What is Digg?261 Comments
- inactive, on 05/29/2008, -0/+159"If the time table stays in line with stated remarks from Michelin, these new integrated tire and wheel hybrids will be on cars and rolling down our roads by mid 2010."
That is where the Tweel is... - allaboutdatiki, on 05/29/2008, -1/+90OTOH, the noise problem could be a big plus for those hybrids that are accused of being too quiet .. =)
- Gizza, on 05/30/2008, -0/+53Yeah, because I'm sure when Michelin designed this thing they completely overlooked the fact that people might want to turn corners while using them.
- EtherGnat, on 05/30/2008, -0/+37The tread is replaceable, and I see no reason to criticize it until we know whether the cost is competitive. A far bigger concern is the vibration and noise at high speeds.
- wavesmachine, on 05/29/2008, -13/+46what about cornering though? anyone else feel terrified about turning a corner with those on.
- crapuccino, on 05/29/2008, -1/+25> Air compressors are free to use at all gas stations.
Maybe where you live ... - saleem, on 05/30/2008, -0/+23dont rely on the sound of a car. check to see if there's a car there. what's the problem?
- scribby, on 05/29/2008, -1/+23I wouldn't be terrified at all and would trust this design over a tire that could lose air or break the bead under hard cornering.
"The inner hub contains a matrix of deformable plastic structures that flex under load and return to their original shape. By varying the thickness and size of the spokes, Michelin can generate a wide array of ride and handling qualities."
"the design of the spokes allows the vertical and lateral stiffness to be tuned independently"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tweel - mrgodai, on 05/29/2008, -0/+20"Air compressors are free to use at all gas stations."
that's probably true depends on where you are.
Around a 30 mile radius near where I live in S FL, I only come across ONE station that's free.
Most of stations charge anywhere from $0.50 to $1.00 to get air + water - WiseWeasel, on 05/29/2008, -2/+21'debris'
- kprooney, on 05/29/2008, -1/+19agreed, I want my new set of tweels
- romistrub, on 05/29/2008, -1/+171) Wouldn't this make spike strips obsolete? Not necessarily a bad thing, but I wonder what will replace them.
2) Calling these "maintenance-free" is a bit of a misnomer. Obviously less maintainance, but the material will degrade just like other tires, eventually requiring replacement. - EtherGnat, on 05/30/2008, -0/+15It's not a retread, it's how the wheel is designed to work. It's the same concept as replacing the tire on a traditional wheel.
- RockSlice, on 05/29/2008, -2/+17Wonder if they've solved the problem with noise at high (65mph) speeds yet...
Also, I really hope they enclose them, or else dirt getting caught will seriously deteriorate the fuel economy boost. - thatsmyaibo, on 05/30/2008, -0/+15Who says the actual product would not have tire walls? People want their cars to not only be efficient but they want them to be attractive. I'm sure what you see here is a prototype to show how the technology works.
- spiffytech, on 05/30/2008, -0/+15Replacing the rubber on the Tweel, which is designed from the start for bonding new rubber with an existing frame, is different from bonding new rubber with old rubber, which is very much a hack-job, hence the blowouts on the freeway. Rubber parts were never designed to be grafted together, while I'm sure the Tweel has hooks and grooves that make the frame and rubber fit and stay together.
- Dipster, on 05/29/2008, -0/+14By law, in California, Air compressor use at gas stations is free to customers.
All you have to do is go ask the attendant/clerk in most cases. - superheroboy, on 05/29/2008, -1/+14The reply button is your friend.
P.S. Reply smarter, not harder. - Tenlow, on 05/30/2008, -0/+11Looks like it'll act like a tire. You know, continuing to turn and all that.
- rlh1, on 05/29/2008, -0/+10I don't see any advantage to adding noise to cities that are nothing but noise already. I really really really hate car noise......I live on a busy street.
- megaton, on 05/30/2008, -1/+11Michelin, a tire company, invented it.
Was that unclear when you didn't read the article? - Ansible, on 05/29/2008, -16/+26Sweet! I can hardly wait to start replacing my entire wheel when it wears out, instead of just the tire. Sheer genius!
- Devrdander, on 05/30/2008, -0/+10The future car video said that you can just retread the Tweel you dont replace the whole setup.
- EtherGnat, on 05/30/2008, -1/+101% is NOT a trivial amount. It might not save the world on its own, but things like this can really add up.
- scabbers, on 05/30/2008, -0/+9Safety tests for a start.
- EvilJelloMan, on 05/30/2008, -0/+9uh, then buy some ***** mirrors? Seriously, you people are suggesting fuel efficient cars should add artificial noise so you don't have to have mirrors on your bike?
This whole "quiet hybrids are deadly" line of ***** is ***** stupid. - legoalert33, on 05/30/2008, -1/+9Keep driving with 15 PSI then.
- subterfuge, on 05/30/2008, -0/+8with underinflated servers, where is the mirror?
- Gunegune, on 05/30/2008, -0/+8It's much more than a noise issue. With highway use the Tweel has unresponsive suspension properties, bad steering control, high roll resistance, bad gas mileage, and a high rate of tire wear.
The Tweel (at least the one this article is referring to) is good for low speed applications, but, at the moment, not necessarily high speed.
This video explains it pretty well. It's a bit boring (picks up at the two minute mark), but the overall information is pretty good. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bxcoI-duk_s - NnyCW, on 05/30/2008, -0/+7Blind people tend to not like large and heavy silent things moving at high speeds.
- jpaolini, on 05/30/2008, -0/+7Says who? Your Prius-driving mother-in-law?
- BlackJackJester, on 05/30/2008, -0/+7I'm going to guess, the water will probably drain out, seeing how rubber isn't absorbant
- Gizza, on 05/30/2008, -0/+7This things had been worked on for almost 15 years now. You don't think that perhaps they've thought of situations like that?
- davidrools, on 05/30/2008, -0/+7Lawyers. Seriously if they released this thing without extensive testing and quality assurance, they'd get their pants sued off as soon as some idiot got in an accident that was completely avoidable but possibly marginally attributable to the tire. It'll probably happen anyway upon release, but at least Michellin will have the data to back up the fact that what they made was thoroughly tested.
And there's production ramp up, marketing, distribution, supply chain, etc. - jasdf, on 05/30/2008, -2/+8Not to mention being horribly out of balance.
- inactive, on 05/29/2008, -2/+8Haha, geesh everyone is full of great comments and solutions today. Seriously the noise problem really would solve any issues with the hybrids. Crazy idea but so simple. :P
- whiteknives, on 05/29/2008, -0/+6Not sure if it's California or the whole US - but here in California, gas stations are required to provide free air/water if you buy gas. Just walk up to the counter and ask the guy to turn the pump on.
- TVarmy, on 05/30/2008, -1/+7They're revisiting an old design. We took an evolutionary side-trip while designing tires. Pnumatic air satisfied what solid wheel and spokes weren't doing properly, i.e. absorbing shock and getting low rolling resistance. Now, we have modern materials and engineering knowledge to create materials that are better at those properties than air.
This is analogous to electric cars, which were better commercial successes than gasoline cars before the starter engine was developed. Electric cars were clean, could be charged at home, and were safer to operate than gas cars, which had many parts which could break and needed to be cranked, and if the engine started up too quickly for the driver to react, it could break his/her arm. Then, the starter engine came about, as well as the Model T, which undercut the competition with cutting edge construction techniques. Gasoline was now easier to use, cheap, and widely available, and newer designs of gas engines went faster than electric motors. Of course, nowadays many people consider fully electric cars to be the next development for vehicles once battery technology improves both in terms of stored range and time to charge. - cloudboy, on 05/30/2008, -0/+6Talk about missing the point...
- TheGuruStud, on 05/30/2008, -0/+5Like on the "fast and the total unrealistic" movie?
What are they going to do? Get a high voltage charge to hit ground (steel in your car) to run through the battery in reverse and fry the ECU?
Possible, yes I guess. Probable, no. I would just install diodes or voltage protection on all ground lines.
I guess they could EMP blast your car, but anything caught in the crossfire is toast as well. - EtherGnat, on 05/30/2008, -0/+5Except the noise problem for the tweel is at high speeds, where a hybrid isn't exactly silent anyway. The complaints I've seen about hybrids concern them starting up from stoplights silently and the like.
- SatansSpatula, on 05/30/2008, -0/+5This is why I'm going to buy a Prius, gut it, and put in a Chevy 350, with headers coming out the hood.
Then I will drive around giving the thumbs-up and high-fiving all the holier-than-though ***** I can find. - davidrools, on 05/30/2008, -1/+6The hybrid low noise "problem" isn't a problem at all. It's a blessing. Everyone just needs to start using their eyes more. Rather than maintain the archaic status quo, let's adapt.
Adding noise...that's like lighting a coal fire next to a solar panel because you had nothing else to use the coal for. It would be like limiting the first automobiles to 5 mph because people were used to horses & carriages. - inactive, on 05/30/2008, -5/+10Yoo YOO yooo Im rollin on twenty FOW inch TWEELZ boii!
- megaton, on 05/30/2008, -0/+5Did that last sentence start out as a statement and then end as a question?
- inactive, on 05/30/2008, -0/+5"We didn't make it. We just made it better"
- omelette, on 05/30/2008, -0/+5What does that even mean? SUV's are an issue? Why? SUV's may present more challenges in figuring out how to make them use less fuel than something smaller, but your statement makes it sound like even if we managed to solve the fuel issue, that SUV's would still be an "issue" of their own. It's people like you who give me flak for driving a pickup truck (mine runs on flexfuel and drops down to using only 4 cylinders unless I'm gunning it) but leaves my wife in her sports car alone... even though we get nearly the same gas mileage and she has to make 3 trips to the grocery store in a week if the truck isn't available. I'm willing to buy into whatever technology I have to in order to be "greener" but I'm never going to drive around in a wardrobe-sized vehicle.
- spaceman84, on 05/30/2008, -0/+5Hey retard, lower rotation mass = greatly improved fuel efficiency and much shorter braking distance. It was invented to improve performance, not to eliminate tire maintenance. The fact that you don't have to inflate them is simply a side benefit of the design. It was by no means the intent. In case you forgot, Michelin is in the business of selling people rubber. They're not going to eliminate their primary source of income.
- inactive, on 05/30/2008, -0/+5True, but moot. You know, since Michelin was the one who invented it in the first place.
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