[TheTick247]

I thought I'd share this story about CamberTires which is a new (not quite in commercial production) tire design with camber built into the tire. Supposedly it improves performance, MPG, etc.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/01/automobiles/01CAMBER.html?_r=3

There's also a piece on it on Leno's Garage where they discuss the concept and do a brief road test.

http://www.jaylenosgarage.com/video/camber-tires/1236995/

I thought it was an interesting concept that'll be available commercially soon (supposedly) that might interest folks here. Heck, in the video the inventor even mentions that he'd be willing to work with enthusiast groups to try out different designs. Maybe DriveAccord folks could be one of those groups.

 

[TheTick247]

of course, my definition of "interesting" may differ from a lot of people's. Maybe it's a sign I need to get out more. :lmao:

 

[RinconVTR]

So simple...and as Jay questions...I have to wonder why this has never been tried.

And he's 10 miles from me...

But his web site ****s!

 

[TheTick247]

So simple...and as Jay questions...I have to wonder why this has never been tried.

And he's 10 miles from me...

But his web site ****s!

His site does, in fact, blow. Even the "Under Construction" is easy to miss. I kept thinking, WTF is up with this site, until I saw it after the 2nd or 3rd pass.

As for the design, seems like a lot of the best ideas are so simple you wonder "Why the F didn't I think of that" (D'oh!)

 

[Baldeagle]

I found this fascinating. It raised some basic questions for me. Wouldn't the outside of the tires wear much faster than the inside? After all, the tires don't want to roll in a straight line. They want to roll in a big circle. With each tire revolution, the outside of the tire wants to travel a greater distance than the inside of the tire. To travel in a straight line, the suspension must force the outside edge to slip and wear. How would that affect rolling resistance? Wouldn't that constant stress increase it?

To me, this "cambered" tire is different than adjusting the suspension for negative camber. With a suspension's negative camber, the top of the "square" tire is tilted inward. That will obviously put more pressure on the inside of the tire, but the tire will still want to travel in a straight line. Unless I am visualizing this incorrectly, it is hard for me to see this as a slam dunk for regular road applications.

 

[DavyDavon]

thought the same as baldeagle.

Them tires dont want to go in a straight line. You would need to compensate with Toe, then they will want to go straight but it will look weird, ugly, and still stress the tires.

Simple physics laws seem to be forgotten here.