Tweel
To reinvent the wheel is something most of us can't fathom doing. Brian Russell of Colorado (and founder of the company Britek), and one of the biggest names in the tire world—Michelin—seem to be in a competition to see who can come out with the best reinvention… first. Imagine a world where tires couldn't go flat- a world where you could run over a patch of nails and not bat an eye. What if this same tire could give you better gas mileage, better handling, and last five times as long as a traditional tire. Now imagine military vehicles that had wheels and tires that were almost impervious to explosions from land mines and IED's, while simultaneously directing blasts outward instead of upward into the cabin. The world is in a new and exciting time right now for the automotive industry and the innovations that are coming out of it. Just like when Clark Foam closed its doors and shocked the surfing world—the world's supply of oil is dwindling—and the days of innovation are upon us. Change is never easy, and usually happens with much groaning and a fair amount of trial and error. But through the tempering furnaces of innovation come such unique inventions as quad fin parabolic balsa stringers, carbon fiber double concave swallow tails and big gun FRP glassed-ins with 50/50 rails on quad channel boards. The aforementioned mumbo jumbo are each things that no one tried before Clark Foam closed its doors, and with the pressure of the looming end of dinosaur blood, companies like Chevy, Toyota, and Honda (as well as a hundred smaller independent companies) are dumping millions of dollars into alternative fuel designs and new technology that would have otherwise never been funded. The catch is there are almost 208,000,000 cars on the road in just the United States alone. That leaves a lot of people who aren't going to trade in their perfectly normally working cars for a brand new car payment. So, this existing market leaves an area that desperately needs attention and fuel saving/ increased efficiency measures taken and introduced.
Enter the Tweel by Michelin and the Energy Return Wheel (or ERW) by Britek.
What these companies have done is create a platform that applies to every car. An airless tire that not only does all of the above mentioned ideas, but then some. A large part of Britek's goal by developing this new technology is to reduce our dependency on foreign oil. By making a wheel more efficient, the platform it utilizes becomes more efficient. This means that the modern cars that aren't equipped with the newest technology, or the latest biodiesel conversion, or even the most efficient fuel injected system around. Just think about how many cars from the 80's and 90's are still on the road. Now think about how far technology has come since then. Now imagine all of those cars getting somewhere between 20% and 37% better gas mileage. That means a 20%- 37% drop in oil consumption—not exactly a small chunk.
To put that into numbers, the current cost of WTI Crude Oil as of today is $99.34 a barrel, and Brent Crude Oil is $113.76 a barrel. The US consumes somewhere in the neighborhood of 7 billion barrels of crude oil per year (based on 6.9B barrels in 2009, and 6.85B barrels in 2008, source: U.S. Energy Information Administration). This means that $695,380,000,000. That's a hefty chunk of change, and one hell of an expensive habit we have. Out of those 7 billion barrels, roughly 53% (source) or $368,551,400,000, were from foreign sources. If we could reduce our consumption by even 15% with better fuel economy we could reduce our foreign dependency by almost $55,282,710,000. That's a big difference, and a huge amount of money. Now, these are just estimates, but if every car in America was equipped with tires that gave them 20% (or more) better fuel economy—that would be an enormous impact on our crude oil consumption. This is the driving force behind the ERW from Britek. Their goal of reducing our dependency on foreign oil, while improving gas mileage for the consumer, and simultaneously transforming tires into safer, better handling properties of our cars seems like an enormous step forward.
Michelin is the next biggest contender for the airless tire; their innovative approach is called the Tweel, a combination of the words tire and wheel. This creative design uses polyurethane inner spokes to support a tire on the outside using the spokes to flex to mimic the properties of a pneumatic tire. The Tweel is already in use in smaller skid-steer applications and has proven to be extremely durable and is currently in testing for the military and other high stress vehicle applications. The upside of the airless tire from both manufacturers is the obvious elimination of flat tires, however—in certain scenarios, this might be an issue- such as police and military checkpoints in which spike strips are utilized. The design of both of these tires renders them impervious to puncture- even from such forces as 250 grams of TNT. The only issue that Michelin seems to be encountering, that the Britek wheel/tire has solved is vibration at high speeds. Both designs are simply engineered, yet complex in their ability to function. Right now, the ERW has patents in the US, Japan and China; and Michelin has already begun to implement their technology small scale for testing, but no word on full-scale production can be found.
The surprising fact about all of this is both of these technologies have been out for well over five years now, and we have yet to see the actual implementation of these on the road. So now, after building you up with so much enthusiasm, I have to admit, that I'm skeptical that either of these companies will succeed in their quests for a mass produced airless tire. The Britek website seems to have been all but forgotten. The last update for their forums by an administrator was over two and a half years ago and they don't seem to exist anywhere else on the internet. The company seems to have fallen off the face of the planet and so does interest in their product. This, at a time when the U.S. is so seriously in need of a new technology for our extreme oil addiction, seems to have been lost. Perhaps the recession hit the company hard? Or perhaps the larger tire manufacturers bought out the technology? Maybe it was a combination of lack of interest and a hard pressed market that drove them underground, but whatever the reason, neither manufacturer seems to have been particularly focused on bringing this technology back to the front of the line.
Another interesting conundrum could be the simple issue of trying to sell technology like this to potential investors. The market has been established with the use of conventional pneumatic tires for almost a century now, and the altering of thinking is always hard to do. The wheels of change move very slowly, (no pun intended) and getting the enormous automobile market- an industry that pulls over $4 billion a year according to SEMA, is surely no easy feat.
Videos on both:
Chevrolet to Assemble LS9 Live at SEMA
If you're going to SEMA this year, you're in for quiet a treat. Ok, so, that's an obvious statement, because you'll be at SEMA, but Chevrolet will be doing especially cool. At their Chevrolet booth, to try and keep attention and crowds up, they will have a team of mechanics and engineers there assembling, from scratch, a LS9 engine--you know, the monster under the hood in the Corvette ZR1. Since Chevy began offering their build your own LS9 program, a lot of interesting videos and press has come out concerning the program. This latest push towards that same promotional direction, is a great one too.
SEMA has quickly become one of the world's premiere car conventions, and now draws major interest from every major manufacturer (both of vehicles and of vehicle modifications). At SEMA, you're certain to see a near limitless number of beautiful cars from all corners of the globe, but there exist few vehicles on Earth that compete with the Corvette ZR1, which is what makes this display so cool. The LS9 is an absolute marvel of modern automotive engineering. It is fairly basic, really, as it's built on a long-tradition of Chevy small-block V8s and hasn't changed much of the over-all function or design in a long time, but it's the vast minor improvements made over the year that make the LS9 such an incredible beast. So, if you're at SEMA this year, be sure to stop by the Chevrolet booth and check out the ZR1 powering LS9 production display--and ask questions while you're there, too! The mechanic and engineer crew is there not just to build, but also to answer questions for the people attending!
Chevrolet Releases Teaser Video for SEMA 2010
The SEMA convention is fast approaching, and that's great news for automotive junkies like you and me. SEMA has quickly grown to be one of the planet's premiere car shows/conventions, and its focus on aftermarket vehicle modification makes for incredible releases year in and year out. Every year, too, the Corvette is one of the most well-represented of all vehicles present. As America's true automotive darling, I don't see why it wouldn't be. This year's SEMA is already shaping up to be a very exciting event for Corvettes as well, as Chevrolet has begun slowly releasing small tastes of what's in store for the show. Among all the great vehicles will be Corvettes from numerous different companies (you can be almost certain that companies like Edelbrock, Romeo Ferraris, Lingenfelter, AMS, and their like will be there) as well as some special Corvettes from Chevrolet themselves. In the teaser there's a peak of a the Corvette Racing C6.R as well as a Jake's Racing Corvette (looks to be a modified ZR1 by Jake's Racing, even) which will undoubtedly draw a lot of press and attention at the show. Until SEMA begins in the first week of November, these small teasers are all we have, but they're a great way to wet the palate and get a small taste going for the kinds of Corvettes that will be present.
Great Esquire Article: An Adult’s First Driving Experience Takes Place in a ZR1, What Better Way to Get Them Excited About Driving?
The article itself is only slightly about Corvettes, but it was such a fun read and such an interesting thought that it had to be shared. I'll give you a quick synopsis and a link, so that you can read it yourself and enjoy what it has to offer as much as I did. The idea behind it is this: You have a 25 year old adult male, who, because of his growing up in New York City, has never been behind the wheel of a car before. He's been in cars before, that's kind of impossible to avoid, but he's just now learning to drive. After getting his learner's permit from the DMV he's headed to the Corvette performance racing lessons in Phoenix, where GM sends people purchasing a ZR1 to find out just how much potential the vehicle on the track, and it's there, at the race track and under the tutelage of a professional racer, that he will get his first taste of driving. At first, it's a bit painful to read. He goes through the awkwardness that all of us inevitably felt as teenagers, first learning to drive a stick-shift. You know the moment: you've stalled it out 4 or 5 times, you're making awkward jokes to try and diffuse the situation, and what little confidence you had going in has quickly dissipated. Imagine this though: after finally getting over that hump, you now have 638 HP of raw, ZR1 power beneath your feet.
It's a fun thought experience that, in actuality, makes for a great article and a great read. Check it out at Esquire, and try to think of how the experience would've felt for you had it been your first time behind a wheel.
Road and Track’s Road vs Track ZR1 and C6.R Showdown
Road & Track lived up to their name this time when they pitted the ultimate American Road machine, the Corvette ZR1, against the ultimate American track machine, Corvette Racing's C6.R. The ZR1 is a nasty, aggressive, mean, cruel, powerful, and all around monster of a production vehicle that uses its 6.2L Supercharged V8 to tear up stretches of asphalt and spit them out. The C6.R has been dominating in its class all year long, and if a beautiful and incredible piece of machinery that highlights the dance-like capabilities of the Corvette body on the track. Radical vs Refined. Beast vs Beauty. Road vs Track.
The C6.R, as the comparison shows, is still a powerful and capable machine. The regulations of the ACO prohibit the C6.R from utilizing the bigger, more powerful engine of the ZR1. They also limit the brakes, and other aspects, of the C6.R, so that it must shave weight wherever it can to maximize performance. Because of its weight-saving designs, and its race tuned body, the C6.R does more with less, and posts track times that are the envy of most other vehicles on Earth. Of course, in doing all of this, it loses a lot of the explosive tail-end focused power of the ZR1. The ZR1 provides this power thanks to its TVS Supercharged LS9 which delivers 638 and 604 Torque to its wide wide wheels. The vehicle is still designed for road driving though, and because of that comes with the niceties and amenities (A/C, Stereo, Power Accessories) that are expected of such. These things give it a much heavier build than the C6.R, and as result, a tail-end that, while powerful, is infamous for losing itself around sharp corners quickly. Who can blame it though? With that much power, it can't be an easy job to hold the asphalt. I've also never read or seen any review of the ZR1 that doesn't call it an absolute blast to drive, many of which even highlight its wild and aggressive nature (and fish-tailing rear-end) as reasons why it is, possibly, the ultimate driver's vehicle.
Based on these two things, this is definitely a fun and interesting comparison, the results of which aren't wholly surprising, but which are cool to see. Here's a little teaser video for the upcoming Road & Track magazine that's worth a watch, and be sure to check out the actual written comparison when it's released, as it looks like it will be a great article, from start to finish.
Juan Pablo Montoya Tore Up Some Track in a Corvette ZR1
Read a recent article highlighting a day at Milford Proving Ground (also known as the Lutz-ring) with Juan Pablo Montoya behind the wheel of a ZR1. All in all, it sounds like an absolute blast, which I'm sure it was. Any time you have a race driver of that ability handling a vehicle with that much potential, the results are certain to be great. There's a lot of posturing on the history of both the GM owned course and the GM produced vehicle that I wont bore you with. Suffice it to say: this track is a tough but fun, 3-mile 17 turn raceway, and the Corvette ZR1 will turn you inside-out with its power and performance. The interesting part of the article, to me, was where we got word from J-PM on what he thought of driving the Corvette ZR1. Bear in mind before reading this that this is coming from a man whose job it is to handle a vehicle at 160 mph and who is well-documented for his love of European supercars. When I say super, I mean super too, like Porsche GT2 and whatever new monster Ferrari is producing. Well, the ZR1 is definitely the American equivalent of those supercars, and the quotes from Juan-Pablo listed in the article certainly highlight that. So, here we go, taken directly from Sam Abuelsamid's article on Examiner.com:
Montoya agreed as he climbed out of the Corvette with an ear-to-ear grin. "This thing is insane. You want to have fun and play around? It doesn't get any better than this."
For a driver like Montoya that is used to driving high-powered cars for a living to be this impressed with a road machine is saying a lot. He later referred back a Ferrari 360 he once owned, calling it "an understeering pig!" Discussing the Corvette "with a lot of European cars they are very precise and they don't really move, but you don't get the excitement of the driving. Yes you're going really fast but this car brings that out a lot more. It's exciting to drive and will get your heart pumping really fast. I do this for a living and I was stressed." Stressed in a good way though.
This writer has driven the ZR1 and other cars at high speeds on a variety of tracks over the years, but riding alongside Montoya in the ZR1 truly was a thrill ride better than anything you'll experience at Cedar Point. He had the ZR1 on its limits, drifting through every corner and fully compressing the suspension through the carousel. Watching a driver of Montoya's caliber working the steering wheel and steering with the throttle was a joy to behold and really put my own ample but clearly much more limited driving skill in perspective. Nonetheless it was a worthwhile way to spend an afternoon.
Very Cool!
Chevy to Hault ZR1 Production?
There have been some rumors lately that, come 2011, GM will pull the plug on ZR1 production. While, at first, this seems like a genuinely negative move by Chevrolet, it does make some sense. The rumors cite poor sales versus cost of production as reasons for the potential end of the production run, but there are most likely other factors at play. We've been told we'll see a C7 Corvette come either 2012 or 2013, so haulting production on the ZR1 opens it up for that new C7 to be the top dog. Doing it in 2011 also gives them a year to convert those plant resources to C7 production.
The question then becomes, not when the ZR1 Production will end, but when will it start again? Here's where the issues with this come in. I love the ZR1, and I'm sure most of you do also. With the new, more stringent, MPG laws taking place, it doesn't seem that there's really a place for the ZR1 in the Chevrolet line-up anymore. Getting Z06 power to meet the MPG demands will be a task, and asking someone to do that from an engine as potent as the ZR1 is really pushing it (or pushing the price skyward). So, we shouldn't worry then about the C6 ZR1's end, but instead about the C7 ZR1's beginning. It would be nice to see a C7 ZR1, but nothing can be certain. I'd be inclined to believe that Chevrolet would find a way to get even greater performance from their C7 'Vette past the promised Z06 build a few years in to its production, but nothing's certain. Maybe then, those of us without ZR1s, should start saving up our extra change to get one while we still can. I'm certain that the ZR1 will be quiet a collector's item one day, as its hand-produced engine, rarity, and beauty will keep it coveted for decades to come.
Cool Corvette Commercial and ZR1 Discount
Chevrolet's working on a lot of marketing as of late, and their newest commercial is a great one. Highlighting the fact that NASA no longer has a functioning manned space-craft in their line-up, they play off of that and show that some rockets still exist in the USA. Highlighting the ZR1 is a smart move too, as the Corvette is the definite "halo car" for the Chevrolet line-up. Regardless of its practicality, everybody still dreams about some day owning a Corvette, and it's great to highlight that. The interesting thing about the commercial though is its timing. Chevrolet hasn't advertised the Corvette in a commercial in 5 years time, and with Corvette sales lagging behind averages right now and the C7 model still a few years out, it seems like an odd time, but one can assume that Chevrolet is banking on the undeniable Corvette love factor to take over when viewers are bombarded with the vehicle, and return some respect to Chevrolet as a whole, since all of their vehicles must share, in some manner, genetic material with the Corvette. It seems like a pretty smart move, and it's a great commercial, so I'm all for it.
Beyond that, Chevrolet's also trying to boost Corvette sales by offering discounts on the ZR1 for the first time since it hit markets. As the dealership surplus on the vehicle has risen to almost 500 beautiful works of art sitting without owners, Chevy has decided to offer a rebate on their ultimate performance monster. Hopefully this moves some more ZR1's (and it should, when coupled with the commercial above) and gives Chevy reason to continue making the ZR1 build with the C7 model. All in all, this week has given us a cool commercial, a cool discount, and some hot spy videos/pictures of a cool proto-car for a movie, all by Chevrolet. They're doing something right! Keep it up!
Cool Video Update: Jeff Gordon Driving ZR1 Around Race-Track
Jeff Gordon is privileged enough to be one of the members of the Monticello Motor Club--a new, private, 650 Acre racing resort in Monticello N.Y. for the wealthy with a speed necessity who want to tear up their gorgeous 3.5 mile road course--and also one of the people privileged enough to have a ZR1 to get behind the wheel of. Combine these two aspects together, and you have one of NASCAR's finest drivers tearing up one of America's finest new tracks, in what is arguably America's finest car. Makes for some interesting stuff, eh?
The video shows Gordon going as quick as 150 MPH in the stock ZR1 and really showing off the limits of what the car can do in the hands of a great driver.
Corvette Dream Raffle 2010: Hero Edition ZR1 and 1967 Sting Ray
The Corvette Dream Raffle has been a fantastic promotion for the last few years, raising a great deal of money for the Kids Wish Network. This year, I imagine they'll be raising a lot more, as the vehicles they've chosen for their raffle are both absolutely gorgeous.
The Corvette Dream Giveaway was created to fund the expansion of the Kids Wish Network’s “Hero” program. Participating children’s hospitals select a child each month, who has faced traumatic and life-changing events with courage and spirit. That child receives a “Hero” award which includes a valuable “Hero” gift package for the award ceremony. The success of the event has enabled the Organization to offer the Hero program in over 160 hospitals nationwide, now awarding approximately 2,000 Heroes annually! (1)
The first of the two vehicles in the raffle is a Brad Paisley Hero Edition ZR1 in Ermine White with Red touches. This ZR1 doesn't stop there either, as it is Lingenfelter modified and pushing out over 720HP, a rise from the stock 638. It also has custom badges and a custom matching red interior, marking it with Brad Paisley's name and signature and declaring it a one of a kind Hero edition ZR1.
The '67 Sting Ray in the raffle is an absolute beaut as well! In matching Ermine and Red, just like the ZR1, this Sting Ray is a fully restored 427 Original. Beautifully restored in every aspect, and with gorgeous red interior, this Sting Ray will be quiet a prize for whoever wins it.
So, if I were you, I would absolutely go to www.winthevettes.com and buy yourself some raffle tickets to try and get one of these beautiful Corvettes for yourself. Great way to win great prizes and support a great cause!
(1)from CorvetteBlogger