New to me 2014 Roadster S came with almost new Conti run flats. Love the mini but wife complained on rough ride. Looked at numerous posts and bit the bullet and ordered a set of 215/45/r17 Hankook Ventus 120 evo2 while they had $100 rebate on purchase of 4. Pulled wheels and tires and had them mounted and balanced. After stripping out 2 wheel bolts finally got them back on car last night. What a huge difference!!!! Roadster is 50% quieter-Ride is way smoother. Handling might be diminished a bit but we bought this for our sunday fun car and not a track car. Ditching the run flat tires was a great deal for us. Slime kit and compressor in the trunk. Big smile on my face. Wheel stud kit on order.

 

does Mrs ever drive the car alone?

Does the Mrs know how to use the kit?

Have YOU ever tried the kit to see how well it works?

You like the nicer ride (and why did you buy a sports car if ruff ride annoys you)

TWICE NOW

Run flats have allowed Mrs to continue on to a safe place to exit an interstate to review the situation ... rather than stopping on I-95 and trying to SLIME .....

just mentioning ... your choice .....

 

Thanks for your concern-Here in rural America my wife can use the slime kit. No I have not used it but went with the recommendation of a bunch of other mini and BMW drivers. Do not plan on cruising the interstate with it. It still is a sports car just now with a better ride.

 

I'll never run run-flats again. Better grip, better braking, better ride. If the Slime kit doesn't fix a potential flat, then I have a cell phone with USAA's roadside assistance number on speed dial.

 

USAA will tow you to a place that probably has no tire in your size ......

sad but true and not a guess ... experience as having owned MINI since 2002, and USAA all the way

many folks have an unrealistic expectation of what happens when they call their road service provider ...... read the contract!!!!!

I have AAA .. in the early years the MINI Road Service was provided by AAA ... but they've gotten cheap.

 

Fixing a flat tire isn't that hard. Of course if the puncher is on the sidewall then its a complete different story. All you need to have is the some cheap flat tire kit and a small compress air pump. I fix all my flats myself none of them took more than 30 mins. Of course having the wify fix a flat is big NO NO

 

bump

 

I agree with Clotagames. I got rid of the run flats pretty quickly...

Of course I had an additional reason. I wanted better summer tires, and the ability to have winter tires for the snow season.
But all around the roadster has the stiffest chassis of all minis. it makes for a good choice to ditch the run flats. Better grip + better comfort.

A flat isn't that big of a deal.
For long trips we have a spare with us.
For short trips we have the green goo, some plugs, and a cell phone. One of those will do... Though I'll give it to Capt-bj. I don't think my wife can use either one the the green goo or the plugs. So she'd have to ask for help or use her cell.

 

Though I'll give it to Capt-bj. I don't think my wife can use either one the the green goo or the plugs.

something to keep in mind if Mrs/significant other/child ever drives the car ....

b4 my kids got driving privileges they had to demonstrate changing a tire on any car they would drive. (My MINI and my Mini were never 'approved' for them)

************
for my house, the R59 is the Mrs' car .... her daily driver (the kid test does not apply to her). Runflats have helped her more than once ... plugs or slime? forgetaboutit .... if TPMS lights up, she calls me ... even if hundreds of miles away.

{my dd cost less, has more hp, more room and handling reviewed as AT LEAST as good, and often better, than the MINI - and comes with a full size spare, full leather RECARO interior, premium SONY sound, bluetooth and nav ... $10,000 less than a comparably equipped MINI}

*************
but actually my 'curiosity' for this thread comes from the original subject line:

Tire Change RF to air

while there are RF tires that are solid or filled with something other than air, that AIN'T what I've seen on MINI! In other words in all my MINI experience the run flats are filled with AIR ....... (dealer rip off for nitrogen excluded .. that's still AIR in this situation)

 

My RFs aren't that bad ride wise. I got non RFs on my 2007 MCS and yes you notice the ride improve right away. And I never had to fix a flat. But I like knowing I won't have to screw around with one. Come out of some bar all stink faced and can't drive home because of a flat tire. Bummer.

 

I have been driving since 1961 and had only one flat on the road (and that was about 4 years ago), so the run flats are gone and there is a BMW mobility kit in the trunk. That will do fine for me.

Jim Simpson
2013 R59