Benefits and Drawbacks
Potential benefits of the Tweel include the obvious safety and convenience of never having flat tires. Eventually, it may be able to outperform a pneumatic tire since it can be designed to have high lateral strength for better handling without a loss in comfort since the design of the spokes allows the vertical and lateral stiffness to be tuned independently. The tread patterns may incorporate holes in the design thus eliminating or significantly reducing aquaplaning. Michelin expects the tread to last two to three times as long as a conventional tire. Because only the tread around the circumference would be disposed of when worn as opposed to a whole tire, the environmental impact should be less.
The Tweel does have several flaws, however, the worst being vibration. Above 50 mph (80 km/h), the Tweel vibrates considerably, which in itself is a problem that also gives rise to undesired noise and heat. A fast-moving Tweel is unpleasantly loud and produces 5 percent more friction compared to a radial tire.
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