When Tires Fail at 87 MPH: What Happens and How to React

Cars that drive themselves or help humans drive are changing how we test safety. Imagine a tire going flat while zooming at 87 miles per hour—what happens if the car, not a person, is in control? Will it stay steady?

A company from the United States, Koala Technologies, invented a cool tool to test this. Their gadget lets someone deflate a tire using a remote control from inside the car. This tool follows rules, like the FMVSS 110 standard in the U.S., which makes sure tires can handle heavy loads and stay safe for how the vehicle is used. It also checks if a tire sticks to the wheel when it loses air fast.

Koala’s invention, named Te.Sense Bloom, fits on a vehicle’s wheel—could be a car or even a bigger ride. A special valve in the middle lets air rush out to mimic a tire blowing out suddenly. Tubes and connectors hook the valve to the tire’s inside, screwed right into the wheel’s rim. When the driver hits a button, bam! The valve opens, and the tire deflates instantly, just like a real flat. This setup can be used over and over, giving the same results every time.

Unlike older methods, Koala’s kit saves tires from getting trashed. Usually, testers drive over sharp metal strips called “cleats” at test tracks, which pop and ruin two tires on one side of the car. That’s a problem for tests needing just one tire to go flat while the others stay fine. Plus, wrecking two tires costs more and wastes resources. Te.Sense Bloom fixes this by letting testers pick any wheel to deflate without harming the others. Setting it up means tweaking one rim for the tubes and valve, but Koala offers a service to handle that if testers need help.

The system works at high speeds, up to 87 miles per hour, and with tire pressures as high as 100 psi. You can trigger the deflation from inside the car or even from far away. It also meets new rules for testing electric vehicles’ side-to-side stability, which some places, like China, already require. The tool records tire pressure data, too, so engineers can study how the car and tire act when the air whooshes out.

Oh, and that name, Te.Sense Bloom? It’s got nothing to do with cars! Koala likes naming their stuff after water things. “Bloom” comes from how algae spreads in oceans and rivers, which is pretty different from tires and roads. This kit’s a game-changer for testing how cars handle a sudden flat, keeping things safe, cheap, and green.

If safety is always in your mind while buying a car in Milton Keynes, United Kingdom, check out our vast variety of fully-inspected cars.

Source and Image: AutoCar UK