Run flat tyres

[hdiam1950]

Hi,, on a cooper s 2016 convertible what are the best run flat tyres. are some makes a bit softer? i have Firestones on the front and Hankook original equipment on the rear . seem s a bit bumpy.. Thanks, Harry

[steve-5snwi]

The only way to loose the firmness is to loose the runflats. The side walls are steel reinforced which support the weight of the car. All runflats have one thing in common, they are rubbish.

[hdiam1950]

So doesn't really matter which make i presume.. can you fit non run flat tyres on the same rims? harry

[steve-5snwi]

Yes, the on,y thing you cannot do is fit run flats to non run flat rims.

[Dickie-D]

I agree with steve-5snwi. The runflat tyres on my 2003 Cooper S were terrible. They had a horrible ride quality, as well as being ridiculously puncture prone and more expensive to replace compared to normal tyres.

I downsized from the original heavy 17x7" wheels and 205/45 runflat tyres to lightweight 16x7" wheels with 205/50 normal tyres. The difference in ride quality and enjoyment has been big. The car no longer bump steers over every change in camber and I can no longer feel every pebble and crack in the road surface. The ride is still firm, but there is some suppleness that stops the twitchiness of the car on broken UK road surfaces.

I keep a couple of cans of Holts Tyreweld Emergency Puncture Repair in the boot. I've only had to use it once in seven years and it was quick and effective. You just need to buy the appropriate sized can for your tyre size.
https://www.holtsauto.com/holts/products/tyreweld/

[Aletank]

Dickie-D said:

I keep a couple of cans of Holts Tyreweld Emergency Puncture Repair in the boot. I've only had to use it once in seven years and it was quick and effective. You just need to buy the appropriate sized can for your tyre size.
https://www.holtsauto.com/holts/products/tyreweld/

Was the punctured tyre repaired after using the Tyreweld ? I've heard repairers just want to replace the tyre once it's had Tyreweld in ?

[steve-5snwi]

You can repair them once they have had tyre weld in them.

[Dickie-D]

Aletank said:

Was the punctured tyre repaired after using the Tyreweld ? I've heard repairers just want to replace the tyre once it's had Tyreweld in ?

No, because if I recall correctly the puncture was a particularly bad one, and all the tyres were reaching the end of their life so I decided to replace all of them.

[rednotdead]

[quote=Dickie-DI downsized from the original heavy 17x7" wheels and 205/45 runflat tyres to lightweight 16x7" wheels with 205/50 normal tyres. The difference in ride quality and enjoyment has been big. The car no longer bump steers over every change in camber and I can no longer feel every pebble and crack in the road surface. The ride is still firm, but there is some suppleness that stops the twitchiness of the car on broken UK road surfaces.

[/quote]

We did the same - went to Falken 452s, although they've been replaced with the 453. Changed the car for the better. The tin of tyre goop is in the boot but never been used in 9 years (touches wood).

[Dickie-D]

I have used these tyres:
Pirelli eufori@ 'Ultra High Performance' runflats, 205/45/17 84V - horrible.
Toyo Proxes T1R, 205/50/16 87W - better but noisy like the Pirelli runflats, with poor grip in wet conditions.
Dunlop Sport Blueresponse, 205/50/16 87V - far superior to the above, with good wet and dry grip, and an almost unbelievable difference in rolling resistance that I noticed in the first 50 metres of driving on them.

I will also add that the final time I got a puncture on a Pirelli runflat, I drove to my local tyre fitter at 20 mph because it felt like the tyre was about to come off the wheel and even at that low speed it felt unsafe. The official line is that you are supposed to be able to drive carefully on these runflat tyres at up to 50 mph when they are punctured. When I asked the tyre fitter's opinion about that, he examined the tyre (while still on the wheel) and said that would be incredibly dangerous because it was so loose that it looked like it would come off.