General Chat
Q:
Dont know if you guys have already heard about this or not, but I read this in Time Magazine being one of the best inventions of 2005. I dont know if this even looks good on a Z though.
http://www.michelinman.com/difference/releases/pressrelease01102005a.html
'1996 Black NA 2+0
A:
I have seen that and somehow i don't think it will catch on.
"ZEERO" the 1991 Rising Sun Red (lol) Z32TT- Stage III+ and rising... ;)
A:
What's so bad about air?
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Pete1978z: "It's not that I think stupidity should be punishable by death, I just think we should take the warning labels off of everything and let the problem take care of itself."
A:
Why wouldn't it catch on? It's not that much different from those God Awful 22" Conastoga Wagon wheels with the rubberband tires that some guys are running. I saw a Malibu yesterday that sat so high I though it was goning to flip over like a turtle in a tornado. Man those wheels ar U-G-L-Y.
1979 280zx 5-speed w/53,000 original miles
Check out my Blog at http://conservatoid.blogspot.com
A:
Gee do you think it might be a bit out of balance when mud cakes up in the tire or say when you have a freezing rain storm?
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12.804 @ 107.26 mph on crappy street tires with Dual SU Powered 2.9L Stroker!
ZCAR.COM member since Aug 1998
A:
I'm sure they would cover the tire spokes. They just have it open to show people how it works.
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1976 Datsun 280Z 2+2:
-'81 L28ET with 1984 Z31 ECCS
-'81 Turbo snowflakes
-205/60/15 BFG G-Force Sports
-Tokico springs and HP shocks
A:
Let's hope your right! That would be one weird ass looking tire!!
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12.804 @ 107.26 mph on crappy street tires with Dual SU Powered 2.9L Stroker!
ZCAR.COM member since Aug 1998
A:
i thought it was invented in by nasa for moon rovers back in the early 70's. never cought on yet.
79 280ZX -The best selling sports car of all time
A:
yeowza! fuk that chit
73' 240z: F54 4.2L, OS Giken LY DOHC Crossflow head, 17:3comp.ratio, N33, Tripple SU's, T10 Hybrid Draw-Through TT @ 47pds, Roots&Centrifugal Type supercharger, 3-2-1 headers, Centerforce 4 clutch, 6oz flywheel, R300 differential, Super-Hicas
A:
yeah, it would have side walls, but that's just to show how they work.....and to answer the question what's wrong with air, ask anyone that's picked up a screw or nail.
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1984 300ZX Turbo Anniversary Edition
A:
Plus you never have to deal with tire pressure. It would solve alot of safety issues for the millions of lazy drivers out there.
'73 Turbo, not much stock. Sold now... :-(
A:
Great idea. As clutchman put it, it would help out in a lot of safety issues.
1977 280z: Intake, exhaust, high flow cat, header, euro damper, cam, MSD, adj. FPR, 3.7 lsd, F+R sway+strut bars, 2580lbs
1984 300zx: intake, exhuast, high flow cat, headers, JWT ECU, F+R sway bars, F strut bar
06 WRX TR
A:
I saw that a long time ago on the Chevelle forum I frequent. It's old news to me, I still haven't seen one yet.
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(SOLD)
A:
Its been discussed on here about 18 times already, I believe Michelin said that it should be ready in another 4 or 5 years, their definitely working on a commercial design, so don't be surprised if you see it sooner or later.
'73 Turbo, not much stock. Sold now... :-(
A:
Somehow I can picture in my head those spoked tires twisting up, forming a lovely spiral pattern, and then deforming and finally collapsing under heavy torque, such as that applied by a high-performance vehicle.
'74 260z---NA L28 MSnS-E w/ Innovate Wideband
Already sparking, soon to be squirting.
Cogito, ergo dolorum.
A:
Kind of like this?
For some reason, I think the Michelin engineers have probably taken that into account...
'73 Turbo, not much stock. Sold now... :-(
Post Edited (Nov 16, 1:08am)
A:
Im sure if they hit the market they would have thought and taken care of everything you guys mentioned here. Maybe you all should become engineers.
___________________________________
Got-Z.com http://got-z.com Converting Z'ers into bastards, one at a time.
Ghostkilla's personal website http://ghostkilla.net
Absolute Z Club http://absolutez.org L.A./Orange County
A:
I like it. I think it's an excelent idea and would greatly improve the reliability and flexability of todays tires.
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77 280Z - TEC3 Engine Management, Coil Packs, 3.1 Stroker, 550CC injectors, tripple throttle body FI intake, MSA Stage II Cam, etc...etc...
79 Fairlady - Rusty
81 280ZX - DD
A:
Tires represent the second most seen reason for a car to be on the side of the road.....gas being #1. Not much engineering can do about folks too stupid to read a gas gauge, or fix one, but the new tire design could impact road side problems in a positive way.
Ken
'82ZX n/a 2+2
'02 Sportster XL1200C
A:
Author: ghostkilla
Date: Nov 16, 3:19pm
"Im sure if they hit the market they would have thought and taken care of everything you guys mentioned here. Maybe you all should become engineers."
Oh yeah kinda like all those engineers that thought about the potential problems with the Space Shuttle and the Pinto and the 6 Billion dollar Ford Contour debacle and the 300ZX Injectors that liked to go up in flames..............
Later,Norm
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12.804 @ 107.26 mph on crappy street tires with Dual SU Powered 2.9L Stroker!
ZCAR.COM member since Aug 1998
A:
what was the 6million dollar contour thing? can't recall hearing anything about it
1990na 2+2 5spd.(sold,10/09/05)
If you can't trust a Spanish used car dealer with an English sir name using a Cameroon e-mail account, who can you trust?
A:
I see a big problem here.
If you were to strap a camera to your left or right front fender and aim it back at your tires, and then go...for example autocrossing, you would notice that you spend a great deal of time actually riding on the sidewalls.
No matter if your tire pressure is correct, when driving aggressively you always ride...if only for short periods of time...on your tires sidewalls. Thats why a great deal of performance tires are designed to have traction not only on the area that would usually be the tire patch, but also extending somewhat to the sidewalls. Any of you take a defensive/offensive driving course and you will learn this. This is one of the reasons tire pressure is so important, because if you have low tire pressure and you're taking a sharp turn, you can actually push the tire under the wheel so much that it either punctures or simply slips off.
These tires have no sidewall. I would assume that, for production purposes, Michelin would put rubber along the sides as well (they probably left the tires "open" just to show the mechanics of their little invention.) Even if the whole tire was covered with rubber, I still dont think these tires would have the structural integrity neccessary for high performance driving. They may be "practical" for regular city driving; i.e. soccer moms. But...everyone has to do some aggressive driving at some point; most often to get out of an accident-causing situation.
1991 NA 300ZX (z32) Slicktop Coupe, Cherry Red, Pacesetter Monza Exhaust, JWT Pop-charger intake, stainless steel 3" midpipes with high-flow cats.
A:
Author: ilya
Date: Nov 16, 8:15pm
"what was the 6million dollar contour thing? can't recall hearing anything about it"
Ford spent 6 billion dollars developing the Contour as a world car which was also sold under a different name in Europe.
It was an engineering piece of **** as evidenced by it's many many recalls and the fact that it had NO back seat room and the fact that the 6 cylinder trannies broke after a few hard miles. I sold Ford's back when the Contour came out so I'm very familiar with all the customer complaints. One car actually blew it's automatic tranny after 80 miles.
Anyway, I was just making a point about not puttting too much trust in engineers as many items are built just well enough to make it through the warranty period.
Later,Norm
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12.804 @ 107.26 mph on crappy street tires with Dual SU Powered 2.9L Stroker!
ZCAR.COM member since Aug 1998
A:
I like the Contour SVTs, I'd buy one if I needed a bigger vehicle to tote around a family or friends or something. I'm good with my 2 seater Zs and 2 seater Eclipse (gutted interior, including backseat). Those cars are pretty quick.
A:
Those wheels look they came off the moon rover.
A:
I can't wait to pee on it!!
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A:
Stripe! You're back!!
A:
Good Gawd Blue!! ROFL!!
Ken
'82ZX n/a 2+2
'02 Sportster XL1200C
A:
Yup, can't see drifting with a set of those...
1990 2+2 N/A
SHIFT_style
A:
I don't think the engineers are always to blame.
Who runs the company and decides what to put in the product?
Who decides how to manufacture the product?
Who decides when to release information and make the fixes when the product does not work right?
Who is actually listening to the engineers?
Case in point NASA - it was engineers that told NASA management not to fly the shuttles under a certain air temperature or problems will occur - it was engineers who warned a $0.50 O-ring could fail under certain conditions and the fuel tank blow up.
It's like the astronaut said " How the he** would you feel riding 50,000 parts all supplied by the lowest bidder"?
Ed and Jeanne's
ZXelda 1981 280 ZXT: ZXena 1990 300 ZX
1941 Buick Special Sedanette (Betty)
1956 Dodge Royal (Dorothy)
1971 Buick Riviera (Rita)
1975 Ford F-150 Stepside (Fiona)
1992 Firebird (Frieda)
A:
How many of you guys actually took the time to read the article?
Regarding the cornering and handling abilities it states:
"Michelin has also found that it can tune Tweel performances independently of each other, which is a significant change from conventional tires. This means that vertical stiffness (which primarily affects ride comfort) and lateral stiffness (which affects handling and cornering) can both be optimized, pushing the performance envelope in these applications and enabling new performances not possible for current inflated tires. The Tweel prototype, demonstrated on the Audi A4, is within five percent of the rolling resistance and mass levels of current pneumatic tires. That translates to within one percent of the fuel economy of the OE fitment. Additionally, Michelin has increased the lateral stiffness by a factor of five, making the prototype unusually responsive in its handling.
I guess that should answer your questions regarding the lack of sidewalls...I'm pretty sure a TIRE manufacture wouldn't be discussing a possible all new type of car tire without doing it's homework before it's show and tell guys.
-2003 350Z Enthusiast Stage 0
-1971 Datsun 521 Inline 4
-1970 Datsun 510 w/KA24DE
-1991 Honda CRX HF
(62 HP and 50 MPG BEAST!!!)
Post Edited (Nov 17, 9:34am)
A:
Blue
you really need to stop....
World Traveler-Double Agent-Soft Shoe Dancer-Aviator Extrodinaire-
River Boat Gambler-Coach-and Smiling Z Owner-Space Journeys-Bridges Destroyed-Wars Fought-Tigers Tamed-Revolutions Started-Bars Emptied-Poor Speler-Dinosaurs Neutered-1977 280Zt 32,000 mi
A:
So you like Ugly Spm
Merry Christmas!
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A:
Perhaps they know what they're doing, but I wouldn't get very far in life assuming everyone else is smarter than I am, now would I?
The fact that they're an established tire company does not mean that the product will be effective. Furthermore, the company's own propaganda does not convince me the product will be effective.
I don't own a house full of the ridiculous things they sell on late night television for the same reason.
'74 260z---NA L28 MSnS-E w/ Innovate Wideband
Already sparking, soon to be squirting.
Cogito, ergo dolorum.
A:
I think they are really nice.......But I would have to drive on them before I ever bought any.
Your car would be the hit of the Car Show.
82zxt /5sp /Fsm /Tools /Med Knowledge /Tampa /And a little Learned Luck.
A:
I think Michelin may have learned something from Indianapolis GP. If your gonna do something do it right. I have faith in the power of the conumer to choose what product they are going to buy. Lying to the consumer, and selling them something that doesn't work as advertised rarely works, and I can't foresee working with something as critical as tire technology.
However, my next ? is if you need those spokes to help absorb impacts, what happens with vehicles that have large brakes that require a 16", 17" or larger wheel. That wheel looks like its maybe 15" at the most. Hmmm...
'73 Turbo, not much stock. Sold now... :-(
A:
"Lying to the consumer, and selling them something that doesn't work as advertised rarely works"
I disagree, GM has been doing it for some time now and only NOW they are getting reamed out for it.
A:
Thats why I said rarely and not never!
'73 Turbo, not much stock. Sold now... :-(