Awesome Tires

Normally, a vehicle’s suspension sits between the frame and the wheels to absorb shocks. After seeing a vintage photograph of a car wheel with springs built into it, the car hackers at Garage 54 built their own to see how it would affect ride quality. It sounded like a busted shopping cart after the rubber came off.

Just like a real car, the tires on LEGO vehicle can make a huge impact on grip. LEGO expert Sariel built a motorized and weighted test rig to see how different official LEGO and third-party tires perform on different surfaces to figure out which ones are the best for traction. Place your bets now.

Bamford teamed up with Michelin to create this 133-piece limited-edition B347 chronograph. Its design is inspired by Michelin’s racing heritage, with a carbon fiber case, a black and white dial with a checkerboard bezel, and a strap made from recycled Pilot Sport 5 tires. You’ll find the Michelin Man on the caseback.

Artist Blake McFarland has wowed us with his incredible animal sculptures. This time, he created a life-like sculpture of a bald eagle out of bicycle tire feathers wrapped around a metal frame and a foam body. The finished bird has an impressive 6-foot wingspan and an awesome beak and talons made from steel.

Artist Micah Sweezie of Ceramic Noodles shows off a full-size car tire they made from clay. It took them weeks to create the 13-part mold from the original tire, and three days to cast the porcelain version. The finished piece is a statement on the dark history of French rubber plantations in Vietnam.

UK outfit VeloCulture makes personal accessories from recycled bicycle innertubes. Among their wares is this billfold that provides four card slots along with a zippered pocket for holding coins or spare keys. Available in all black or with a contrast color zipper pull.

Artist Blake McFarland previously showed off his sculpting skills by making a lion and a tiger out of tires. This time, he created an awesome-looking octopus by creating a steel, foam, and fiberglass form, then wrapping it in old bike tires. The glass eyes by artist Becca Barnet help bring it to life.

Everyday car tires are made mostly by machine, but the high-end tires used for racing are made by hand. In this clip from Street FX Motorsport TV, they take us inside Michelin Motorsport’s HQ in France for a look at the tire-making process, building up layer by layer of rubber, textiles, steel, and adhesive on spinning drums.

After seeing Sideshow’s Alien King Maquette, artist Cao Shengge was inspired to make his own version of the terrifying (but non-canon) creature. After making a clay miniature, he got to work building the life-size monster from steel, bicycle innertubes, and over 200 recycled tires.

Artist Cao Shengge created this amazing sculpture inspired by Eren Yaeger’s monstrous Attack Titan form in Attack on Titan. He built the creation by wrapping sections of car and bike tires onto a metal structure, then painted the interleaved rubber to look like the Titan’s exposed muscles.

Top fuel dragsters can accelerate from 0 to 335 mph in 3.6 seconds. While sheer horsepower is part of the equation, their massive rear tires are just as critical. Driver61 explains why dragster tires are designed the way they are and the physics that help them grip like mad and launch cars down the drag strip like a rocket.

Being able to change a car tire is an essential skill that everyone should learn. Stunt driver Terry Grant has figured out how to change a car tire while the car is still in motion. Back in 2010, he set a Guinness World Record for the fastest wheel change on a spinning car, a feat he managed to achieve in 3 minutes, 10 seconds.

A house in Pataskala, Ohio is minding its own business when an unexpected visitor arrives at its front door. But this isn’t just some annoying door-to-door salesman, it’s an errant car tire which has separated from a vehicle and comes flying at the house at roughly 65 mph. At least it has the courtesy to use the doorbell.

Ever wondered what it would be like inside of a car tire as it rolled down the road? We now have the answer, thanks to Warped Perception, who mounted a GoPro and lights inside a wheel before mounting a tire on it. Since the camera can’t see the outside world, all we see is the rubber deforming as it rolls over bumps.

Artist Blake McFarland shows off a pair of sculptures he built for the 2019 Cotton Bowl. He created versions of Penn State’s Nittany Lion and the University of Memphis Tiger out of Goodyear tires, wrapped around a foam and fiberglass structure. The sculptures weigh about 200 lb each, and used pieces from 400 tires combined.

Just like a real 4×4, if you’re going to take your R/C vehicle off-road, it needs proper tires. Traxxas is showing off their extreme new Sledgehammer tires. Designed for their badass Rustler 4×4 VXL, the oversize tires increase ground clearance, and have an open-block pattern for traction and mud-clearing on the most rugged terrain.