[cfg83]

trikkonceptz -

Originally Posted by trikkonceptz

Back in the early 90's I think a company marketed a wheel which was actually 2 wheels in place of one. It looked like two spares were bolted on to each side of the car. The company claimed it improved road handling, wet weather traction and reduced rolling resistance, does anyone remember those? Or am I having an acid flash back?

I think you are talking about this?

Aquachannel tyres.
http://www.carbibles.com/tyre_bible.html

Towards the end of the 90's, there was a gradually increasing trend for manufacturers to design and build so-called aquachannel tyres. Brand names you might recognise are Goodyear Aquatread and Continental Aquacontact. These differ noticeably from the normal type of tyre you would expect to see on a car in that the have a central groove running around the tread pattern. This, combined with the new tread patterns themselves lead the manufacturers to startling water-removal figures. According to Goodyear, their versions of these tyres can expel up to two gallons of water a second from under the tyre when travelling at motorway speeds. My personal experience of these tyres is that they work. Very well in fact - they grip like superglue in the wet. The downside is that they are generally made of a very soft compound rubber which leads to greatly reduced tyre life. You've got to weigh it up - if you spend most of the year driving around in the wet, then they're possibly worth the extra expense. If you drive around over 50% of the time in the dry, then you should think carefully about these tyres because it's a lot of money to spend for tyres which will need replacing every 10,000 miles in the dry.

CarloSW2