Airless tires, what do you think ??

The open sidewall is for development, and demonstration purposes. Not putting a sidewall while developing allows the engineers to see how the tire is working and any degradation as its happening. The finished product will have closed sidewalks like a regular tire.

A open sidewall can and and will catch things in it then tossing those things out into people or objects. So basically the end product will be just like cleaning any other wheel and tire.
 
After running an autocross this weekend, the first thing I wondered about when seeing articles on this tire design is latteral stability. Granted, not everyone is hooning their cars around a track and pushing tires to their limits, but even normal driving conditions would put some cornering loads on the tires.

I like the idea and the potential improvements in tire technology this design offers, but evey time Michelin or other companies display a similar design idea to this, the simple act of turning isn`t discussed. Even in this video, the car is traveling at a slow rate and the turns are very gentle. I would think making a sharp turn needed to enter a driveway or even a parking spot would cause these tires to roll over due to the lack of any lateral support.

Maybe sidwalls and the banding required to handle side loading will come next.
 
Coleroad said:
The open sidewall is for development, and demonstration purposes. Not putting a sidewall while developing allows the engineers to see how the tire is working and any degradation as its happening. The finished product will have closed sidewalks like a regular tire.
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Is that conjecture? Because I don`t see anything from Michelin that indicates that: https://michelinmedia.com/michelin-uptis/

This concept from Michelin has been around for 15 years or so.
 
I think they already sell a fork lift tire like this. And my fork lift tires are airless at work currently. (Not this new linked above type )
 
Airless tires?? Heck, they were called WAGON WHEELS. The invention of the pneumatic tube and tire was a quantum leap in ride quality and vehicle dynamics, but not so much in tire longevity (ask anyone who drove Model Ts on dirt trails or gravel roads and the required tube patch/tire repair kit. )

Since you are on the subject of tires, Run-Flat tires ,while great on saving weight and not taking up space in a trunk, are a performance compromise. I know an individual who had a Cadillac V-Spec CTS with such RFT`s. He switched over to a "conventional" performance tired and said the handling and ride quality were so dramatically altered that it was a "much better" car to drive. He would live with the prospect of having a vehicle that would require a tow in the event of a flat.
 
We shall see how an airless tire combats a lack of a side wall, a very important item and the one thing that makes most run flats, run flats. I am love my Michelin Premier A/S, but as I’m about to go back to school and finish my degree in a city that has absolutely terrible roads, and will need tires within the next year, I am strongly considering the Pirelli Cinturatos (however you spell it) because Tire Rack reviews presents it as a better tire in context of soaking up bumps, but lacks the wet and dry weather performance. I figured those qualities will slow down my driving because I won’t be able to afford a ticket and increase the longevity of all the suspension work I’ve done to the car. But if anyone wants a recommendation for an A/S tire, I highly recommend the Michelin Premier A/S or CrossClimate+, on highways that I know and a moderate downpour, the Premier A/S allow me to keep the speed limit, easily. The CrossClimate+ is promised to deliver even better wet and dry weather performance.
 
I`m guessing they are going to be heavier, and that means a worse ride. I can definitely see these being great in some applications like work trucks. I think the world has really forgotten how nice a smooth riding car is. All we want now is convenience and looks.
 
Lonnie said:
Since you are on the subject of tires, Run-Flat tires ,while great on saving weight and not taking up space in a trunk, are a performance compromise. I know an individual who had a Cadillac V-Spec CST with such RFT`s. He switched over to a "conventional" performance tired and said the handling and ride quality were so dramatically altered that it was a "much better" car to drive. He would live with the prospect of having a vehicle that would require a tow in the event of a flat.
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This is a common theme in the BMW community too. BMW switched over to run-flats on several vehicle lines a generation or two ago and they are very unpopular. The RFTs led to a harsh ride and are really heavy. You don`t hear about many owners keeping RFT`s after the first set wear out. Another problem in my area is finding a tireshop who stocks/sells them or can mount them. The only choice in many cases is to go back to the dealer and get stuck with their terrible tire prices and horrific labor rates to mount a new set. If you blow a sidewall or get a bad flat anywhere away from a major city with a dealer, you`re out of luck and better call a tow truck.
 
I’ve got runflats on my Bmw 335d and they are not too bad. The price for replacement is higher than a standard tire so I will switch and keep some Fix a Flat handy.
 
You don’t need a sidewall to have a stiff tire on a airless tire.

They have been around 15+ years in the AG and construction industry. We used them on projects that we where tearing up tires on and normal tires on other. We had issues with excessive tire hope when we where putting the tire under a height load situation on airless tires. Due to the ribs flexing and springing back.


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The Driver said:
I corner too fast not to have a thick sidewall.
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I see SUVs with custom 26-inch wheels and low-profile tires on them that look like rubber bands because they have virtually NO side-wall. I cannot imagine what the ride-quality in those vehicles is like (talk about WAGON WHEELS) OR what it takes to stop that rolling diameter inertia from 75 MPH or what the handling is like in a rain storm. I laugh because the rims expose the VERY small stock OEM brake discs and calipers (at least in perspective scale to the gargantuan rim).
 
I`ve wondered the same thing when I see those, but I doubt the 20 or 22`s OEMs mount on new vehicles are much better. My XL rated, 18" summer tires with 40-series sidewalls are pretty stiff. I couldn`t imagine running even less sidewall. The ride would be pretty choppy unless the dampers were really soft.

Most people probably don`t even think about or understand unsprung weight. Those massive wheels are really heavy and there is absolutely no performance gain. When I finally bought a set of summer wheels/tires, I saved about 3~5lbs per corner over the OEM wheel/tires. It`s not much, but I can actually feel the difference when swapping them out each year. A little less weight can do amazing things for the handling.
 
Desertnate said:
Most people probably don`t even think about or understand unsprung weight. Those massive wheels are really heavy and there is absolutely no performance gain. When I finally bought a set of summer wheels/tires, I saved about 3~5lbs per corner over the OEM wheel/tires. It`s not much, but I can actually feel the difference when swapping them out each year. A little less weight can do amazing things for the handling.
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Amen brother
 
Lonnie said:
I see SUVs with custom 26-inch wheels and low-profile tires on them that look like rubber bands because they have virtually NO side-wall. I cannot imagine what the ride-quality in those vehicles is like (talk about WAGON WHEELS) OR what it takes to stop that rolling diameter inertia from 75 MPH or what the handling is like in a rain storm. I laugh because the rims expose the VERY small stock OEM brake discs and calipers (at least in perspective scale to the gargantuan rim).
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Depending on the type of wheel you can loose weight or stay the same in weight thus being able to stop the same or quicker. Most stock wheels are made cheap as possible while still being sturdy (heavy). I went from a 18’ to a 20’ and they were lighter.

Modded suspension too to get better cornering. Same with those big SUV wheels. Unless their getting cheap not much difference in rotating mass. With those Lo pro tires the definetly ride rougher but still better than most cars.


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