I recieved this in an e-mail from a good friend and felt it worthy to share with the community. I'm reserving judgement until cost, wear data, weight and performance are published... personally, I think they are pretty ugly!

Without further ado...

 

Hmm this tire has been in the makings for a long time now I think they are made by Michelin and are called Michelin Tweel's.

 

Hmm but to think...if you need to replace your tires from tread wear then you have to replace the whole unit. This must be very costly unless you can replace the outer rubber but that seems a little dangerous at high speeds especially if you can just simply pull the rubber off the wheel and replace it.

 

I like them... probably offers quicker jump off the light...

 

But couldnt that be said for today's tires... if the tread wear is poor, you change the whole tire, not just the outter rubber.

What may seem wasteful today are runflats which are exercised due to deflation. once the walls of the steel radials are used, its recommended to replace the tire even though the hole in the tire can be patched...

 

[quote=acitydweller]But couldnt that be said for today's tires... if the tread wear is poor, you change the whole tire, not just the outter rubber. quote]

Ever hear of recaps?
I think some truck tires are still done.

 

Yes most big trucks still do recaps (Dirty jobs episode about a week ago).
And by replacing the whole unit I mean the whole unit not just the tire itself.

 

ah gotcha. Yeah, i suppose we reserve the right to judge until the cost and stats are published. but boy, would you get some crazy looks driving with these on

 

I think it's clear that recaps (or retreads I've heard them called) are still prevalent, as evidenced by the littering of our freeways with the corpses of said tires. Frankly, I'm sick of seeing them.

Yeah, I'm sure I'm not the first to scoop on these tires... I just think it's pretty facinating. If they can make versions that work with existing wheels... great, otherwise... well, I'm still undecided.