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Old 02-27-2014, 09:26 AM   #14 (permalink)
elhigh
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Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: SE USA - East Tennessee
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Josie - '87 Toyota Pickup
90 day: 29.5 mpg (US)

Felicia - '09 Toyota Prius Base
90 day: 49.47 mpg (US)
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We might have airless tires. It's an idea that's been around almost as long as pneumatic tires. Certainly we could save a lot of weight, if only by eliminating the dead weight of the spare in the trunk.

Link to the Wikipedia page on the "Tweel:" Tweel - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia I've seen a couple of other concepts.

I recently saw something that more or less did away not with the pneumatic tire, but the separate suspension, the so-called "Loopwheel." It adds a lot of rotating mass but I wonder how much mass on the vehicle it could eliminate. In a two-wheel application like a bike or motorcycle it works because the wheel doesn't get exposed to much in the way of off-axis stresses, but in a car it might not hold up.
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