DCAWD.com

Check it out here
Pretty cool technology, but I can't believe they would be good for anything other than a normal passanger vehicle. They just would not have the strength to hold up to a AutoX or something. I wonder how they would do in the snow too since they would probably get packed full, turning them into large rolling flywheels!

Julian,

From what I understand, that particular model was made without sides simply to show the technology involved. I think the production version would have sidewalls.

--Alan

WRXWagon2112 wrote:Julian,

From what I understand, that particular model was made without sides simply to show the technology involved. I think the production version would have sidewalls.

--Alan

That would certainly help

One of my, um "tactical" friends at work told me that this looks similar to tires on the Recon or SEAL buggy with .50 CAL mounted on it.

Because the angle of deflection force a tire sees while under cornering is parallel to the "vanes" of this wheel, it can have a higher effective sidewall stiffness because it is having to deform a 7" or so wide strip instead of the 1/4" or so of fiberglass/polyester/rubber that make sup a standard tire.

That means less contact patch loss and a buttload of vibrational energy not absorbed, and a heavier tire overall if the tread is the same for both tires.

I'll agree with the tires on the SEAL buggies, talked to a operator down at the trade show in Tampa last month about it. Good stuff.

I was going to taunt Julian for the REPOST but then realized that this thread is a month old... oh well, I thought I was l33t for a minute there.