Got snow? Try retractable-stud snow tires

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Q Tires are installed and balanced just like conventional tires, but a wireless signal is used to activate an air chamber inside the tire that causes the studs to appear. Like conventional tires, they can be repaired with a plug or patch at any tire dealer, the company said.

The company, which has a joint venture to manufacture the tires in China, is not affiliated with any major tire manufacturer. The company said the tires meet federal motor vehicle safety standards.

In their presentation to Maine's Transportation Committee, promoters made no secret that the tires would cost 30 percent more than a comparable winter tire, either with or without studs. But motorists can recoup the extra cost by avoiding the twice-a-year ritual of mounting and un-mounting their snow tires, Starr said.

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"Winter tires can be more expensive than the all-season original equipment tire so if you need studded tires, it's an option that you didn't have before," Kevin Rohlwing of the Bowie, Md.-based Tire Industry Association said in an e-mail when asked about the new product.

Q Tires are still relatively unknown within the tire industry. Individuals from several organizations that deal with tire safety, technology and marketing said they had not heard of the company product and listened intently as it was being described.

"As far as I know, there is no other company working on similar technology," said Rohlwing, whose group represents all segments of the tire industry.

Q Tires are designed with two air chambers, one to inflate the tire and a separate one just to apply pressure on the studs when they are deployed.

The tires do lose a small amount of pressure when the studs are retracted, so motorists using the Q Celsius will have to pay closer attention to tire pressure. But Starr said the motorist can retract the studs 30 times before there's a significant loss of pressure in the tire.

In 2007, about 5 million winter tires were shipped in the U.S., and that was figure was expected to grow in 2008, according to Bob Ulrich from Modern Tire Dealer, a trade magazine.

Sales of Q Tires are initially targeted at states that get most of the snow, but eventually Q hopes to market them in all of states, even southern states, for added insurance in the event of ice.

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