# Michelin Airless Tires!



## DallasBimmer (Aug 23, 2005)

Well,
This is from the department of I thought I had seen it all, but........
What do you guys think? Would you buy them for your bimmers?

























:tsk:


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## rumratt (Feb 22, 2003)

DallasBimmer said:


> This is from the department of I thought I had seen it all, but........


Actually, it's from the department of "I thought I had seen it over a year ago".



http://www.bimmerfest.com/forums/showthread.php?t=96124

http://www.bimmerfest.com/forums/showthread.php?t=84570


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## philippek (Jul 31, 2003)

Aesthetics aside, tweels offer many advantages over current wheel-and-tire technology.


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## ilkhan4 (Jul 8, 2004)

Seems like it would twist a lot under acceleration or braking.


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## Boile (Jul 5, 2005)

It looks like it can be made a lot lighter than regular tires. That's a good thing in my book.
If it proves to perform better *and* be cheaper, I'd be all over it.
From the first pic, it looks like it does increase the foot print considerably under hard cornering. That's a good thing, right?


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## hawk2100n (Sep 19, 2005)

I think that they are really neat, I like the idea of having lowprofile performance from a larger tire becuause sidewall deflection isnt an issue.


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## KevinH (Jan 2, 2006)

I wonder how well they do when they hit severe bumps or holes. I'm no tire expert but I think the reason air-filled tires work so well (and have worked so well for so long) is that the entire tire is working to absorb a bump due to the perfect distribution of air pressure in the tire. In the airless tire, the only things keeping the rim off the bump are seven slivers of rubber.

That being said, if they can effectively protect the rim, I'd buy them in a hearbeat! Very cool!


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## DallasBimmer (Aug 23, 2005)

KevinH said:


> I wonder how well they do when they hit severe bumps or holes. I'm no tire expert but I think the reason air-filled tires work so well (and have worked so well for so long) is that the entire tire is working to absorb a bump due to the perfect distribution of air pressure in the tire. In the airless tire, the only things keeping the rim off the bump are seven slivers of rubber.
> 
> That being said, if they can effectively protect the rim, I'd buy them in a hearbeat! Very cool!


You make a great point, but just the premise of not having to deal with flat tires is enough to sway a lot of people.


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## BmW745On19's (Aug 12, 2005)

Can we get them with 19" wheels?


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## DallasBimmer (Aug 23, 2005)

BmW745On19's said:


> Can we get them with 19" wheels?


You'd be surprised to know that is one of the sizes being extensively studied(16-19").


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## M3 Ryan (Aug 8, 2003)

KevinH said:


> That being said, if they can effectively protect the rim, I'd buy them in a hearbeat! Very cool!


They are designed to not re-use the rim. It is a complete throw-away unit so no more mounting/dismounting/balancing of tires either. This is good for the customer as far as cost of labor goes, but that also means the cost of the unit will be high. Sucks for the tech (like myself) that has ti swap them out because we won't get the time for mount/dismount and balancing like we usually do. They are awesome though.


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## car_for_mom (Jul 15, 2002)

I wonder how they would hold up on the 2/5/10/110/210/101/105/60/91/55/241/261/405/insert_name_of_southern_california_freeway_here; many a SoCal Bimmerphile has had to cough up many a 'dead president' for tires, windshields, etc, etc due to the depredations of the roads in the Land Of Botox And Smashed Ferraris!


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## JayK330 (Feb 11, 2006)

That just doesn't look safe.


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## chuck92103 (Oct 9, 2005)

They need to make them removable and cover the sidewalls. If not, I doubt they would be widely accepted.


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## hawk2100n (Sep 19, 2005)

KevinH said:


> I wonder how well they do when they hit severe bumps or holes. I'm no tire expert but I think the reason air-filled tires work so well (and have worked so well for so long) is that the entire tire is working to absorb a bump due to the perfect distribution of air pressure in the tire. In the airless tire, the only things keeping the rim off the bump are seven slivers of rubber.
> 
> That being said, if they can effectively protect the rim, I'd buy them in a hearbeat! Very cool!


But, would you knowingly hit that same bump at speed in a 19" tire and not expect a bent rim. I actually think that those tires would do better in rutted and potholed roads. I think that if I had those, I wouldnt want the side wall, just to show off  .


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## johnewhite (Sep 3, 2005)

Michelin says it will take about 15 years to have the tweel ready for consumers.


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## ase2dais (Aug 26, 2005)

I all read those airless tires are not ready for prime time, stickly concept as per Michelin site. Noise was one big issue to get over plus you need to wrap those tires to keep foreign matters out. and once you wrap it, What do you have? Guess?


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## woody underwood (Feb 9, 2004)

I have Michelins on my old 89 Jimmy...they are airless...put air in, two days later they are flat. (GM wheels fault, not the Michelins). I have Michelins on my 76 TR-6, if they didn't have tubes in them (Tubeless tires BTW and Triumph was a GM company when this car was built) they'd be flat in a couple of days too. So, not any new technology going on here it seems. Point is: Buy a GM car and get tubes for your Michelins...or Bridgestones... or Kumhos...or just don't buy a GM car.


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## Heatseeker (Dec 3, 2005)

I'm sure they'll be better than the current run-flats BMW is imposing us lately (whether we want them or not), but hell... that's not quite difficult, is it?


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## Tanning machine (Feb 21, 2002)

chuck92103 said:


> They need to make them removable and cover the sidewalls. If not, I doubt they would be widely accepted.


i'll bet some could go for the aesthetics.

Anyway, my guess is that they would develop them to be mounted on a factory rim, maybe slip over somehow. Or bolted from inside. So you keep the rim.

And they'll probably come up with some sort of side covering, although that would add the weight you're trying to get rid of.


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