New Flat Proof Tire Technology... (versus, tires, valve, race car)
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Flat proof tires are not new by any means. My granddad back in the 50's had a set of Goodyear Double Eagles on his 54 Mercury that had another tire inside the tire, kinda like the run flat tires that NASCAR uses. You had an inner valve stem and an outer valve stem. Problem with those tires is just what you see on the race cars. Run them too long flat and the friction of the inner casing with the outer casing creates a ton of heat and the entire thing goes to smoke. The issue with the tires shown in the vids is the heat buildup when running at speed which weakens the casing and lack of load carrying ability versus ride quality. Looks good in the vid but is worthless in the real world. Those skeltonized tires have been around for the last 20 years.
Flat proof tires are not new by any means. My granddad back in the 50's had a set of Goodyear Double Eagles on his 54 Mercury that had another tire inside the tire, kinda like the run flat tires that NASCAR uses. You had an inner valve stem and an outer valve stem. Problem with those tires is just what you see on the race cars. Run them too long flat and the friction of the inner casing with the outer casing creates a ton of heat and the entire thing goes to smoke. The issue with the tires shown in the vids is the heat buildup when running at speed which weakens the casing and lack of load carrying ability versus ride quality. Looks good in the vid but is worthless in the real world. Those skeltonized tires have been around for the last 20 years.
Spare tires were intended to get people to a service station so they could repair or replace their flat tire. Except for full size spares, the use is supposed to be very limited.
The Tweel is old, came out years ago. That "new" army tire, construction equipment has been using tires like that for years. All they did was make the holes bigger. I want to see high speed maneuvers performed.
As others said, the technology is hardly new and has been around for a long time. The main issue with them for use as regular car tires is that they are extremely susceptible to vibration once speeds hit around 40-50 mph. The vibrations get so bad that the cars are virtually undrivable. Outside of that, they actually handle better then regular tires in things like slalom maneuvers.
In applications where speeds are kept low, like in large equipment and electric carts, forklifts, etc. they are often used and do a pretty good job. Most of the current development of them is almost entirely tied to things like electric carts. I doubt we will be seeing them on regular cars anytime soon, if ever, given that they have had over 20 years of development and still can't figure out the vibration issue.
Modern tires have gotten pretty darn good at not going flat. I've only had one flat in 20 years of driving. I do pay close attention to my tires tend to replace early.
Modern tires have gotten pretty darn good at not going flat. I've only had one flat in 20 years of driving. I do pay close attention to my tires tend to replace early.
Traditional air filled tires don't typically have a problem with going flat. The problem is all the junk a tire comes into contact with on the road. All you have to do is get a nail or other reasonably sharp object to make contact at the right angle and you're done. If a tire is going flat without being punctured then the issue is likely with the wheel (either cracked or bent).
Those are cool. I have "run flat" tires on my car, so no worries. Anyway, does this mean we won't see people driving at 80mph on the freeway with that little spare donut tire anymore?
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