MAINTENANCE FREE AIRLESS TYRE ANNOUNCED

The airless tyre is now with us. Michelin’s maintenance free airless tyre was displayed for the first time at this years Paris motorshow.

Key to the Airless tyre is its advanced radial structure manufactured from high –performance composite materials, on to which a rubber tread is bonded. Once the tread wears down it can be removed and a new tread bonded to the core structure. The central structure is designed to last the life of the vehicle (typically 150,000 miles) and using advanced adhesives it is envisaged that motorists simply have a new tread each time the current set wears out.

A huge boon to motorists will be that the new tyre will be specifically "tuned" to their vehicle. It will never leak air, will never puncture, cannot be dangerously over-inflated, and ends the need to regularly check tyre pressures all round the car.

Michelin Head of Research and Development, Didier Miraton says: "Michelin’s research mission is to constantly bring about "technological leaps" in the tyre industry. Daily we strive to halve braking distance, rolling resistance, noise, and also to improve grip and extend tyre life. All this means experimenting with new structures, materials and so on. And day after day, we break new performance records, pushing back the limits of tyre technology.

"Our mission also includes exploring new avenues, to deliver solutions that meet new mobility expectations, in keeping with the Group’s own mission, which is to contribute to better mobility. Michelin Airless – and others - are all part of our portfolio of groundbreaking innovations. These are genuine technological leaps produced by Michelin’s visionary power, and we are seriously focusing our research on these solutions that will make their way onto the market within a decade or so.

“Nevertheless, one thing is sure, tyres as we know them today still have a long lease of life ahead of them”