A rubber-tyred metro or rubber-tired metro is a form of rapid transit system that uses a mix of road and rail technology. The vehicles have wheels with rubber tires that run on rolling pads inside guide bars for traction, as well as traditional railway steel wheels with deep flanges on steel tracks for guidance through conventional switches as well as guidance in case a tyre fails. Most rubber-tyred trains are purpose-built and designed for the system on which they operate. Guided buses are sometimes referred to as 'trams on tyres', and compared to rubber-tyred metros.
The unsprung mass of a vehicle is the mass of the suspension, wheels or tracks, and other components directly connected to them. This contrasts with the sprung mass supported by the suspension, which includes the body and other components within or attached to it. Components of the unsprung mass include the wheel axles, wheel bearings, wheel hubs, tires, and a portion of the weight of driveshafts, springs, shock absorbers, and suspension links. Brakes that are mounted inboard are part of a vehicle's sprung mass.
Steering is a system of components, linkages, etc. that allows a vehicle to follow a desired course. An exception is the case of rail transport, by which rail tracks combined with railroad switches provide the steering function. The primary purpose of the steering system is to allow the driver to guide the vehicle.
Suspension is the system of tires, tire air, springs, shock absorbers and linkages that connects a vehicle to its wheels and allows relative motion between the two. Suspension systems must support both road holding/handling and ride quality, which are at odds with each other. The tuning of suspensions involves finding the right compromise. It is important for the suspension to keep the road wheel in contact with the road surface as much as possible, because all the road or ground forces acting on the vehicle do so through the contact patches of the tires. The suspension also protects the vehicle itself and any cargo or luggage from damage and wear. The design of front and rear suspension of a car may be different.
Hydropneumatic suspension is a type of motor vehicle suspension system, designed by Paul Magès, invented by Citroën, and fitted to Citroën cars, as well as being used under licence by other car manufacturers, notably Rolls-Royce, Maserati and Peugeot. It was also used on Berliet trucks and has more recently been used on Mercedes-Benz cars, where it is known as Active Body Control. The Toyota Soarer UZZ32 "Limited" was fitted with a fully integrated four-wheel steering and a complex, computer-controlled hydraulic Toyota Active Control Suspension in 1991. Similar systems are also widely used on modern tanks and other large military vehicles. The suspension was referred to as oléopneumatique in early literature, pointing to oil and air as its main components.
The Tweel is an airless tire design developed by the French tire company Michelin. Its significant advantage over pneumatic tires is that the Tweel does not use a bladder full of compressed air, and therefore cannot burst, leak pressure, or become flat. Instead, the Tweel's hub is connected to the rim via flexible polyurethane spokes which fulfil the shock-absorbing role provided by the compressed air in a traditional tire.
An anti-roll bar is a part of many automobile suspensions that helps reduce the body roll of a vehicle during fast cornering or over road irregularities. It connects opposite (left/right) wheels together through short lever arms linked by a torsion spring. A sway bar increases the suspension's roll stiffness—its resistance to roll in turns—independent of its spring rate in the vertical direction. The first stabilizer bar patent was awarded to Canadian inventor Stephen Coleman of Fredericton, New Brunswick on April 22, 1919.
Air suspension is a type of vehicle suspension powered by an electric or engine-driven air pump or compressor. This compressor pumps the air into a flexible bellows, usually made from textile-reinforced rubber. Unlike hydropneumatic suspension, which offers many similar features, air suspension does not use pressurized liquid, but pressurized air. The air pressure inflates the bellows, and raises the chassis from the axle.
Ride height or ground clearance is the amount of space between the base of an automobile tire and the lowest point of the automobile ; or, more properly, to the shortest distance between a flat, level surface, and the lowest part of a vehicle other than those parts designed to contact the ground. Ground clearance is measured with standard vehicle equipment, and for cars, is usually given with no cargo or passengers.
The H-Bahn in Dortmund and Düsseldorf is a suspended, driverless passenger suspension railway system. The system was developed by Siemens, who call the project SIPEM.
Wire wheels, wire-spoked wheels, tension-spoked wheels, or "suspension" wheels are wheels whose rims connect to their hubs by wire spokes. Although these wires are generally stiffer than a typical wire rope, they function mechanically the same as tensioned flexible wires, keeping the rim true while supporting applied loads. The term suspension wheel should not be confused with vehicle suspension.
Height adjustable suspension is a feature of certain automobile suspension systems that allow the motorist to vary the ride height or ground clearance. This can be done for various reasons including giving better ground clearance over rough terrain, a lower ground clearance to improve performance and fuel economy at high speed, or for stylistic reasons. Such a feature requires fairly sophisticated engineering.
El Car is a bus manufacturer from Romania. The company was created by engineer Dorian Igescu and their main production line is the Igero bus.
The 76 mm mountain gun M-48, was developed after the Second World War to meet the requirements of Yugoslav People's Army mountain units, it can also be used as a field gun.
The Audi R8 LMS Cup was a one-make sports car racing series by Audi based in Asia. Audi R8 LMS Cup cars were based on the Audi R8 LMS (GT3).
The Belkommunmash BKM-321 is a Belarusian large capacity low-floor trolleybus for intercity passenger transportation, mass-produced since 2003. It belongs to the third generation of trolleybuses developed by the Belkommunmash plant in Minsk.
The Iveco EuroCargo is a range of medium-duty trucks produced by the Italian manufacturer Iveco since 1991. The EuroCargo replaced the Zeta model produced in the 1970s.
The LAZ-699 is a lengthened by one section LAZ-697, an upper-class coach, based on the city and suburban bus, LAZ-695. It was serially built from 1964 to 2002, in the Ukrainian city, Lviv. In that time, there were developed a lot of prototypes and special luxury modifications as well as special vehicles for transporting astronauts on the Baikonur Cosmodrome. The serial production of the first modifications was modest. Only in 1985, when the production of the LAZ-697 was cancelled, the free production capacities were used for starting mass production of the LAZ-699.
Etalon T12110 "Barvinok" is a Ukrainian low-entry trolleybus of large capacity, produced at the Chernihiv Bus Factory since 2013. This model was based on the BKM-321 trolleybus using the body of the BAZ-A11110 bus. There are currently 43 trolleybuses in operation.
