Viewing: Check these wheels . . .

**MickieH** · 28-07-2011, 11:02 PM

. . .

Look more closely

Funny looking tyres those . . .

Puncture was that? . . . Nah

**turbonutter69** · 28-07-2011, 11:03 PM

Sorry to say buddy but these pics have already done the rounds.

**stamford** · 29-07-2011, 10:31 AM

Yep, they been going around for a while.................

**Yugguy** · 29-07-2011, 11:03 AM

Aye.

Wheel be getting a bit tyred of them now.

**turbonutter69** · 29-07-2011, 11:12 AM

**MickieH** · 29-07-2011, 01:04 PM

Ohhh - I just saw them the other day - proper odd looking things.

Did anything ever come of them then?

**xavier** · 29-07-2011, 02:59 PM

Yes they are going into production. I think it is Michelin who have come up with them and they are much better than air filled tyres.

**stamford** · 29-07-2011, 03:53 PM

I wouldn't mind trying them back to back to feel the difference. Can't really see myself going for it as they look so wrong. They will probably fade away like the metric TRX tyres did.

**mechkween** · 30-07-2011, 06:09 AM

these tyres have been doing rounds since 2005. They are called the Michelin Tweels (a combination of Tyre and Wheels).
The Tweel is a combined single-piece tyre and wheel combination, hence the name, though it actually begins as an assembly of four pieces bonded together: the hub, a polyurethane spoke section, a "shear band" surrounding the spokes, and the tread band - the rubber layer that wraps around the circumference and touches the road. The Tweel's hub functions just like your everyday wheel right now - a rigid attachment point to the axle. The polyurethane spokes are flexible to help absorb road impacts. These act sort of like the sidewall in a current tyre. But turn a tweel side-on and you can see right through it. The shear band surrounding the spokes effectively takes the place of the air pressure, distributing the load. Finally, the tread is similar in appearance to a conventional tyre. Reporters who took the change to drive an Audi A4 sedan equipped with Tweels early in 2005 complained of harsh vibration and an overly noisy ride. Michelin are well aware of these shortfalls - mostly due to vibration in the spoke system. (They admit they're in extremely-alpha-test mode.) Another problem is that the wheels transmit a lot more force and vibration into the cabin than regular tyres. A plus point though is cornering ability. Because of the rigidity of the spokes and the lack of a flexing sidewall, cornering grip, response and feel is excellent.