Any mention of how much they weigh?

No, no mention of that. My guess is that since they are in development, they left the sidewalls out to show the internals. If these go the way of Run Flats, showing up on higher model cars, they will probably put a sidewall on them.

lol what happened if you run over a squirell? lol gets stuck betwee?

these are old news... but still cool... i'm sure they could put thin rubber on the sides to cover the "spokes" and have it look like a standard tire...

Originally posted by morbid:
They probably left the sidewalls off to compensate for the additional weight of the "spokes". Any mention of how much they weigh?

even beyond that though, these things will replace the wheel and tire at the same time. can they weigh that much? the way the internals looks, they could, but given the physics put into the inner structure, allowing them to be able to build that strength with possibly less material than we might think.
i, for one, think they'll weigh less than most options out there.

First thing I thought when I saw them was the 1800s and wagon wheels!

I think they should figure out a way to put them like kind of inside a normal tire.

random thought: take out the outer rubber, and leave just the spokes, and i think those would make some crazy dune buggy tires...

Those tires look hideous.

where's the puking smiley?

pretend thats barf

The open wall would cause havoc in the winter. If snow got in there it would be a pain to get out.

I'm sure they won't make them without a sidewall. They're probably just open because it makes prototyping and testing easier. Without a sidewall they'd get out-of balance easily in snow and dirt, throw debris pretty forcefully, and people think they look funny. But I'm sure pneumatics looked funny at first too.

a very good idea, and i dont think the ride would be that harsh. just need to close up those sidewalls

Originally posted by ToasterOven:
a very good idea, and i dont think the ride would be that harsh.

I'm glad you think that the ride would be fine. I'm sure your highly calibrated vibration sensor works very well looking at pictures on the internet.

Originally posted by Auto-X Fil:

Originally posted by ToasterOven:
a very good idea, and i dont think the ride would be that harsh.

I'm glad you think that the ride would be fine. I'm sure your highly calibrated vibration sensor works very well looking at pictures on the internet.

on a scale of 1 to 10 its working on a 7 right now. so actually, quite well! who pissed in your cheerios this morning?

You just made a completely baseless statement. No one asked you what you thought the ride might be like. You didn't do the dynamic analysis of the tweel, reasearch someone else's work who did, or even offer logical conjecture. You just spit out a comment that has about as little bearing on real life as what I like to wet my Cherios with. Why say something like that?

because someone else did. just gave my opinion.

Originally posted by ToasterOven:

Originally posted by Auto-X Fil:
a very good idea, and i dont think the ride would be that harsh.

I'm glad you think that the ride would be fine. I'm sure your highly calibrated vibration sensor works very well looking at pictures on the internet.

Whoa! Chill guys! If Toaster had said "The ride won't be harsh" then yeah, that's a declarative statement and I could see where Auto's reaction would be valid. He was just stating a personal opinion though. Opinions aren't always based on fact or proof. I personally think that there will be tires with varying stiffness spokes, stiffer for performance and more flexible for comfort, so I'm betting the ride wouldn't be that bad either (on decently maintained roads anyway...I'm sure lots of potholes would be ROUGH!).

:sob: Can't we all just get along? :sob:

As far as the sidewalls, it's my opinion that they're open for testing and evaluation purposes. If they were closed, there would be no way to check for damage or deterioration of the spokes without removing the tire completely from the wheel. I'm sure that production versions would have sidewalls, though I'd bet that they'd produce an open version too. It has it's own appeal...the car kind of looks like it's riding on air. Closest we'll get to hover cars for ages!

Dude, you don't have a hovercar yet?

Originally posted by DanMyers:
Dude, you don't have a hovercar yet?

Well, it's made from Legos and has a little trouble keeping my 250 fat-a$$ lbs. in the air. It's still in the beta-testing stage.

Originally posted by IRingTwyce:

As far as the sidewalls, it's my opinion that they're open for testing and evaluation purposes. If they were closed, there would be no way to check for damage or deterioration of the spokes without removing the tire completely from the wheel. I'm sure that production versions would have sidewalls, though I'd bet that they'd produce an open version too. It has it's own appeal...the car kind of looks like it's riding on air. Closest we'll get to hover cars for ages!

I got it, someone needs to invent a clear rubber that can be used for tires. Then enclose the "tweel" with the clear rubber and also use air to benefit from the normal tires comfort, but gain the ability to run flat or with very little air in the tire.

The combination of the tweel and normal air tire might decrease the number of accidents on the highways from the resulting blown tire.

Originally posted by Kerry2Kool4U:

The combination of the tweel and normal air tire might decrease the number of accidents on the highways from the resulting blown tire.

Its so simple...with the tweel you WON'T NEED AIR!! That is the whole point!

The deformable spokes certainly can be calibrated to be just as comfortable as air, if they choose to do so. It will be a trade-off between comfort and handling.

Think about any tennis shoes that don't feature compressed gas pockets, like Nike Airs. All of these other types use foam that deforms under pressure. Nike could create a non-Air version of ANY of its Air shoes that would feel just as good to the wearer, at least initially. The reason they went with air is that it minimized the amount of material to break-down in the shoe sole over time. Foam, rubber... it all gets compacted and crushed and looses its bounce over time. A pocket of air that doesn't leak, only looses a little absorption due to the outer wall of the air pocket becoming more plyable.

There's no reason these tweels can't be 100% as comfortable as a traditional wheel and tire, but I do question how long they will last, even with advanced polymers. My guess is about the same as a set of tires, but that is just a guess.

Brian
99 SVT

They would probably last as long as the tread, like a normal tire. They don't seem like they would be any more prone to failure than a normal tire. I'm sure they will be designed to not competely disintergrate if a spoke failed.