Tag Archives for " Michelin Tweel "

How Does the Michelin Tweel Work?

Tyre Technology Takes Another Leap

The world of tyres is marked by famous names and innovators. Goodyear was the first to develop the process of vulcanisation – this makes rubber waterproof and winterproof and preserves its elasticity. Dunlop, who invented the first practical pneumatic tyre. Goodrich added carbon to the rubber to make tyres last longer. The Michelin brothers, who developed pneumatic tyres for use on automobiles.

Michelin (the company, not the brothers) has been at it again. It has developed what may one day become a mainstream product: the Tweel. In this article, you’ll learn how the Tweel works, and why it might be the tyre you’ve been waiting for.

Introducing the Michelin Tweel

It takes a long time for small acorns to grow into strong oaks, and similar can be said of advances in tyre technology. The Michelin Tweel has been in development for more than a decade.

Michelin wanted to develop an airless tyre for cars. Imagine no punctures and longer life. Safer driving and lower costs in the long run. A dream? Not with the Michelin Tweel, though the Tweel is more than a tyre. It’s a tyre and wheel (hence ‘Tweel’), and a feat of engineering ingenuity.

Why Do We Need the Michelin Tweel?

The trouble with air-filled tyres is that they can puncture. If they do, the result can be fatal. A blowout at high speed is a terrifying experience, especially if it’s on a busy road.

Even if you don’t suffer a blowout, a flat tyre (or one that is not inflated correctly) affects the tyre’s performance. Underinflated tyres cause poorer handling. Overinflated tyres lose grip. If you don’t inflate your tyres to the correct tyre pressure, you’ll have worse driving experience, and use more fuel. The tyres will wear unevenly, and you’ll need to replace them more often.

Most drivers don’t maintain their tyres well. They don’t check tyre pressures regularly, even though it only takes a few minutes to do so. Airless tyres remove this as an issue. The Michelin Tweel does a lot more.

What Makes the Michelin Tweel so Special?

The Tweel is a combination of a tyre and a wheel. It’s an all-in-one solution that removes the need for separate rims and tyres. You won’t have to inflate it. When you drive over a piece of debris, the Tweel shapes itself to that debris, keeping more contact with the road and maintaining a better grip. This also means you have smoother driving experience.

It accomplishes all this because of how it is made. Spokes run the entire width of the Tweel, and they can bend – forwards, backwards and sideways. Yet they are rigid enough to maintain their solidity. They deform to the terrain and then spring back into shape. A little like a sponge when you grip it tight.

The spokes can be made to different tensions, so Tweels can be manufactured for different uses. Greater flexibility makes for a more comfortable driving experience with the bonus that handling is improved.

Real Benefits of Tweels, but Some Disadvantages Too

As with any technological advance, there are some disadvantages of Tweels. For example, you can adjust pneumatic tyres by altering the tyre pressure, but once a Tweel has been made, it cannot be adjusted.

The Michelin Tweel also suffers from more vibration at high speed, and this results in a louder drive. However, these problems are being ironed out quickly. Already, Tweels are available for a multitude of uses, including for UTV and ATV vehicles. Michelin believes they will be available as a mainstream product for cars by 2024.

To make this happen, tyre manufacturing plants must be upgraded for the new manufacturing processes that are needed to produce the Michelin Tweel. Tyre shops will also need new equipment to mount them onto vehicles. There is a lot of investment that is being made and still is made in removing obstacles to the widespread adoption of Tweels. One thing is certain, though: the Michelin Tweel is the future.

The benefits of driving on Michelin Tweels are huge. They include better performance, safer drives, and greater road safety. The disadvantages are being ironed out. Soon, you’ll be able to equip your passenger car with Michelin Tweels. Right now, it could be the solution you’ve been seeking to take your off-road thrills to the next level.

For more information, contact Darra Tyres today. See the future of driving, today.

Keeping your family and fleet safe on the road,

Dean Wood

Michelin Tweel – Revolution in Tyre Technology That Will Flatten Run Flat Tyres

From Lawn Mowers to Off-Road to Passenger Cars

Run-flat tyres are popular because of the benefits they provide. A smoother ride, with greater traction, great looks, and highly cost-effective. A little pricier than ‘ordinary’ tyres, but for most drivers they are worth every cent. However, they could soon lose their appeal. A space-age revolution in tyre technology known as the ‘Michelin Tweel’ has landed. The benefits of this tyre could flatten the sales of run-flats.

What Is the Michelin Tweel?

Currently available for a range of UTVs, ATVs and agricultural vehicles, although the Michelin Tweel is airless, it is not an airless tyre. It is a tyre and wheel combined. It has super-aggressive tread, which means it disperses mud and water at warp speed. The Tweel bolts on to a vehicle easily, using heavy gauge steel, four-bolt hub system.

Using poly-resin spokes across the width of the wheel, the way the Tweel is made gives it incredible flexibility. It literally moulds itself to the shape of the terrain it is being driven on.

The Tweel is also virtually unbreakable. You can drive it over rocks, nails, glass and other debris. It takes all in its stride. It’s like you can hear the Tweel laughing at such minor inconveniences. With Tweels fitted to your vehicle, you can wave goodbye to punctures and expensive wheel changes.

Tweels give you:

• A smoother ride
• Less hassle from damaged tyres
• Less worry about road surface debris

You won’t need to carry a spare, either. Tweels are the most indestructible black circles that I have ever seen. Their tread has been measured as lasting three times longer than the tread on pneumatic tyres, and they can be re-treaded. These Tweels could put us out of business!

Great for Lawns and More

Lawn mowing is just one application for which the Michelin Tweel is perfect. You don’t know what could be hiding in the long grass. So you take it slow, hoping that there are no nails or broken bottles that will pierce through your tyres and cause you a heap of aggravation and a pocketful of costs.

The Michelin Tweel removes this worry. You can drive over dozens of nails. They may embed themselves in the tread, but they won’t burst the Tweel – there’s no air. And those rocks in the undergrowth? Forget about them. The Tweel passes over them like water over pebbles – free-flowing and stress-free. It shapes itself to the ground, meaning you benefit from a smoother ride. No more bouncing about, and no more stiff back.

This means that you can mow that lawn faster. You save time, stress, and spinal injury!

The Tweel isn’t just for those high-powered lawnmowers, though. It is also available for UTVs and ATVs. Those off-road, virgin tracks will become routes that you can now explore. More fun, less grief.

Michelin Tweel – The Future for Car Drivers?

Here’s the downside: car drivers can’t yet benefit from Michelin Tweels. Michelin has spent a fortune on developing the Tweel and has taken it to the UTV and ATV market. But it isn’t quite there in the domestic car market yet. It is coming, though.

Michelin started testing this year. Those tests are progressing well. The Michelin Tweel is currently limited to 37 miles per hour; not quite fast enough for domestic cars. You won’t break any land speed records on them, though you will be able to break land that you have never driven before.

However, if the tests continue to go as well as they have to date, it won’t be too long before we see the first Michelin Tweels rolling off the production lines and bolted onto cars. The run flat tyre could soon be flattened by the revolution that is the Michelin Tweel.

To see the future of car tyres today, come and check out the Michelin Tweel at Darra Tyres. Feel free to contact us to book an appointment to view the future.

Keeping your family and fleet safe on the road,

Dean Wood

Michelin Tweel – A Tyre That Just Won’t Deflate

The Future of Tyres and Wheels Is Here for UTV and ATV Drivers

Never heard of Michelin Tweel? Let me enlighten you. Tweel is a word that describes the latest development in tyre technology – a combination of tyre and wheel. It’s been a concept for a decade or more, during which time Michelin has been developing its version. Now, it is here. And it’s pretty darn good, and available for a variety of vehicles.

So, what exactly is the Michelin Tweel, and what vehicles can it be used on today?

The Michelin Tweel – Ten Years in the Making

For 10 years, the boffins at Michelin have been working on a dream concept tyre – the Michelin Tweel. The idea was simple: create a tyre that won’t deflate, build it into a wheel, and make the product flexible so that it provides a softer and more forgiving ride experience. A simple concept, yet hugely complex.

What Michelin was asking its research department to do was to create an all-in-one wheel and tyre that has the potential to revolutionise the driving experience. Imagine never needing to worry about a puncture again. Imagine a wheel that changes shape to the surface it is being driven on, at speed, and then springs back to its original shape when stationary. A shapeshifting wheel and tyre. That’s the Michelin Tweel.

Greater Grip Off-Road

If you drive a utility vehicle (UTV), you can fit it with Michelin Tweels now. You won’t need a system to maintain air pressure, because there is no air inside the Tweel.

Because the wheel deforms and reforms to the terrain you are driving on, you benefit from extra grip. A lot of extra grip. However, this doesn’t mean you can put your foot flat on the accelerator. The 26-inch radial Tweels have a maximum speed rating of 37 miles per hour.

How Does the Tweel Technology Work?

The Tweel is manufactured using poly-resin spokes that run the full width of the Tweel. These provide the give that allows flexibility to deform, while maintaining lateral stiffness. The result is a wheel that corners fantastically well and provides stability on hillsides – as well as the off-road grip I mentioned above. Here’s what you get from a Michelin Tweel, which, quite frankly, looks more like a jet turbine from the side than it does a wheel:

• Deep, open, aggressive tread that helps to clear mud while proving excellent traction and stability
• Four-bolt hub that fits many UTVs
• High-strength poly-resin spokes that dampen the ride and absorb impacts

For those who are tech minded, here’s a little of what Michelin has done:

• A proprietary Comp10 Cable forms a semi-rigid ‘shear beam’ – this allows the load to hang from the top
• Zero-degree belts provide the lateral stiffness, also helping to absorb impact
• The bolt hubs are made of heavy gauge steel

The result is a product that performs like a pneumatic tyre, but which improves mobility on the toughest of terrains. You’ll find that your UTV or ATV provides a more comfortable, responsive ride when it is fitted with Michelin Tweels and driven on a hostile surface.

Michelin Tweel Saves Space

The Michelin Tweel has other benefits, too. For example:

• You won’t interrupt your journey having to fix a flat
• No spare tyres are needed, and you can leave a whole bunch of tools behind
• You’ll be able to explore previously undriveable routes
• You won’t get so tired while driving, because of the smoother ride

Where Can You Buy a Michelin Tweel?

The future of tyres is Tweel, and, if you are an ATV or UTV driver, the future is now. Michelin Tweels are available for a range of vehicles, including several agricultural applications. Come and see the future of tyre and wheel technology at Darra Tyres. We are sure you’ll be sold on them.

Feel free to contact us to book an appointment to view the future.

Keeping your family and fleet safe on the road,

Dean Wood