New tires?

[NutmegCT]

Gentlemen - what's your take on these "airless/tubeless" Michelins? They're supposedly already available for military use, and will be sold to the public this coming summer.

View attachment 25772

Thanks.
Tom

 

[TR3driver]

That article is over 7 years old now, haven't seen them yet. There were some significant downsides, like having to replace the entire wheel to replace the tire, excess noise, high cost and so on. AFAIK the US military hasn't committed to the Tweel yet either, tho perhaps some other countries have.

A little (not much) more information at
https://www.caranddriver.com/featur...on-the-airless-tire-and-wheel-combo-tech-dept
which also shows Bridgestones announcement of a similar tire.

 

[martx-5]

And besides that, they look awful!!

 

[RomanH]

They would be absolutely useless in the snow and slush. The snow would work its way into the cavities and then throw the whole arrangement out of balance. Once the "Tweel" is full of slush and it freezes it would no longer flex properly. I could also see someone parking in a puddle and then have the temperature drop and the car would become frozen to the ground. Neat concept. Too many downsides.

 

[PAUL161]

There's a good reason their not on the market, they were not designed for high speed driving or civilian use. Like a lot of military surplus, they were designed for a specific purpose, no flats in a precarious situation, bullets, mines etc. Only guessing but, I would say the cost would be over a thousand dollars per wheel and like said previously, the wheel and tire are a composite unit. They were made with a thick aggressive tread for normal use. Typical governmental spending of tax payers money on items that, under contract, cost millions of $$ on basically useless throw away items. JMHO. PJ