I wanted to buy the mini cooper S in mellow yellow and only 2 left in the 5 dealers around me.

It only comes in run flat tires. I never heard of it . Is it better than regular tires?


BTW, I am a proud owner of a cooper s in mellow yellow with white roof and white bonnet stripes. No other options except for universal opener, bluetooth auto transmission and controls on the steering wheel.

I really wanted black roof but nothing available and I really wanted mellow yellow.

 

A Cooper-S is going to have runflat tires, you don't have a choice. The S has runflats because there's no spare, there's no space for a spare. A lot of people around here hate the runflats and swap them for real tires. Then carry a can of fix a flat, a compressor and a cellphone just in case. (I do that.)

Runflat tires have the advantage that they runflat. They'll get you 50 miles (at 50mph) after a puncture. Their sidewall is stiff enough to hold up the car without air. This stiff sidewall may also be a performance advantage. Their disadvantages are ride quality, noise and grip, depending on exactly which runflats you get.

There's a lot of discussion about such things in the Tires Wheels and Brakes forum below.

 

I think mine are bridgestone.

 

Which model of Bridgestones?

 

sorry, didn't even take a close look at it. I just saw bridgestone. I asked about the cost and the guy said about $300 or so to buy ONE run flat tire.

But it is the standard rim.

 

I was really prepared to hate the run flats. Going to change them out for regular tires almost at once. Didn't help the dealer delivered my 09 Cabrio (std non-S) with almost 50 psi in all tires. Seemed to prove all the hard ride stories.

Once I fixed the air pressure however, they are actually fine. I have Conti's so can't speak for any other, but the ride is very acceptable and with the top down and my foot buried who can hear the noise anyhow? Not sure what I will do when they need replacement but I have priced the run flat Conti's and they are around $140 each so I just may stay with them. Since I don't have an S, I do have room for a spare underneath. So I may add one even with the run flats as 50 mile range sounds a little low if off on a three day weekend trip. For me at least the problem with run flats seems to be exagerated somewhat.

 

Yup, all S' come with runflats. However, MINI is starting to abandon the practice in the UK. Instead, they are including a "MINI Mobility kit". It is unknown whether they will start doing this in the USA.

I ditched the Dunlop runflats that came with my MCS. I sold them and the heavy Crown Spoke wheels shortly after buying the car in 2007. The wheels I have now cost about $170 each. Michelin Pilot Exhalto PE2 tires (a civilized "Ultra High Performance Summer" tire) cost about $135. So, for the price of your $300 runflat, I can replace the tire and wheel. There are decent, less expensive non-runflat tires available, as well.

The advantage of a runflat is that you can drive short distances on a flat tire, with certain types of tire failure. This can be useful when the weather is bad. However, if you have a catastrophic tire failure where the tire comes apart, you may not be able to drive on it without damaging the wheel. Even if you have a simple leak and drive on it, there will be some doubt as to whether it is then safe to repair and continue using. With the tire flat, there will be a lot of flexing of the tire. This generates heat in the tire which can damage it. A damaged runflat could be subject to catastrophic failure in the future. So, there would be some risk in continuing to use it. You would be faced with replacing it for $300 because you took the convenience of driving on it.

The disadvantages of runflats are that they are expensive, and give a rougher ride. This may change over time. However, improvements have been promised for a long time, and so far seem to have just been mild.

With a non-runflat that has a slow leak, you can often inflate the tire and limp into a tire shop. If the leak is too fast, you would have to use Slime to seal it, or call roadside assistance to have it flatbed trucked to a dealer (IIRC, towing MINIs is not a good idea). You would have to get out and inflate the tire, rather than just drive, but you'd probably want to get out and look at a runflat before you drove with it. So, this leaves the main advantage of the runflat limited to leaks that were fast enough that you couldn't simply add air and limp to a tire shop. I decided that the chances of this happening were small enough not to warrant the disadvantages of a runflat. You would have to decide for yourself.

There are products like Slime that come with come with a small compressor. It injects the Slime sealant into the tire while inflating it. Runs off the cigarette lighter socket in the MINI (engine must be running). Slime claims to be compatible with the TPMS sensors that now come in wheels.

Currently there

 

*Sigh* Funny how things in life coincide.

I just had a major blowout in my relatively new (less than 20k miles/less than 12 months old) runflats.

I, for one, am a huge fan of runflats because i've experienced more than one bad blow out and I admit I tend to imitate low-flying aircraft. They NEVER happen in good weather, at a good time of day, with little traffic, and a nice big safety space in which to change a tire. The first time I experienced a blowout with runflats was when I was driving my husband's BMW on the autobahn - and i can tell you, i was VERY grateful I had them. I had NO issues maneuvering the car (no extreme pulling to one side - and especially not when the blowout happened) and I was able to get the car to the tire dealer immediately.

Most recently, a pothole reached out and ferociously BIT my front driverside tire when I was going at least 70MPH in heavy rain and heavy big-rig-truck traffic. Again, I knew it went out just from the sound and feel, but the car performed admirably and I was able to get home. Turns out I got a 3" flat out tear in the sidewall, but I was still able to drive to the tire dealer.

I will admit they are very expensive. This latest venture (only buying ONE tire) cost me $330 - this included immediate delivery of the tire (had to be brought in), put on MY rims, alignment, disposal of the old, and a kind of "insurance" that guarantees I won't have to pay more than $50 for a replacement if something like this happens again. And considering the roads and potholes around here...I"ll gladly pay for the convenience and safety of the run flat.

But if cost is what you're going for, listen to Robin.

 

And while they're more expensive than non-runflats, you can still find good buys. I just bought Continental Grand Touring runflats for $150/tire, shipped directly to my tire place, at tirerack.com.

I was going to buy non-runflats for the first time, but once I found out that you don't have to spend a ton of money, I got them because the extra $100 is worth the peace of mind, even though I've never had a blowout.

 

Were the tires fairly new when one blew? I've heard that you often need to buy at least two tires when you are replacing one. The claim is that it is not good to have one side new and the other with less tread.

 

Um, I'd say fairly new - I purchased the four new ones around January, and haven't put THAT much mileage on them... I did hear that, too, so I've been keeping an eye on the tread wear. I asked the tire guys if it was a problem and they said it wasn't, based on the wear they could see. I know that in Germany the law says you have to have the same kind of tire on the same axle for that kind of reason. Geeze, do I hate potholes.

 

TRL FROM PA.
Where exactly did you find price of $140 for Cont's?
The lowest we've found is $204.
thanks for the info in advance.

 

No kidding, TRL.

I just went back to TireRack.com - maybe I'm "special" but I have the 17" rims...lowest runflat I could find ere the Kumhos for $149.

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires....omCompare1=yes

 

I love my Dunlop runflats. It's a matter of preference.

 

I'm like Robin (except I have my stock flame spoke 17" wheels). I had the Dunlap RFs (they are summer tires, not all season) and I thought they were fine, handled well for sure, not overly harsh riding. They lasted about 30k. I priced RFs and mine were about $250 each, there were cheaper ones (Contis). But I decided to go with nonRFs and a compressor/slime thing that I put under the passenger seat in a zipper bag. The improvement in the ride is very noticeable. Handling not so much different, the turn in was easier with the RFs I think. The grip is about the same. My Bridgestone Potenzas cost me about $600 installed including tax and free rotation/balancing at a local shop. I could have saved about $60 with tire rack (but no free rotate/bal). That's my story.

 

I was on the fence with runflats. However, did not like the idea of the fix-a-gloo solution as noted above...no real space for a spare. Last month, thanks to NJ roads, hit pothole and which produced a 2 inch gash in sidewall. It was a crater! Was able to make it another 30+ miles home. The goo solution would have been useless. So..not the best ride..but very acceptable,,and above situation has me saying..OK.

 

$138.47 for Conti's (plus shipping) at http://www.tireteam.com/Tires/Contin...tml?&ref=ZILLA these are 16"

Never dealt with them. Just did a Google for Continental Run Flats and there seemed to be several sources around the same price.