Flip through the latest issue of Gulf Weekly.
THE answer to a ‘hole lot of trouble’ on Bahrain’s roads and costly service repair bills could be found by the development of fabulous flanges.
Driving through a pothole can damage your tyres, rock the suspension and even crack shiny alloy wheels. So a wheel that is apparently able to ‘eliminate road-based damage’ will be welcomed by motorists used to bumping along side streets and village roads.
Michelin’s Acorus alloy has been developed over the past two years and features tough but flexible rubber flange, a projecting flat collar which serves for strengthening and is built directly into the metal rim where it meets the tyre.
These flanges absorb impacts when the wheel strikes potholes, according to Michelin.
Terry Gettys, in charge of research and development boss at the company, told Auto Express magazine that the technology could be rolled out to other manufacturers and could also be ‘retro-fitted’ to existing cars.
At the wheel’s launch in Montreal, Mr Gettys said: “It should completely eliminate road-based damage. Acorus also performs better than a standard tyre on rutted roads.”
Michelin says it will cost slightly more than a conventional wheel and a figure will be announced at Germany’s Frankfurt Motor Show in September.
Any tyre can be fitted to the Acorus and fitters will not need specialist equipment to carry this out.
Motoring organisations have welcomed the development.
Problems currently include broken suspension springs, damaged shock absorbers and bent wheels.
A large pothole appeared in Hidd, our sister newspaper The Gulf Daily News reported on Monday. The hole suddenly formed just 24-hours earlier on the left lane of the Dry Dock Highway towards Manama. Reports on social media also claimed that several cars were damaged after running into it.
