Michelin Uptis Airless Tyre

[GiveMeABreak]

Coming to some General Motors vehicles in 2024, it's time to start melting down the family silver and time to say goodbye to your Boy Racer Alloys!

Called the UPTIS, (unique puncture-proof tyre system), they've been developing these for about 10 years and early designs have been referred to as a 'TWEEL'

The tyres are actually the wheels too, so not going to be cheap....

Following Michelin’s VISION concept, which includes four pillars of innovation: airless, connected, 3D-printed and 100% sustainable (renewable and bio-sourced), so will keep the tree-huggers happy.



a More recent video from a few weeks ago:



More info on Michelin's Site:
https://michelinmedia.com/michelin-uptis/

[white exec]

Some ultra-low-profile poser tyres are so slim now, they may as well be airless!
Rubber-band stuff, and defo not suited to UK potholes...

[Gibbo2286]

I remember the 'run flat tyres we had on some army vehicles and the Dunlop Denovo tyres on the Mini which wore off in about 3k miles.

[Dormouse]

If we are increasingly encouraged to drive Urbanised Autopiloted Transport then there is no reason why they should not be fitted with tyres like this. One less thing to worry about. There will be ridicule and heel dragging but they make sense for a lot of everyday driving scenarios and the vehicle shouldn't be sidelined with a simple thing like a puncture. Try them out on small service busses and company/government fleets and you will quickly find their shortcomings.

[moizeau]

Don't think I'd want them on my bikes though

[Dormouse]

No. There are some applications where they just ain't going to work!

Unless you drive a Honda Goldwing like a Granny.

[Datadogie]

And Tesla tyres with sound deafening.

[white exec]

Does that mean you could usefully add something like this (or a slab of it) to a standard tyre...

acoustic foam.jpg (10.69 KiB) Viewed 113 times

...or would you only notice the benefit on a quiet EV?
Maybe one for Simon?

[GiveMeABreak]

Don't encourage our little friends in the CCCP - they've probably already got their massive army of fakers hard at Papier-mâché alternatives.....

[quintet]

I recall seeing the US military trying a version of these tyres some years ago but from what i can gather they didn't work so well back then but that was a long time ago. I'm glad the first video highlighted the issue of "spike sticks/stingers" that the police use which will obviously become redundant when dealing with these tyres, it'll also have a knock on effect on the automotive tyre trade as punctures will become less of an income. Also what about a vehicle with TPMS? was it 2011 that all new cars made had to have it fitted as standard?... anyway although tpms wont be needed on cars that come with these tyres from the factory i can see it being a bit of a minefield when people come to replace them, im guessing they wont be cheap and on a car thats 5....6+ years old and have a number of tyres that need replacing will people try fitting conventional wheels/tyres instead of these?....on the flip side you also can't fit these onto a car that has TPMS.

Does that mean you could usefully add something like this (or a slab of it) to a standard tyre...

...or would you only notice the benefit on a quiet EV?
Maybe one for Simon?

There already is a type of tyre fitted with a strip of foam running through the middle of the tyre but unfortunately it's been a few years since i've seen one so i can't recall the brand but i think they were fitted on a particular model of land rover (range rover), as i recall it is about 6" wide and 2" in depth (and an off white colour)

[white exec]

Depending on how the tyre is constructed, some tyres can be quite drum-like when struck (which they are continually when being driven). I guess the compressed air inside resonates, and transmits sound fairly effectively. Making the space more anechoic makes sense, especially if the rest of the car is fairly quiet. It could also add a touch of 'runflat', and maybe (if there was enough of it) improve the chances of the tyre staying on the rim in the case of a blow-out.

[GiveMeABreak]

Also what about a vehicle with TPMS? was it 2011 that all new cars made had to have it fitted as standard?... anyway although tpms wont be needed on cars that come with these tyres from the factory i can see it being a bit of a minefield when people come to replace them, im guessing they wont be cheap and on a car thats 5....6+ years old and have a number of tyres that need replacing will people try fitting conventional wheels/tyres instead of these?....on the flip side you also can't fit these onto a car that has TPMS.

You will find that many later cars no longer have what they referred to as 'Direct TPMS' systems. Direct TPMS consists of sensors and transmitters on each wheel valve and a receiver unit that interfaces with the BSI. These directly monitor each wheel's pressure and poll this data periodically.

Later vehicles have what is referred to as 'Indirect TPMS'. These later systems negate the need for a physical sensor and instead make use of the vehicles wheel speed sensors and the ESP ECU. They monitor changes in the diameter of the wheels or in the physical behaviour of the tyres.

It works in 3 stages:

• "A" The wheel speed sensor transmits a signal to the ESP ECU via a wire link.
• "B" The ESP ECU compares the wheel speeds and the physical behaviour of the tyres in relation to the ambient temperature and as a function of these values determines the condition of the tyres. The ESP ECU then sends these alerts to the BSI.
• "C" If the pressure estimated by the dynamic stability control ECU is below the tolerated thresholds, the built-in systems interface informs the driver of the condition of the tyres via the instrument panel or the multifunction screen

So this is why whenever the tyre pressures on these indirect systems are changed, the system needs to be reset which is done by the driver using the interface in the vehicle. Using my car as an example, if the difference in pressure diminishes by 20%, then this triggers an under-inflation warning. These systems cannot measure the actual pressure of course, but does keep the costs down, saves money for the owner and complies with the requirements of the law.