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the Billion dollar question is, at some point will they have MFG buy in? They did with run flats. At some point they redesign the suspension a bit so you don't suffer with the ride.
Not sure how that could be done, not without massively different engineering. Putting soft springs on hard wheels doesn't make a linear equation. Tire sidewall height and flex are an essential element in ride, handling and safety. Going to rigid - or much more rigid - tires would completely change the system.
As anyone who's gone to rubber bands on 22" wheels knows.
Part of the problem is heat. Any form of solid tire is going to run very hot and will burn up over time. UNless they went back to a sort of spoked wagon wheel.
Part of the problem is heat. Any form of solid tire is going to run very hot and will burn up over time. UNless they went back to a sort of spoked wagon wheel.
We're back to thin tires with a small contract patch, probably no more than a 1-inch center rib except for cornering.
On reflection, I'm more certain that this might be the future for vehicles like the original Prius and Insight - EVs designed from the ground up as minimal transportation, without the slightest pretense of being a "normal" car. Buyers will be trading most of the accustomed luxury and flexibility of, say, a Civic for a high-efficiency city and highway car.
And no, it won't haul a trailer of sheep and a ton of gravel up the Continental Divide on one charging - but that won't be its purpose.
But as for retrofitting existing designs and types with this kind of tire - another failed experiment in the offing.
This is not a new idea, in fact before pneumatic tires were invented, most tires were solid rubber. This is a 19th/early 20th century idea. Many early heavy duty trucks had solid tires.
Most current drivers don't realize how good they have it regarding tires. Very rare to have a flat or blowout anymore. Good, sticky tires can last 20K miles, which is a lot, considering. Ordinary tires go 40 to 60K easy. And considering what you get for the money, they are cheap.
Biggest issues to adopt them will be given by missing the lateral walls:
- lack of lateral support will have the vehicle leaning way too much on quick change of direction
- possibility of getting stones and ice inside would make for a pretty bumpy ride
- not interchangeable with regular tires (suspension needs to be different)
I will be interesting to see LEOs try to use spike strips on them.
I suspect that the day is coming where LEO will have access to an "Onstar" style system that can remotely shut your vehicle down, thus making spike strips irrelevant.
Already, spike strips can be problematic because once the puncture tires on a fleeing vehicle, if the driver loses control and the police haven't put up a roadblock, they could endanger passers-by.
The privacy concerns with someone having the ability to remotely stop your car.. And the possibility of a hackers market to disable that ability on a vehicle.. You get the feeling that this could devolve into a situation like radar detectors vs radar? One side upgrades, then the other, then the other, then the other...
But.. Anyway.. The first line of that article jumped out at me.. They're doing real-world testing starting this year. Somehow I think they might find themselves back at the drawing board after that.
As the article stated, treadlife will be about the same as traditional tires, so people will still need to replace them.
I will be interesting to see LEOs try to use spike strips on them.
You say that jokingly, but actually that may not be far from the truth!! (why these are not mainstream by now).
I did some interesting reading into how patents and inventions are 'vetted' so to speak, a group of people at the patent office gets together and determines if inventions/technology could be used in negative ways, or impacting govt/ LE's ability to exert its authority, this is one of the factors they use when they decide to suppress or classify a new patent/ new invention. They will never allow a new invention/technology that gives the people 'too much' power over 'the powers that be'!
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