Airless tire coming soon?

[OnlinePoker]

Air-filled (pneumatic) tires give our vehicles comfortable, cushiony rides. (Thanks tires, we appreciate that.) Looking at it from another perspective, pneumatic tires are containers of pressurized gas that are being subjected to constant abuse, and when something happens to them, it can result in a situation that falls somewhere between a minor annoyance and a deadly catastrophe. We’ve ridden on these things for about 130 years now, and while they’ve improved substantially since John Dunlop invented them to keep his kid from getting headaches while riding his bike, it seems that we can still do better. Hankook is trying to make better happen with a consumer-oriented airless tire.

http://spectrum.ieee.org/cars-that-think/transportation/advanced-cars/airless-tires-roll-towards-consumer-vehicles

[MineralMan]

1. I don't think so. Pneumatic tires work just fine,

and most people haven't had a flat for years. I can't imagine folks jumping to buy this product at all. Besides, they're only certified to 130 kph, which is almost exactly 80 mph. Now, I don't go faster than 80 mph, but I don't want that as the limit on my tires.

I don't thinks this is going to fly at all, at least for US drivers.

BTW, I have Hankook tires on my Kia Soul. They were the OEM tires. My PT Cruiser has Goodyear Eagles.

[Heddi]

3. "Most people haven't had a flat for years"

where the hell do you get that idea? Flat tires are a thing. They happen. Currently. To people. Now.

[Duckhunter935]

5. I have not had one in 30

Plus years. Good tires and watch how you drive. Avoiding potholes and the edges of roads wher the crap stays.

Doubt they will work in the snow and slush.

[Glassunion]

13. What about the other 252,999,999 cars on the road today?

Up until last winter I had not had a flat in a decade. It happens. I nailed a pothole late one night. Ought coming home. One of my 4 brand new winter tires suffered a blow out. It happens.

[Duckhunter935]

14. Not saying it does not.

Most things like nails and screws are slow leaks that TPMS will catch and are not catastrophic failures.

[Glassunion]

16. Understood, but it does negate the fact that tires do go flat.

My summer tires are run flats, and are fantastic. I just see this new tech as an extension of that tech.

I agree on the 80mph limit being way too low. My current tires are rated at 145 or so.

But, if they improve the tech (which odds are it will), I'd gladly put a set on my vehicles. Especially the motorcycle. A catastrophic failure, although rare, could have quite deadly consequences on a bike.

[AlbertCat]

18. I have not had one in 30

Many a flat (5 in 2 weeks once) after a hurricane.... or nor'easter. Debris, y'know.

And a flat NEVER are convenient... in any way, shape or form or how many years apart. So there is a demand for such a product.


I remember when I bought my new car (years ago) the young salesman was trying to impress me. "We fill your tires with nitrogen for a smoother ride."

I said, "You do realize that the atmosphere is 80% nitrogen, right.? You are telling me you filled my tires with air."


People really should know just a little bit of science.

[Duckhunter935]

19. Get better gas mileage with helium

I think it takes like 1000 pounds of weight off the car with that in the tires.

[AlbertCat]

21. Get better gas mileage with helium

How about nitrous oxide?...... for a joyous painless trip!

[Glassunion]

22. I like how you think.

[Duckhunter935]

26. Oh yes!

[Act_of_Reparation]

32. I cordially welcome you to drive on any road in the State of Michigan.

I'd like to see you avoid those potholes.

[Adrahil]

9. I do get leaks, but I cannot

Remember the last time I had a flat while driving. But still would consider good airless.

[MineralMan]

10. One of my cars doesn't even have a spare. I never worry about it.

In the unlikely event of a flat, I have AAA. I haven't had a flat tire for over 20 years.

[GeorgeGist]

15. Well aren't you special.

[MineralMan]

17. Am I? Really?

I have tire sealant and an inflator, just in case. That came with the car. A spare is available, but I don't see the need, frankly. My other car has a spare, mounted underneath the car. Since 2007, it's never been mounted, except under the car. I check its air occasionally, of course, but will probably never have to use it.

It would be interesting to hear how many other DUers haven't had a flat tire in years. I'm betting it's a large majority.

I have zero interest in non-pneumatic tires for automobiles. The technology we have already works great. Tires last for 40K miles. They're great at dissipating heat and provide a great ride. Why would someone need a different technology for autos?

[tabasco]

20. LOL at your mindset

Are you a tire dealer?

[MineralMan]

30. Uh, no.

I don't even buy tires often. My three year old KIA Soul has only 20.5K miles on it. The 2007 PT Cruiser just hit 40K. It got a new set last year. I'll never wear out the new set. So I'm neither a dealer or even a regular tire customer.

[AtheistCrusader]

33. This is a KIA/Hyundai gamble. I have a Hyundai (Same parent company) and I have the same

gear; a tire pump and some green goo shit.

I mostly agree, spare tires are on their way out. They've been shrinking forever, donuts suck, and people have been pining for tweels forever, and it's remained vaporware, and an 80mph rating, while more common than some people are aware, is kinda low. (Different tech, but similar specifications)

That said, I think people will jump on this. Exceptions being people looking for higher perf tires, or people who do off-road stuff, who NEED the ability to air up and down to manage shitty traction situations.

[Buns_of_Fire]

31. Well, you see that's the reason you haven't had a flat -- you have AAA.

But the day you ever let it lapse -- no, the HOUR you let it lapse -- all four of your tires will immediately go flat, your engine will start making noises you've never heard before, and you'll see your transmission lying on the road in your rear view mirror. Seventy-five miles from home.

I have Allstate RV RoadHelp™ for my little RV. I've never had to use it (knock on wood), but I'm convinced that it's all that stands between me and breaking down in the bad section of Squashed Armadillo, Texas, on a rainy midnight during "Let's Kill Somebody" week. It's the way the world was designed to work, and we mere mortals are powerless to change it.

[NightWatcher]

4. I had a blowout in a commercial delivery truck and almost flipped on the highway

I'll gladly pay a premium to put these on everything I drive.

[Major Nikon]

24. I don't think the speed ratings on these tires are going to be comparable

With a pneumatic tire a catastrophic failure is going to be a different situation because it involves losing all the air out of the tire. A speed rating is not the limit at which the tire is going to fail, but rather the limit at which the tire is designed to run continuously. A tire that isn't going to cause you to loose control if it fails at high speed would not need as high of a speed rating.

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

25. The radial tire developed by the Michelin company in the 1940s is a big reason for that

American tire manufacturers lagged behind Europe in using these tires. I remember my dad's car getting frequent flats in the 1950s until most of America switched to radials.

[MADem]

27. I've had about five flats in the last three years.

Newer tires, too.

I welcome new tires that don't go flat. Bring on the day!!!!

[Buns_of_Fire]

2. I'm ready. Let me know when and where I can pick up a set! nt

[TexasProgresive]

6. That's fine if they cover the sidewalls with something

Here in Texas, anyway, those holes would make great places for mud dauber nest. And even with out them they could fill up with mud in some of our unpaved roads and driveways. Just thinking here.

[House of Roberts]

7. Give people airless tires and they will drive on them

until the rim hits the road.

Inner liners would be a better compromise.

[Dale Neiburg]

8. Old is new again.

Judging from the pictures, they've spiffied up a design concept that was around in the 1910's.

[OnlinePoker]

11. It could have been they were impractical to manufacture 100 years ago

New materials and manufacturing techniques could make them more feasible now.

[MineralMan]

12. True. Trucks used to have tires like these.

Not as pretty, certainly, though. But that was a very long time ago.

[Warren DeMontague]

23. They've been promising this for a while.

I'm all for it, btw.

[olddots]

28. if this works we can move toward airless heads

.

[hunter]

29. I've put some mental sweat and effort and a few dollars into this, and here is the deal:

Conventional pneumatic tires transmit road shocks all around, 360 degrees, to the metal wheel and the rest of the tire, in both automobiles and bicycles.

Alternatives thus far don't.

I do think it's possible to build a hybrid tire that can keep on running when the primary pneumatic construction breaks down. But pneumatic still rules

I haven't suffered a conventional pneumatic tire failure for a long, long time, none that I couldn't have seen coming, (crazy me), some when the second steel thread of the tire was touching the pavement.

I was a reckless youth with no money. I'd buy a ten dollar retread and five dollar installation... $15 and I'm good to roll again, which was pretty handy in my single guy wanderings of the Western U.S.A. and Mexican deserts.

Steel belted radial tires are incredibly tough, not like the bias ply crap tires my parents' and grandparents' suffered. My grandma spoke of times you couldn't drive from San Francisco to San Diego without expecting to lose a tire or two. They'd embark on road trips prepared for that.

I learned how to fix ordinary tire puncture wounds that were good until the tire had no worthwhile tread left.

[panader0]

34. I finally broke down and put an airless tire

on my wheelbarrow. As a bricklayer, I have been through dozens of wheelbarrows. The tires go flat, the handles break,
the tubs wear out (damn laborers!). A couple of months ago, after my latest flat, I assembled all of the tires I had, about six.
None would hold air, so I went to Lowes and bought an airless tire. It won't go over 20 MPH. And it gives a rough ride,
but, no more flats!