For years there has been talk of the airless tyre and over the past decade or so there has been a few prototypes popping up here and there but only in the last 2-3 years has there been any real progress in the design and development. Bridgestone have been paving the way in front of other tyre manufa...
For years there has been talk of the airless tyre and over the past decade or so there has been a few prototypes popping up here and there but only in the last 2-3 years has there been any real progress in the design and development. Bridgestone have been paving the way in front of other tyre manufacturers to create such a tyre and they came up with their first airless tyre concept back in 2011. Unfortunately the tyre had very limited capability and such a high rolling resistance that it was only capable of speeds up to 3.7mph. After 2 years of redesigns and testing they have released their latest version. The new airless tyre is capable of traveling at speeds of up to 37mph and will withstand up to 904Ibs in weight. The reason tyre manufacturers are looking at airless tyres is because they have a few valuable attributes. Airless tyres are puncture proof, have a long life expectancy and are better shock absorbers than radial tyres used on cars today. Needless to say their needs to be a lot more improvement in the design and performance before the airless tyre becomes available to the public. Bridgestone have said they are continuing there research in this field and in time will have a model that can be practical for everyday use.