Photo: Peter Ten Klooster
In case you’re new around here, sir John Boyd Dunlop, a Scottish veterinary surgeon invented the pneumatic tire principle in 1888 and made it popular years later, becoming one of the world’s biggest tire suppliers. Being in the business for so long, the Dunlop company now has some rather interesting future predictions for the way our wheels roll on the asphalt.
For example, according to a futurology report commissioned by Dunlop as part of the Dunlop Future Race Car Challenge, racecars of the future may benefit from intelligent tires that will adapt to the driver’s needs and track conditions.
The company expects that by using polymer gels and electronically controlled materials, tires of the future will be able to change their shape on the go. So you can race on a set of sleeks and in case of rainfall, tires will grow/carve treads while also getting a bit stiffer. Graphene flakes may also play an important role to increase grip.
Moreover, pulling up to the pit won’t necessarily involve tire changes, because the tires of the future will probably be fitted with billions of microspikes that will deploy and “resurface” the tread.
This means racecars of the future will stop less times and conserve energy, which will mostly be electric, since the study is covering focusing on our world in 125 years from now.
The report on advanced tires is just the tip of the iceberg, as Dunlop’s quest to explore the future of motorsport is also covering all the other aspects of the game and is inviting fans and enthusiasts to share their thoughts on the project’s official webpage.
The company expects that by using polymer gels and electronically controlled materials, tires of the future will be able to change their shape on the go. So you can race on a set of sleeks and in case of rainfall, tires will grow/carve treads while also getting a bit stiffer. Graphene flakes may also play an important role to increase grip.
Moreover, pulling up to the pit won’t necessarily involve tire changes, because the tires of the future will probably be fitted with billions of microspikes that will deploy and “resurface” the tread.
This means racecars of the future will stop less times and conserve energy, which will mostly be electric, since the study is covering focusing on our world in 125 years from now.
The report on advanced tires is just the tip of the iceberg, as Dunlop’s quest to explore the future of motorsport is also covering all the other aspects of the game and is inviting fans and enthusiasts to share their thoughts on the project’s official webpage.
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