The Wheel Reinvented?

[SubLGT]

http://www.maxionwheels.com/News/421/MAXION-Flexible-Wheel-with-MICHELIN-ACORUS-Technology.aspx

Quote:
...Now with MICHELIN ACORUS Technology, in partnership with Maxion Wheels, Michelin is reinventing the wheel to help eliminate road-based damage to tires and rims….

...Pieter Klinkers, Maxion Wheels CEO stated: "This is a game changer for wheels; a standard wheel driven through a pothole can damage the tire and potentially crack the alloy rim, putting the safety of driver and passengers at risk. When the Maxion Flexible Wheel hits a pothole, the MICHELIN ACORUS Technology flange flexes and protects the tire and the wheel."

In tests with a 285/30R21 tire driven through a pothole*, the standard rim version punctured the tire at 28kph whereas the Flexible Wheel with the MICHELIN ACORUS Technology did not puncture, or sustain damage at any speed….

 

[Virtus_Probi]

Right off the bat I'm wondering if a car might feel mushier during spirited driving with a wheel that can flex?

 

[gathermewool]

How long before it fatigues to the point of becoming irreparably out of balance? It might get you home, when you might have been stranded otherwise, but would you still be left with a wheel that needs to be replaced, and at a much higher overall cost, if replaced with the same wheel.

 

[IndyIan]

Originally Posted By: Virtus_Probi
Right off the bat I'm wondering if a car might feel mushier during spirited driving with a wheel that can flex?

I imagine they picked a rubber stiffness that doesn't flex with severe maneuvers, but still moves for a pot hole hit which has many many times the forces on a small area.
It seems like a solution in search of a problem, but I guess it may allow for extremely low profile tires. So it could sharpen handling. Seems like it would add weight too, replacing aluminum with rubber.

 

[L_Sludger]

So is this a wheel that induces a spring constant where previously there was none?

 

[andyd]

Is this the new Tweel ? Why do I need such a ridiculous tire aspect ratio? Dude, bring back the 195x70 14! I feel like King Lear railing against the wind. You gain nothing from a tire like this on the roads of America.

 

[Traction]

Like with the Michelin PAX tire, every tire dealer in the country will have to spend thousands of dollars to work on a few oddball tire/wheel combinations.

 

[eljefino]

I bet it's fun to watch the rim dance when you mount a tire and the beads seat into place.

 

[SubLGT]

The center of the wheel is not flexible. There is a rubber flange between the tire and the metal flange of the wheel.

Quote:
...The patented new technology, developed by Michelin and Maxion Wheels for the passenger car wheel market, incorporates two flexible rubber flanges mounted on a special wheel body to create a flexible wheel that improves the ride and comfort and also absorbs impacts from potholes and curbs.

 

[circuitsmith]

Originally Posted By: andyd
Why do I need such a ridiculous tire aspect ratio? Dude, bring back the 195x70 14!


Amen! I'm rolling on 195/65/15, downsized from 16's.

 

[slacktide_bitog]

Originally Posted By: andyd
Is this the new Tweel ? Why do I need such a ridiculous tire aspect ratio? Dude, bring back the 195x70 14! I feel like King Lear railing against the wind. You gain nothing from a tire like this on the roads of America.