[Tore Toivicco (OP)]

I  guess  there  may  be  problems if  cars  drive over 60 MPH, or  something  like  that,  but there is  also sloid rubber  tires  for  cars already...?!?:

[another_someone]

I would doubt very much that a solid rubber tyre would last forever.

The vast majority of tyres these days are not replaced due to punctures, but due to the wear on the treads.  Having a solid core will not in any way improve on that situation, but will add to the cost of the tyre (and, by increasing the amount of material used to manufacture the tyre, will add to the cost of disposal of the old tyres).

[paul.fr]

Like George has said, tyres are mainly changed due to lack of tread. I can see how solid tyres would help with "blow outs", but would they not make for one uncomfortable ride?

Motor vehicles are one of those subjects i know virtually nothing about, but i seem to recall that when we had solid tyres in the past they made for an uncomfortable and bumpy ride.

[lightarrow]

To last longer they should maintain the tread carving in the core and I don't think the tyre will work properly in this case, so it should be made as a normal tyre but with a solid core.
Apart for what another_someone said, there would be other two problems:
1. worse comfort
2. worse stability because of the worse damping of suspension and because of the larger mass.

Edit
paul.fr: you have beaten me on the time for what concern 1.!

[another_someone]

In terms of increased undamped mass, I would agree, with the caveat that a solid core tyre might need less reinforcement in the outer type since it does not need to contain high pressure air, and because the core might be able to be designed to reduce the stresses on the outer tyre.

In terms of comfort of ride (aside from that associated with increased undamped mass), I would suspect that that could be controlled by managing the type of material from which the core was manufactured.

The old solid tyres were made of homogeneous rubber, were fairly rigid (which itself is good for reducing rolling resistance, but not good for the ride or for maximising grip).  I would imagine what they are talking about here is a core that is carefully crafted to respond to forces in a particular way, and so to provide the right elasticity in the right direction to provide whatever characteristics are desired for the tyre.

[Batroost]

I seem to remember that Solid tyres are currently illegal on British Roads. Not sure where you'd check this out...?

[JimBob]

Solid tires were the first type, replacing a leather covering of the wooden wheels of the first cars, I think. The development of vulcanization is what made cars popular. Thank Harvey Firestone.

(I may be incorrect on this - not 100% on it)

[daveshorts]

Apparently Charles Goodyear invented vulcanisation, and a scotsman called William Thomson invented the pneumatic tyre, although he was frustrated by a lack of appropriate rubber and they were popularised by Dunlop many years later on bicycles.

[lightarrow]

Anyway, solid tyres are quite effective against puncturations: sometimes smugglers in south italy fill their heavy vehicles's tyres with silicon, making them able to operate even with bullets shot inside (from policemen!) []

[daveshorts]

I think you mean silicone - silicon is the hard stuff they make computer chips out of silicone is the flexible polymer. It wouldn't do the handling any good and would be very heavy, but probably both of these are minor considerations if you are being shot at.

[lightarrow]

I think you mean silicone - silicon is the hard stuff they make computer chips out of silicone is the flexible polymer.

Yes, my online dictionary is not perfect! []

It wouldn't do the handling any good and would be very heavy, but probably both of these are minor considerations if you are being shot at.

I agree! Also, consider that they intentionally make the vehicle heavier and stronger (with steel bars) to make it able to go through police blocks!

[neilep]

Wouldn't solid tyres be just too heavy anyway ?

[lyner]

They wouldn't have to be actually solid - they could be foam filled (closed cell) .
Over the last few years I have lost more tyres through punctures than from wear. It's always upsetting when 'the man' says he can't repair a tyre because the 'ply' is damaged.
When I started driving in the sixties, I never got a puncture. Lately, it happens all the time. Is it just my experience or are there more nails etc. about?

[neilep]

Aren't there ' puncture-less ' tires about nowadays ?

[lightarrow]

They wouldn't have to be actually solid - they could be foam filled (closed cell) .
Over the last few years I have lost more tyres through punctures than from wear. It's always upsetting when 'the man' says he can't repair a tyre because the 'ply' is damaged.
When I started driving in the sixties, I never got a puncture. Lately, it happens all the time. Is it just my experience or are there more nails etc. about?

That's quite strange. It's never happened to me. They have always repaired the tyre. How big were the holes? (I hope 'the man' didn't deceive you!)

[lyner]

(I hope 'the man' didn't deceive you!)

Well- there is usually a significant tear in the ply - and he hasn't swapped my tyre for another, by sleight of hand.
I guess there are more nails and worse-repaired roads where I live.
Blow-outs are a significant risk with  'optimistically' repaired tyres, though.. Localised heating at high speed is a scary problem.

[another_someone]

I don't recollect ever having had an unrepairable puncture.  In fact, since I have been driving one or other type of 4WD car since 1990, and you cannot really drive 4WD with tyres of different age on the different wheels (adds strain to the differentials), so it gets really expensive if you need to change one tyre while the tyres are fairly new, as you have to then change the others as well.

If you actually drive on a flat, then it can cause the tyre irreparable damage, but if it is just a nail in the tyre, it can usually be repaired.  Again, if you have a blow out, that is another problem, but I have never had one (my mother once had one).

[another_someone]

Aren't there ' puncture-less ' tires about nowadays ?

I do recollect there being self seeling tyres, which had some sort of seelent within the type that would immediately fill and solidify into any puncture.  I don't think they did anything to improve the performace of the tyre, but I am not sure if for that reason, or some other, they do not seem to be about much now.

[lightarrow]

Another kind of non-air tire:
http://auto.howstuffworks.com/tweel-airless-tire.htm