NASA and Goodyear develop puncture proof tire for the 21st Century

[BigWarpGuy]

Could this puncture proof tire be useful to a car that carries no spare?

[Orphan-Beggar]

Changing a tire in a spacesuit is possible but arduous. Thankfully, researchers claim that the new design should prove less susceptible to failure thanks to the unique properties of the springs. If one or two or even 20 springs suffer impact damaged it doesn't necessarily mean that the new lunar vehicles will stop roving, "Individual springs are not foreseen to be replaceable, due to the complex weave of the mesh. The tire, however, can still perform well with many damaged springs."

The Goodyear-NASA team says that vehicles closer to home might also benefit from this project's research as tough airless, all-terrain tires could be used on "mobility critical small vehicle applications; such as fire fighting support vehicles, robotic vehicles, off road and desert vehicles, trash hauling and mining equipment. One of the advantages of this design is its flexibility. We can scale the size of the tire to meet the needs of a particular application."

[Godfather]

Everybody is jumping off the run flat ship. Between the factory goop and the tow truck, is there a need ?

[Pops900]

I think this would be a better choice for the non-spare vehicle.
http://auto.howstuffworks.com/tweel-airless-tire.htm

If I knew these were available for the smart at a reasonable price, I would likely switch to these just to relieve the worry about dealing with a flat.

Let's be careful out there,
Pops and Carlito

[Neonspinnazz]

Originally Posted by Pops900

I think this would be a better choice for the non-spare vehicle.
HowStuffWorks "How the Tweel Airless Tire Works"

If I knew these were available for the smart at a reasonable price, I would likely switch to these just to relieve the worry about dealing with a flat.

Let's be careful out there,
Pops and Carlito

DING DING DING!!!

I saw these on Beyond Tomorrow (RIP) on the Science Channel sometime back. Awesome concept and I'd prefer them over the NASA wheels.

When the tread wears out you just swap the tread instead of the whole tire!

They have better grip AND better fuel economy!

Plus they look like "ghost" tires!

P.S. I don't think they're for sale yet Pops