Tire Of future

[Ron61]

They must have drivien over the streets in this town and hit the pot holes to design this.

Ron

[427 S/O]

Saw them a few weeks ago and the first thing I thought...ugly!, I just can't see them on a cobra. Could be practical for daily drivers, just need to see how they work out in the long run.

[Ron61]

I have pictures of them being ran on a car and they look weird. I wonder how that deformable wheel would stand up if you hit one of our small canyons they call pot holes in the freeway at 70 MPH.

Ron

[Gerry K]

I bet they really work great in the ice and deep snow!!!!!!

Gerry

[Ron61]

More pictures of the new tire. What if they actually start making them and all cars have to have them along with these same wheels?








Ron

[Silverback51]

I have seen the future, and it sucks.

[Wes Tausend]

Ron,

Didn't we just have this style wheel?

( http://www.legendsofamerica.com/phot...0Wheel-500.jpg )

Did they ride better when the wood was wet and soft?

Perhaps you remember better than most of us.


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[FST FOX]

Wonder what the cost difference would be, also will they make drag radials in these also?

[fsstnotch]

Can we get a photoshop of those on a cobra? lol

[Ronbo]

Seems like cornering would be better with no side wall flex.

Something tells me these will be about as successful as the 721 radial. Considering the wrinkling you see, flat spots could be a big problem.

[Ron61]

Wes,

My Grandfather was a blacksmith and I watched him build and put the steel rims on many of those old wagon wheels. The steel came in straight strips that he had to heat and bend after he had built the wheel from he hub out. Once the steel was curved to the correct size, it was heated again and forced over the wooden wheel and then doused in water to both shrink the steel wheel making it stay on and stop the wood from burning. But at least the steel rim could be replaced of an individual spoke. From the looks of this tire/wheel combination if anything happens you have to replace both at $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$.

Ron

[trularin]

There was a video we were sent when this came out about three years ago.

Very impressive.

I am not sure my Cobra will like them, but I wouldn't mind not having a flat...ever.

[Wes Tausend]

Originally Posted by Ron61

Wes,

My Grandfather was a blacksmith and...

...From the looks of this tire/wheel combination if anything happens you have to replace both at $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$.

Ron

Ron,

What could go wrong?

I think Tru is absolutely right that a man would "not have a flat...ever".

The nail would simply fall out and leave a relatively harmless hole. Not a problem if one can stand the cyclic whistling at speed.

TWEET...hmmmmmm TWEET...hmmmmmm TWEET...hmmmmm


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[Ron61]

Wes,

I was referring to the fact of the deformable wheel. In these pot holes we have here, some of which I am sure there are small cars in, what if yo hit one so hard it collapsed the wheel? does it just spring back into shape? I have seen 3 wheels that people coming in off the freeway ruined as they hit some of the pot holes that were just North of here at 70 MPH and blew the tire and bent the rims. The not having a flat ever part I agree with, though I think they look kind of weird on that shot of the car. Almost like a rim of rubber, space, and a wheel.

Ron

[trularin]

In the video, it shows them hitting a pretty good size hole and the tire collapsing all the way to the silver part. It sprung back and the car kept on going. Remember it was a promo video for the Tier 1 suppliers.

[Ron61]

Tru,

Everyone knows that pictures don't lie. And there is a pretty good area for the tire to collapse in before the silver part would receive a big hit. I don't suppose it mentioned the expected price of these tires and wheels did it? I believe the pictures I posted were taken at the Mercedes test grounds.

Ron

[Wes Tausend]

Ron,

I was kidding about the whistling, purporting that it might come from a hole left by a nail that fell out.

The entire idea of this new wheel might work OK, but that remains to be seen in the real world. I know it's been around for a while and we are not seeing it used much ...which leads me to believe there are some serious development problems.

I thought that heat and fatigue build-up in the webs might cause them to deteriorate too rapidly. They might well exhibit catastrophic failure while hitting potholes and such if they suddenly went out-of-round all right.

I bought my last cheap work car, a '94 Escort, really cheap because the steering was incredibly loose. I noted that the rack was loose when I looked under the hood and thought "easy fix-cheap price". I gave the wheels a cursory inspection and they looked OK and later re-clamped the errant rack and pinion. Turned out that one front wheel was severely bent on the inner rim edge only and the tire ply was also major screwed up. Somebody hit something hard with it, so hard it knocked the rack loose. Still, it was OK after a $20 used tire and rim; lucky me. I replaced both front tires as a pair when I was confident it would be OK. The standard tire and wheel are apparently pretty tough.


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[Ron61]

Wes,

I knew that you were kidding about the whistling. I was just wondering since they showed these tests at the Mercedes test site if that might mean they were thinking about offering them on some cars. They still look weird to me and not nearly as strong as our first granite wheel.

Ron

[Doug I]

I think the biggest problem is just that they look weird.

They have far higher lateral stiffness than a regular tire. Heat buildup is not an issue - but they still look weird !!