Interesting. Watch the video
http://autos.msn.com/XML/as/autoshow...09Michelin.asx

 

will it sell? Strike that. Why wouldn't it sell?

 

I think it was posted up before, did you search?

I'm asking because I thought pro's and cons would have been discussed there, not because of the repost BTW.

 

Yep , Searched and didn't find anything posted yet.

So What happens when the snow and ice gets in there and throws off the balance?

 

Or if the ice freezes up in between the "tweens (?)"? How do you drive?

 

Not to mention that you can buy them at a stiffness for street driving but then have to buy a separate set for trail driving. That would be a PITA, with regular tires, you just air up and down.
I think this was in an old issue of motor trend or 4wheeler or something, I will look around.

 

so what would happen if you are s/c'd and decide to floor it with those in the rear?

 

That concept looks about right for a lunar vehicle.

For a daily driver on planet Earth - ghey.

Andreas

 

You'll rip it all to shreds!

 

Really, I don't think the "tweens" are going to be exposed in any sort of production model. I imagine the reason they are exposed is for concept/show reasons only.

About the trail vs. street, it would suck to have to change tires/rims. One possibility is perhaps progesive "tweens". At high speed they are stiff, at low speed they bend and compress.

 

I got to check that out about 3 years ago at my work. It was just a po dunk tire store, but Dow chemical headquarters are based here in Midland. I guess they were heling with this and one of the chemists showed it to us to get our opinion on it.

 

I remember these being posted too. I think that one of the advantages is that because if the way they are constructed, they don't flex laterally, so they can be made to ride softer than a normal tire. Probably not as soft as airing down. I bet they would self clean as they spin & flex. I'd try them out.

 

you can drive into a curb without any problems. head on would be better, but a side hit could probably survive and not feel very hard either.

 

The picture is a cutaway......the actual tire looks like a normal tire just no air. I am sure thieves would love to have those on getaway vehicles since the spike strips would do absolutely nothing. The design is laterally stiff so the tire doesn't roll when cornering and could be made softer (not so soft as to cause increased rolling resistance though). One of the biggest applications for these is actually in big off road construction equipment.