The Goodyear Eagle-360 Concept Tire

Am I the only one that thought it was about to pass the Wienermobile?

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ok, that's the first piece of legitimate tech that makes me excited in the last year.

how close are we to a prototype of a maglev drive car? probably really fucking far because they only work if they are supercooled.
 
I have envisioned this exact setup for years (minus the bio-whatever stuff). I thought it would be awesome for parking sideways, spinning in place (rather than turning) etc. Very cool
 
Sikkyu said:
ok, that's the first piece of legitimate tech that makes me excited in the last year.

how close are we to a prototype of a maglev drive car? probably really fucking far because they only work if they are supercooled.
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Basically as soon as they figure out room temperature super conducting, we will have this down.
 
Heh, the parking lot space savings it total BS. You'd only be saving space if all cars are the same length. My Miata is way shorter than my neighbors F350.
 
sadsteve said:
Heh, the parking lot space savings it total BS. You'd only be saving space if all cars are the same length. My Miata is way shorter than my neighbors F350.
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You will conform or be incarcerated!

And hey, you think tires are expensive now, just wait till you see the price for something like this.

And what happens if:
1. Tire fails?
2. Maglev system on one or more tires fail?
3. You run over something metal?
4. you get something metal embedded in the tread?
5. You hit a big bump or run over something at speed? Is the maglev system going to be able to compensate for that in order to keep the tire from contacting something in close proximity on the car or will it allow the tire to hit and essentially stop the tire from rotating. Very bad things would happen if this happened.
6. How would they keep somebody from just jacking up the vehicle and stealing the tires? They certainly can't keep the maglev system enabled while the vehicle is off in order to hold the tires in place. And if the tires are somehow linked to the vehicle they are on, what happens if such a system has a glitch or fails?

they show the tires re-positioning while the vehicle is stopped. That is a great way to introduce excessive wear. Same as what happens when you turn the tires on a regular vehicle while stopped.
 
Greater surface contact area means a lower ground to weight ratio. You'll loose traction easier and it will be compounded in water or on ice. That being said, it would be a Bedouin's dream come true", it'll do well on the beach or in sand or loose snow.
 
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lcpiper said:
Greater surface contact area means a lower ground to weight ratio. You'll loose traction easier and it will be compounded in water or on ice. That being said, it would be a Bedouin's dream come true", it's do well on the beach or in sand or loose snow.
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The contact patch of these tires would vary greatly based on the tire's air pressure (are they even air filled?) and softness of the rubber. A perfect sphere would have a microscopically small contact patch.
 
DocSavage said:
The contact patch of these tires would vary greatly based on the tire's air pressure (are they even air filled?) and softness of the rubber. A perfect sphere would have a microscopically small contact patch.
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I just took Goodyear's claim of greater surface contact area in the video at face value.
 
So how do you change a tire when everything is encapsulated inside? Does this mean a $100 tire now cost $2500 because each one has some electric motor magnetism dohicky inside it?
 
Only thing is, for the size of these tires, you could have some full-on indy car tires and I bet they have more traction than these spheres.
 
Looks more like a sci-fi art project than any serious consideration for future tech/engineering... so many issues/problems being ignored on so many levels. Brakes, contact patch, magical magnetic manipulation of a spinning spheres... Might as well focus on anti-grav levitation first and skip the spheres all-together.
 
Cool but, i'm constantly skeptical without a working prototype. Make an RC version and prove the tech first.
 
lcpiper said:
Greater surface contact area means a lower ground to weight ratio. You'll loose traction easier and it will be compounded in water or on ice. That being said, it would be a Bedouin's dream come true", it'll do well on the beach or in sand or loose snow.
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Exactly. Good luck stopping in the rain, despite what the video is trying to show. Minimal contact area = skiiiid.
 
Considering this is purely conceptual and I doubt they have anything even remotely close to a prototype I can't be the only that things this is completely pointless right? I mean, cool in concept for sure, but "showing it off" like this is just a waste of time...
 
I actually think this tech would be promising for off-roading. Imagine big 42"+ tires with no need to worry about blowing a bead, breaking a rim, no drivetrain. It would be badass.
 
sleepeeg3 said:
Exactly. Good luck stopping in the rain, despite what the video is trying to show. Minimal contact area = skiiiid.
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Contact patch has far more to do with tire diameter and air pressure than tire width. Tire width is actually the LEAST affecting factor.
 
Drive slower, use cheaper tyres, get less driving infractions, buy more PC gear, have better life, profit.
Maglev tyres. lol. Well useful.
 
leeleatherwood said:
Contact patch has far more to do with tire diameter and air pressure than tire width. Tire width is actually the LEAST affecting factor.
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Very true for tires as we know them, i.e. cylinders, but this concept is using spheres. Basic geometry comes into play here, and as someone has noted earlier, the contact patch of a spherical tire is ludicrously small compared to that of a rolling cylinder. Sure you could deflate a sphere to increase this patch size, but these spheres are also spinning at high speed and apparently changing their spin vectors on demand without regard to centripetal and centrifugal forces.
 
Supercharged_Z06 said:
Very true for tires as we know them, i.e. cylinders, but this concept is using spheres. Basic geometry comes into play here, and as someone has noted earlier, the contact patch of a spherical tire is ludicrously small compared to that of a rolling cylinder. Sure you could deflate a sphere to increase this patch size, but these spheres are also spinning at high speed and apparently changing their spin vectors on demand without regard to centripetal and centrifugal forces.
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And that right there is one big reason why this type of setup will have problems.
 
Am I the only one who immediately thought about the roller ball from computer mice a few years back?:p
 
DustMite said:
Am I the only one who immediately thought about the roller ball from computer mice a few years back?:p
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Ha... that brings to mind the gunk that would collect on the rollers that the ball would pick up.

And it brings up another thought.. what exactly would happen with that maglev setup if you run over an animal or something else that would end up getting sucked up into the cavity between the wheel and the vehicle?
 
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