New tire design by Michelin

Imagine these on that snappy hiboy roadster!

http://www.michelinman.com/difference/releases/pressrelease01102005a.html

 

I'll pass.

 

That makes 24" spinners look cool.

 

Those have been a concept for years, I cant believe those are still even a concept considering there lack of side wall or a solid support on the ground, there are just too many flaws in the basic design to get them to work.

 

One of our favorite tricks growing up was jamming a stick into the spokes of a, soon to be ex-buddies, bike... what would happen at highway speeds if something accidentally got in those webs?

 

Another Michelin wet dream. This will probably die a slow agonizing death after spending millions of $dollars$ for R&D and marketing research that'll reach a dead end street.

The latest Michelin abortion was (notice I say was) the run-flat PAX- System. Talk about reinventing the wheel . This Piece of Shit required completely new special purpose built rims and special newly designed mounting/demounting equipment. I watched a trained technician wrestling with this mess. Truly an example of a monkey trying to screw a football.

Remember the metric sized TRX from 20 years ago? Ford bought off on it for the Mustang and Escort. Ford's still kicking themselves in the ass for that one. I think Michelin must've hired a jewish salesman from Delancy Street in New York City to sting Ford on that one.

So, with all that said, try to buy a Michelin 165R15 XZX for the front axle of a hot rod. Can't do it, the bean counters say there's no market for that dimension, so it's production is discontinued (and has been for about the past 8 years). I just don't understand it, and probably never will. Or, is it the French mentality that I and the rest of the world will never understand?

How do I know all this stuff??

I knew I shouldn't have logged on here this morning .

 

What do you supposed people were saying when tubeless tires first were talked about?
Remember split rims with wooden spokes?
How about when radials replaced bias ply?

I love listening to people bitch about new concepts and progress.
-Brad

 

Will they have whitewalls?

 

As long as I can get 'em in 24" 's I'm down! Gotta fit my baller wheels ya know!

 

I do not think the tires will be open when they hit the Market...this picture was done for/as a cross section.....they would have sides as I have read in other articles....

 

Man I hope thats not a look into the future for all tires!!!

 

What he said.

 

Brad,

Normally you bring good thought process to this forum, but you blew it on this one. Better have a second cup of coffee.

Remember, I do have some insight as to what's going on in the industry. Perhaps, much more than you are aware.

So, let's compare apples to apples, not apples to oranges.

Change is good when it makes sense, both technically and economically.

Changing from clincher wood spoke rims to steel drop center rims makes sense. That's a no brainer.

Changing from split rims to one piece rims makes sense. Just ask the trucking industry and every widow who's husband got killed by one of those exploding apart.

Tubeless tires didn't require reinventing the wheel. For safety reasons it makes sense. Economically it made sense by eliminating the tube and all the associated problems that went along with it.

Radial tires didn't require reinventing the wheel. Changing to radial tire construction for a variety of technical reasons makes sense. Lower rolling resistance carcass construction provides better fuel economy. Tire wear is improved. Directional and transitional stability are improved. Comfort levels are improved. Wet, snow and dry traction levels are improved. All this was done without reinventing the wheel.

The major auto manufacturers accepted radialization. It was the USA tire manufacturers that fought the idea because it would obsolete their existing tire building equipment.

But, to literally reinvent the wheel for PAX System and requiring all new equipment to support this change just doesn't make sense. AND, the car manufacturers agreed, because they didn't buy off on the PAX System either. And for that reason it has met a expensive painful death.

How many times have you seen Ford Mustang TRX rims for sale at swap meets for next to nothing $prices$. Try to buy tires for them. Fortunately, Ford was the only USA car manufacturer to buy off on this mess.

Usually innovations made in the automotive market place are made when the auto manufacturers buy off on it. Remember, they have to recover their $investment$ too.

To initiate change, just because the owner of a company thinks it's a good idea doesn't make sense. Take my word for it, that's the case here.

Oh yeah, I was demounting some tires the other day off some '29 Ford wire spoke wheels. Later that same day I used the same equipment to demount and mount some tires for my friends 2004 Ford F-150. Let me see here, that's 75 years of automotive progress but I can still use the same equipment.

Finished with that second cup of coffee yet?

 

???????? I'll stick with old school air ups for now!

 

And to think that nobody said how cool those would look with daytom wire wheels!!

 

How many do you want?

Coker tire sells them. ( Michelin Vintage Radial )

I got some of their 185 HR 15 XVS Michelin's on my Truck, very happy with them.

Appearently they sell TRX Michelins as well...

 

yeah... i'll hop all over those butt ugly things

 

Hope they leave them open...
Then you can clothespin a playing card to flip on the spokes...so your "Tuner 4 banger" sounds like just a V8!!!!

 

whats your problem? so the PAX system didn't fly, what does that have to do with this? where in the press release did they say they want to put these on all cars ASAP? they DON'T, they openly acknowledge that its a new technology that has years of research before widespread automotive use. they sound like a great idea for many industrial uses that are prone to tire punctures.

how about giving us a reason for why THIS product won't work, being the rest of us idiots don't have all the insight into the industry like you.

 

I think the military has been using these tires for extreme terrain situations right now. Maybe because the civilty of the tire isn't as much of an issue.....slim

 

I read something about those in "4 wheeler magazine" about if they could be used for rock crawling. I think they are used on stuff like skid steers in areas with rocky terrain.

 

Are they nuts ... are they trying to put the compressed air people out of business!!

 

Modified...that was a great point. Nicely done.




Very interesting concept...but would it lift off the ground? Only if they were affortable.

 

Ray,

I don't have a problem, unlike yourself, I'm just stating facts.

Where in my post did I call you or anyone else and idiot?

The primary focus of my post was to illustrate that gimmicks, especially at times of moderate economic success, are costly when there's no sound reasoning to support the products success in the market place. I didn't say it didn't work. An attempt to sell technical innovation in the market place works only when there's a customer need or demand. To reinvent the wheel at the expense of shareholders profits and employees wages/benefits because of a whim of upper management just doesn't make sound business logic.

When was the last time you had a flat tire? When was the last time you had a dead battery?

As for my insight as to what's going on. Does almost 30 years of unblemished service working for the French owned company qualify?

Part of this included working at their R&D center and test track facility for over 20 years. Ten of that doing subjective tire evaluations. That work included intensive testing of many hair-brained ideas that the public never saw or heard about. Then there was another 6 years spent at the North American Headquarters watching the Marketing & Sales Group spend money faster than the production folks could build tires. Maybe I shouldn't speak about marketing folks changing directions in mid-stream after each upper level management change.

Now, that's only part of my insight into what's going on. Should I include my contacts with folks within the major auto manufacturing companies here and abroad (Europe , Mexico and the Far East)? Or, how about the writers for many of the the car buff magazines I worked with over the years? Maybe I should I also include the management folks I know within other tire companies?

I've only touched the surface. Any other questions? If there are, I'll do my best to provide valid technically creditable answers. If I don't have the answer, I know where to obtain it .

Have a nice weekend. I know I will.

Retired and enjoying every second of it. .

 

I have the feeling that those open no-air tires are being developed for industrial heavy equipment (as shown in the picture) because they've been trying to develope a puncture-proof tire for ever. When an industrial piece of equipment goes down with a flat tire, it's costing somebody big money--down time on the machine, they're frequently paying somebody to sit with it, and getting it changed/repaired is a big expense.
For road-going vehicles, everyone is all concerned with blow-outs while going down the road. Again, that's why the run-flat technology was developed. This ups that concept. With US, regular vehicle maintanance and things like a flat tire are no big deal...we're in the minority. For most other Americans, a flat tire is an expensive call to Triple A or some other mechanic.
I've also seen where they've been experimenting with foam inside the tires and other things to prevent flats.
The population wants no-service/no-worry tires--I think those ribbed versions will probably make it before too long.
-Brad

 

so why won't they work?

 

I bet they do for some special applications ( maybe it would be good to have a Tire you cant shoot out on a armored Limo? )

And I personally dont care if the development was costly for the Michelin shareholders...
Dont care if they pissed away money on other projects either.


Its interesting but I wont be putting a set on a Hot Rod.

 

I never said they wouldn't work. Show me where I said that.

Heck, Fred Flintstone wheels work. Solid rubber tires on a forklift work, etc., etc.

Again, let me ask you. When was the last time you had a flat tire? When was the last time you had a dead battery?

Or even better asked: What's your frequency of inconvenience from a flat tire vs. a dead battery?

 

Personally, I don't give a flip that you don't care about shareholders or profits, but I do.

But you are correct, there are specific applications for this technology, and what you mentioned is a potential market.

 

Man, those things are HIDEOUS!