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Non-Pneumatic Tires Finally Hit the Commercial Sector. Will Polaris Roll Over the Competition?

By Rain Noe - November 20, 2013

in Cars

Ever since we saw Resilient Technologies' Non-Pneumatic Tires being tested out on Humvees, we wondered if it would ever trickle down to the civilian sector. Well, it has. Off-road vehicle manufacturer Polaris has announced their new Sportsman WV850, a "military-grade" ATV kitted out with the NPTs.

"We have seen great success with NPTs in military and disaster relief scenarios," said Dovid Longren, Vice President of the Off-Road Division, "and are excited to bring this technology to the consumer market for extreme work applications." While it's unlikely your average contractor will need to drive 350 miles after his tires have sustained ".50 caliber ballistic damage," as Polaris has done in testing, it is nice to know that the NPTs have also been tested for 1,000 trouble-free miles of travel with a three-inch railroad spike jammed into the tread and structural webbing. With that kind of durability, you can get away without carrying a spare, meaning there's more room to haul stuff.

It's not clear if Polaris has licensed Resilient Technologies' original design or entered into some kind of partnership; RT's website hasn't been updated since 2011. But Polaris has re-branded the NPTs "Terrain Armor," and as you can see in the promo video, they look pretty bad-ass:

Of course, the WV850 isn't all about the tires; it's based on the MV850, a true combat-grade ATV only available to the military, and the former vehicle carries over design features from the latter:

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Ter

10 years ago

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I think this is brilliant and have thought so since I saw this a year ago. But I don't buy the fact that centripetal/centrifugal forces would be enough to stop mud from caking inside the wheels. a honeycomb pattern filled with dried mud, meeting the hard edge of a boulder at medium speeds sounds like a suspension gone bust or at least a broken axle.
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tim

11 years ago

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Polaris bought Resilient Technologies in April of 2012. The WV850 is just a version of their military model that is suitable for heavy use by non-military folk. The tires should be spot on for this type of consumer, who's main concern is zero downtime.
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travis m

11 years ago

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Mud and dirt would be flung off via centrifugal force. Now if you were going highway speeds, a bigger consideration would be the aerodynamics, but that doesn't seem likely.
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fatguyonalittle

11 years ago

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I love this airless technology... I do wonder about mud and dirt collecting in the wheels... it seems they need a flexible scrim to keep debris from collecting and upsetting the balance of the wheels.. or a design that promotes the shedding of debris...
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Richard

11 years ago

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Would this technology make the Concord (supersonic aircraft) tires more durable?
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Toby

11 years ago

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Not quite clear from the video, but I would think the biggest problem would be the roughness of the ride. Obviously there's some give in the honeycomb, and ATVs do have suspension, but pneumatic tires can be pumped up to varying degrees of soft/hard depending on the surface you're driving on (sand vs. rocky trail, e.g.). Still, no flats would be worth some jostling around.
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