Editing Tweel (section)

==Benefits and drawbacks==
Potential benefits of the Tweel include not only the obvious safety and convenience of never having flat tires, but also, in automotive applications, the Tweel airless tire has the potential to be able to brake better – a significant performance compromise that is inherent to pneumatic tires.  Unlike a pneumatic tire, a Tweel can be designed to have high lateral stiffness while simultaneously having low vertical stiffness. This can be achieved because, in the design elements of a Tweel, the vertical and lateral stiffness are not inseparably linked and can thus be optimized independently. Because there is no air bladder under the tread, tread patterns can, if desired, even incorporate water evacuation through holes in the design thus eliminating or significantly reducing [[Aquaplaning|hydroplaning]].  Michelin expects the tread to last two to three times as long as a conventional tire.<ref name="NYT2005">{{cite news|last=Mayersohn|first=Norman|title=Reinventing the Wheel (and the Tire, Too)|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/03/automobiles/03cars.html|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|accessdate=2012-01-15|date=2005-01-03}}</ref>  Because the tread rubber around the outer circumference is replaceable when worn (as opposed to disposing of a whole worn tire), the potential environmental impact of a Tweel airless tire can be less than that of a conventional pneumatic tire.

Tweel is useful for: "vehicles that don't have suspensions like lawn mowers – those low speed specialty vehicles that don't have suspensions. The comfort is quite good and better than inflated tyres" said Terry K. Gettys, executive vice-president, research and development, and member of the group executive committee at French tire company Michelin.<ref>{{cite web|title = In future, tyres will be connected to vehicle information system: Terry Gettys|url = http://www.businesstoday.in/opinion/interviews/in-future-tyres-will-be-connected-to-the-vehicle-information-system-michelins-terry-gettys/story/225552.html|website = Businesstoday.in| date=2 November 2015 |accessdate=2015-11-09}}</ref>

Military testing has indicated that the Tweel deflects mine blasts away from the vehicle better than standard tires and that the Tweel remains mobile even with several spokes damaged or missing.{{citation needed|date=September 2014}}

Although it is acknowledged that the initial prototype automotive Tweel tires did demonstrate flaws with regard to noise and high-speed vibration<ref>
{{cite news
|url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/airless-tires-consider-the-tweel/
|title=Airless Tires? Consider The Tweel
|author=Jaime Holguin
|work=CBS News
|date=2005-01-27
|accessdate=2021-09-16}}</ref>
and produced 5 percent more friction compared to a [[radial tire]],<ref name="NYT2005" /> these early issues were resolved in subsequent prototypes and, in 2013, automotive Tweel prototype products had been shown to be well-behaved and reliable.  As a demonstration of Tweel viability and reliability, three highway-driven vehicles (a 2012 Honda CR-Z, a resto-modded 1955 Morris Minor Traveller, and an Aluma brand trailer hauling a Polaris ATV which was also equipped with Tweel tires) successfully participated in the entire 2013 Hot Rod Power Tour long-distance road trip event in June 2013.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.fbccsc.org/newsletters/fbcc_newsletter_july13.pdf |archive-url=http://arquivo.pt/wayback/20160518081220/http://www.fbccsc.org/newsletters/fbcc_newsletter_july13.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-date=2016-05-18 |title=Foothills British Car Club of South Carolina Newsletter |date=July 2014 |website=Fbccsc.org |accessdate=2017-01-18 }}</ref>