Why aren't car tires solid?

[daniel]

I'm just curious to know why don't we have solid tires?

Why is air necessary?

[BabeHeart]

Wouldn't be a pleasant ride, and even shocks wouldn't be able to absorb all that bouncing. Solid tires would be so rigid as to cause you to experience every bump and hump, and not in a gentle way.

[DavidC]

I think some early tires were solid rubber or nearly so. Very hard ride.

[KevinB]

Armored cars (Brink's truck) have solid tires to make them harder to rob. But for everyone else, they would weigh too much, requiring larger engines with more power to turn them. Plus the ride would be brutal.

[ChrisJ]

the ride would be so rough. you would be bouncing around on even the smoothest roads