The airliess tyre features a "honeycomb" web of hexagon-shaped partitioned rubber which prevents it from collapsing. Source: Supplied
- Airless tyres could make cars puncture proof
- Small US company outsmarts the world's biggest tyre makers
- Originally designed for the military, it's for the public from 2014
IT'S not quite reinventing the wheel but it's close. Flat tyres could soon be a thing of the past, the airless tyre is just around the corner.
The sci-fi solution hasn't come from one of the world's biggest tyre companies – which have been working on similar technology for almost a decade – but a company that makes off-road buggies.
French tyre maker Michelin first showed an airless tyre in 2005 and Japan’s Bridgestone followed in 2011, but a US maker of all-terrain vehicles, Polaris, appears to have pricked their hopes to be first to market.
Polaris says it will have airless tyres available for the public to buy in 2014, while Michelin and Bridgestone are yet to even confirm if the technology will make it into production.
Polaris recently bought a company - Resilient Technologies - which had originally developed the airless tyres for military and off-road buggy use. But Polaris has been so encouraged by validation testing of the technology it wants to make it available to the public.
A "honeycomb" web of hexagon-shaped partitioned rubber makes up the tyre's core and prevents it from collapsing. The key differences in the designs of the three tyre makers are the shapes of the webbing and the type of rubber used.
The airless tyre is also effectively bulletproof and road-spike proof, which could be a boon to security forces - and a headache for police if the tyres ever become widely used.
No price has been listed yet, but industry experts forecast the tyres will initially cost up to $1000 each - and the tread will still wear out at the same rate as a regular tyre.
There is no sidewall on the demonstration tyres but those made available for the public to buy will likely have sidewalls and look like normal tyres.
The company claims its airless tyres provide a smoother ride over bumps than conventional tyres, and they’re quieter.
"There is nowhere for the sound to pool, so there’s no humming or drumming like there is with a standard pneumatic tyre," Polaris business development representative Joaquin Salas told Fox News in the US.
According to the Star Tribune newspaper, Wisconsin inventor Ali Manesh sold the 12-man Resilient Technologies firm and the airless tyre technology to Polaris so they could sell them on the mass market.
"We developed the idea, had a design and proved that it worked. But we could not take it into full production," Manesh told the newspaper. "So Polaris took it from there. I am grateful because that is my baby. I am glad that somebody grew it."
This reporter is on Twitter: @JoshuaDowling
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