i see a lot of people on here list non runflats as the first mod for their MINI. i had a little "adventure" last week that has sworn me off the idea. i was consistantly getting TPMS sensor alerts about every 3-5 days. always the right rear about 6-8 psi low. took it in and found a nail in each rear tire. i purchased the tire warranty with the car so one nail that couldnt be patched was replaced, the other was not completely through the tire so it was removed and i carried on. 2 days later i'm going to work at 5:30 in the morning when i see the sensor trip on start up. i check the tires and find the front left has 2 psi. . following the owners manual i fill up the tire and continue to work. trip another sensor not 10 min later. reduce speed to 50 and continue the 63 miles to work. i call MINI roadside and tell them my tale. they send a tow truck to pick up my baby. they also tell me reuniting me with the car is not their problem and i was on my own to find a ride the 58 miles to the dealership. pick up the car with another new runflat on it. drive home get another sensor. same tire has 18 psi in it. fill it up take it back. cause was a bad valve. valve replace and new TPMS sensor as well. all tire work done for free under the warranty that cost about $750. value of work done at $314 a tire times 3. i dont know how you guys function with non runflats and no spare.

 

Where do you drive, the floor of a nail factory?

In the last twenty years of driving, I've had one flat, and two or three slow leaks. The flat was discovered in the parking garage at a San Francisco hotel after a Macworld convention. I always carried a foot air pump, so put air in it and drove to a place to get it repaired.

The slow leaks could be driven on until I had time to take to a shop.

Since getting the MINI, no flats.

I carry a ContiComfortKit and a Dynaplug kit in the MINI. The only advantage a runflat would have over that is that I could drive on it without getting out of the car.

For the price of your one runflat tire (you said $314) I can replace both tire and wheel (Rota Slipstream 16x7 @ $169 & Pirelli P-Zero Nero M+S @ $106 or Michelin Pilot Exhalto PE2 @ $112). So, if in a place where I was afraid to stop and get out (rarely drive through such places) I would sacrafice the wheel.

The advantages of the non-runflat: less expensive to replace when it wears out, much smoother ride, and possibly better handling.

IMO, runflats = insanity.

 

I've had two RF's with nails in them for about 10k and no PSI loss as of yet.

 

I love my NON-runflats. I didn't realize the difference in driving until we bought the new Cooper in Texas and drove all the way back to Florida. We could feel every rut in the road and it was like I was being pulled all around. (Tramming?) Not to mention the car felt stiff and rigid.

Roads are slick in Florida when it rains and so we have the special sticky Goodyear for wet roads. (Several years ago we had a Lexus ES300 and I spun out on I-275 and skid backwards (probably @ 65mph) into the Oleandar trees... still traumatized by rain driving but these tires have helped so much.)

When we got home from Texas we quickly switched tires from the other Cooper and went on our road trip to NC. They were awesome (except for snow and temps below 32... but that was a surprise). We have the slime and the compressor and we check the tires frequently. If we had a flat, I think it would be just as dangerous (if not more) to change the tire on the side of the road as it would be to wait for Roadside Assistance... but that is just my personal opinion. I have never changed a tire in my life and thankfully have never been stranded with a flat. (Knocking on my wooden desk)

Funny, somehow I made it all these years without fancy tire pressure warning lights and needing to change flats. Sure miss the good ol' days of knowing you had a flat by the thump thump thump sound!

 

The improvement in ride switching to NRF has been amazing - I wish I had done in earlier rather than riding out the mileage in the original RF.

Running NRF is definitely a risk, but one well worth taking IMHO, especially if you know how to plug a tire. (Those of use how ride motorcycles go through our entire careers without having a "spare" and somehow manage to take trips all over the world.) Sure, there are horror stories such as this, but by and large, most of us, especially those of us who take care of our tires, monitor pressures carefully, and replace them well before they're worn badly, almost never have flats. And most flats can be caught early and repaired before they leave you stranded.

I'd venture that in this particular case, all the tire failures were probably related to one incident of debris that gradually worked it's way into the tires. Stuff happens.

Tire warranties are probably the biggest ripoffs in extended warranties - nine in ten pay way more premiums than they ever get back in claims. (Of course, this means that one in ten DOES come out ahead.) That's why they push them so hard when closing the sale in the finanace mgr's office - they're the pure profit gravy in the car selling business.

- Mark

 

no kidding about the ripoff tire warranties thru the dealer... if U live in a state with Discount Tire and have a new MINI you can purchase full replacement road hazard warranties for yr runflats as long as there's no more than approx 200 miles on them. Mine were about $23/each out the door. Well worth it!

 

I called six different Discount Tire dealers in SoCal and none of them would sell me a Tire Warranty.I picked up my Clubman Monday and called ahead of time hoping I could get a warranty, but they did not offer one..

 

Granted the RF tires are like driving with concrete inside them due to their heavy rubber construction but fortunately it prevented a nail from going all the way through one of my tires as opposed to NRF tire I had on my prior 2006 Mustang GT which cost me a lot to replace 1 Z-rated performance tire.

It took a lot of searching and questions but I got the answers here on NAM that the OEM Dunlop SP Sport 01 DSST (RF) tires come with a 12 month or 2/32 tread wear road hazard warranty which includes 1 repair to each OEM tire and if not repairable a free replacement from an authorized DSST Dunlop Tire dealer.This may also apply to other OEM RF tires on your Mini Cooper too.

I did pick up a Dynaplug kit and mini air compressor that I keep in my hatch right after that nail incident I had though.

Also keep in mind that Mini dealerships do not carry nor include any information on the OEM tires because they do not warranty them at all only the tire manufacture does.I did not opt for the tire and wheel warranty when I bought my '08 MCSa because the tires already have their own warranty on them.

 

I am in the minority who likes run-flats! The ride quality with JCW suspension and run-flats is still acceptable to me. I occasionally find myself driving in the middle of nowhere and having run-flats gives me additional peace of mind. If you were to get a flat in the middle of nowhere without cell phone reception, run-flats would give you a better chance of getting out of there and making it to some kind of civilization.

 

I also like run flats. Sure, the ride is stiff but I think the trade-off is worth it. When I had my BMW (with RFT), one day my wife and daughter decided to take a drive to a mall about 20 miles away. I get a call from her in a panic saying that while they were on the freeway the tire warning light came on indicating there was a flat and she didn't know what to do. I told her to simply drive the car and don't worry about it. She found it hard to believe but I convinced her to just drive safely and continue to her destination and I will take care of it when she got back.

I would hate to think of them both sitting on the side of the freeway waiting for assistance, let alone if she had gotten a sudden blowout and tried to get the car safely off the highway.

Sure, they are expensive but what is the safety of yourself or loved ones worth? I know this doesn't happen all the time, but when it does it's nice to know you don't have to worry.

 

My '06 M Roadster comes standard with NON runflats, but includes a tire "comfort" kit. Funny thing is that my last BMW had runflats and I had 3 flats in that thing with expensive tire replacements to boot. With my M roadster, NO flats in almost 3 years and the tire repair kit is still wrapped/sealed in the plastic.

The increase in handling/performance of non runflats over runflats is enough for me to take the risks! And based on my experience with Runflats, they are the first thing to go on any new car.

 

RFs ride hasher but handle as well as non-RFs if the tread composition is equally sticky (maybe better due to the less compliant sidewalls, which is what makes them ride harsher). There are different makes/types of RFs just like nonRFs so just comparing one type to the other is like comparing apples to oranges as far as handling curves goes. Wear is different with different makes of RFs as well, and some ride harsher than others.

 

I was reading somewhere, I think it was Grass Roots Motorsports, that if you you get a flat on an RFT and continue to drive on it, it can damage the tire (delamination) so that it cannot be repaired. Replacement is the only option after that. It's kind of like you are damned if you do and damned if you don't.

 

I hated my original RF tires, mainly because of the tread noise that came on strong after they were about half worn out.

When those wore out I went with standard tires because of the price. I went with GY F1 AS. Great tires, but now that they are half worn out, they are as noisy if not more than the RFs. Sheesh, I hate that tire roar like a bad wheel bearing or sounding like a monster truck is beside me.

Last comment. For everyone who has regular tires and feel nice and safe with a plug kit and some sort of compressor... have you 'ever' installed a plug? Have you ever used on of these tiny compressors to refill a tire?

I suggest you get it out and practice on a junk tire somewhere. Maybe even go to a tire shop and ask them if you can practice installing a plug on one of their junk tires. You may be surprised at how difficult it is and how long the little 'comfort' compressor takes to fill your tire.

YD

 

i like them so far... they are harsh but I was used to driving my 1990 mustang gt around....lowered and just plain old lol.... talk about harsh.

My next tires will not be RFT however, as I want to get some summer wheels/tires most likely 18's... and RFT are big bucks

 

Yes, the Rft's are noisey, but most directional tires are almost as noisey, if not even louder. It has to do with the tread design. I just put on my new 16" snows (205/50R16 Blizzak LM25 non-RFT) and I have to say the ride is much better. It's louder than the RFT's but much smoother. I probably will ditch the RFT's in the spring.

 

We ditched the RF's on our MCS after driving up to MTTS in Boston. we had hit a pot hole and separated a belt. Left a big ol' knot on the sidewall. This was after having to replace a RF with some odd tread wear on the sidewall. The Dunlop dealer said it wasn't covered under warranty and it must have been an alignment issue. Oddly enough, the alignment was fine. I was in no way planning on buying a second RF. So we put Yokohama S Drives in it and am very happy. As soon as I decide on a set of wheels for the Clubman, I'll have a set of RF's sitting in my garage!

 

Sounds like a good idea.

I've never plugged a tire (we have a slime kit) but I have used the tiny compressor.

I've never changed a tire (don't know how) but I have had a flat tire that couldn't be replaced by the spare because the long forgotten spare (who knows how old it was- original?) was flat too. And funny thing is, the reason I had a flat was because I had broken up with a psycho boyfriend.

What I have been "stuck out there" with (which would not have been helped by a spare tire) are blown head gaskets, a broken axle, dead batteries, troubled transmissions, a rod through the engine and a driver's seat that completely disconnected from the floor while driving.

Let me clarify that these problems did NOT (and I repeat) did NOT come from a MINI. These are the classic memories of POS cars (with regular tires) I had growing up from about '87-'92 when I lived in Maine and I was poor. There were no cell phones and only rich people could afford the big bag phones.

Boy, I've really come a long way!

 

Both my Porsche and my Mini don't have spares and don't have runflats ...I carry a can of "fix-a-flat" in each car. I've never had to use it on either car, yet I used it on my wife's car when she had a flat a few years ago, didn't even mess with the jack and spare tire. Fix a flat works great, it instantly plugged and inflated the tire back to normal. We drove the car around town for a few days then had it repaired professionally.

 

Cool stuff!

 

I've been running NRF's since Aug, no problems. Rides better, are quieter and stick better. The ONLY downside I noticed initially is that with the less firm sidewall, I could feel a litttle more sidewall flex. Took about 1 week to get used to it. Haven't had any pressure problems.

 

not true. The comp of the rf's can easily be bettered by many non-rf tires out there. Simple fact is that the rf feature is a compromise.

Oh, yeah, they are also heavier.

 

Yep - few times on the Mini. Off, plugged and back on the road in just over 20 minutes. Not to bad.

Nik

 

Plugging for simple foreign-object (e.g., nails) is pretty simple and foolproof, but it is good to have done it before you're on the side of the road. Some tips:

1. The cheap "gooey string" type plugs sold cheaply in car parts stores tend to work better than the fancy mushroom/gun insertion plugs. Look for the bigger kits with t-handles for the reaming and insertion tools as this phase of the job requires some muscle and wimpy kits may be very difficult to use.

2. You need to find the foreign object. Nearly all the time, it's obvious. It really helps to jack up the car and be able to spin the wheel for a careful inspection rather than driving the car in increments to find/fix the puncture. If the front tires, put wheels at full lock to make the job easier.

3. If the tire is deflating slowly, I would leave the nail in place and just inflate every so often to limp to the next town where there is a garage or tire shop. Once you yank the nail (carry some pliers and a thin-bladed screwdriver to pry it up), the tire is going to go immediately flat and while most of the time you get a good repair, it's not guaranteed. Even if you do the repair yourself, it's nice to be in a town if the worst happens.

4. Read the directions on the repair kit, but it's pretty simple: Yank the object, ream the hole with the reamer (which both roughens and sizes the hole), fold the string plug over the insertion tool, coat the plug liberally with vulcanizing cement, and shove it in the hole leaving half the plug "u" in the hold and two tails sticking out. Extract the insertion tool and then let sit ten minutes without disturbing. Cut off the plug tails flush with the tread line and re-inflate.

5. Small electric compressors are the only way to go for re-inflation. They do take awhile, but they'll get the job done. You can spend a little or a lot. I like the "Slime" ones, but many are happy with the $15 Wal-Mart specials. Whatever system you get, confirm you can reach all four corners of the car with your electrical connections.

6. Obviously you want to take it easy on the repaired tire. The safest thing to do when you get to a tire shop is have the tire removed and patched from within, but many of use have used a plugged tire for thousands of miles.

I keep a can of fix-a-flat in my trunk, but honestly, I'd view it as a last resort for times that I can't safely make a repair, can't find the puncture, or can't get a string plug to hold. Sometimes they work and sometimes they don't. And the cleanup is a pain. Finally, once you shoot the fix-a-flat bullet, you can't get a plug repair to hold.

- Mark

 

This is potentially a very dangerous habit of driving, and best suits those who live and drive around numerous repair and/or tire shops. There are types nail strikes that can damage all kinds of tire, run-flats or non, such as through the side-wall, which will render the tire un-drivable. A spare and a good jack, as well as someone who knows how to change the tire is the best solution, but of course there's little room to store one in most MINIs and it would destroy the appearance to carry it externally. Slime or Fix-a-Flat are temporary solutions at best, and you would still be required to limp home or to the nearest repair shop.

I have to agree with the OP that it generally is insane not to have a spare, and that RFs are superior for safety than non-RFs. For those of you who swear by the roadside assistance plan, good on you, but wait time can exceed 2+ hours and you are still dependent on availability of a replacement tire. You are rolling the dice driving on non-RFs

Bottom line: It comes down to individual preference. There is small, but quantifiable difference in performance and feel of RF vs. non. Carry an air compressor for all tire types and be careful of road debris.