I have concerns about the lack of a spare in the MCS.

I checked the two largest tire places in the town where I live, Eugene Oregon, to see if they stock the run flats. Neither does and depending on the day of the week youhave the problem it is 2 - 7 days until a replacement would be shipped in.

I drive a fair number of miles so the run flats would only last me two days at best in my commute. Getting a flat while motoring around our beautiful countryside may be a tow in.

I am having second thought on getting a MCS because of this.

I would like to hear from owners that live away from the big cities and drive their minis out in the country to see how they have dealt with this.

Thanks

 

might be worth it to have a spare at your house to use while you wait for a replacement. a pain, but worth it if you like a lot of 'get up and go'

 

Be a rebel and plug your unpluggable run-flat!

 

uh just buy normal tires and a can of fix-a-flat glue ... it works just as well

 

or do this... pick a tire combination for your MCS that is popular here on NAM, ie SLites with Goodyear Run flats. Pick up some one's take off tires here. Let's say $500- 600 shipped to you. Now you have 8 tires to rotate around!

 

That is the problem with run-flats. They will get you somewhere, but you are stuck once you are there.

Almost no one stocks the tire. A can-o-fix-o-flat does the trick and a small $15 air compressor to throw under the seat. A spare wheel/tire at home would be prudent.

 

But what's the probablility of getting flat? I haven't had one in at least 15 years.

 

i've had 2 flats with my MINI in the last 6 months and i've NEVER had one before on ANY car. i bought 4 new run flats for a road trip, a month later - gotta flat.. another month later got another flat!! 6 TIRES LATER @ 200 a pop!!! AAAAAA i now have them insured.

 

i'm seriously considering getting rid of my MINI :( i cant afford the upkeep. makes me sad - but i think i've spent more on maintenance for the MINI than i did on my first car!

 

cgcooper01:
I assume that your flat tires are a result of picking up a nail or screw - that certainly isn't the fault of the MINI or the runflats. If the replacement cost is the issue, switch from the runflats to a lower cost tire (or buy a set of somebody's runflat takeoffs). If the nail or screw was in the tread area of the tire (and not the side or shoulder), your runflats could have been repaired. Hope your run of bad luck with the tires ends.

 

My tire shop calls run flats "go flats" ...they say the percentage of run flats that go flat seems to be greater than with regular tires ...and they have no reasonable explanation for why that may be. But, having talked to them and after reading many posts on this site, I will go with normal tires on my MCS, will carry a compresser and a can of fix-a-flat in the car and will have a spare tire at home that I can take on trips. I've been driving since 1976 (probably a million miles or so) and have had 2 flats so far ...so either my luck will continue, or I am overdue and in for some unpleasantness.

Also, my tire shop says run-flats require a special machine for mounting and dismounting due to the super stiff sidewalls and many shops do not have the machine. They also say you can't fix (plug) a run flat as well as a regular tire and once its flat you should throw it out. Apparently the glues used to fix punctures don't mate well with the run-flat material. They also say that a standard tire that has been treated with fix-a-flat should be replaced as well.

I know nothing about tires, so can't vouch for any of this ...but I've done right by these guys for a long time.

dean.

 

Definitely misrepresentation on the statement about runflats not being repairable. I had one plugged by a reputable tire shop several months ago and it has been fine. From reading the forums here, I've seen other folks that have had them repaired also. As long as the nail is in the main area of the tread, it is repairable. I'm not sure on folks having leaking issues with runflats but I have ten of them (own two MINIs and have two spares mounted on after market wheels) and none of them leak. All of my runflats are the Dunlop 5000 (all season) on the standard 16 inch wheels . The main drawbacks to runflats that I see are the cost of replacement and the more jolting ride with the R53 suspension. I'm sure the runflats are more difficult to deal with for the installer but if they can't properly install them, the installer probably isn't that good of a shop anyway. I doubt that the average corner garage is capable of mounting them properly. I think you're smart planning on carrying a spare on a trip - I'd do that even with a runflat.

 

Just to be clear, they did not say they weren't repairable, just not as repairable as standard tires. Again, I am just relaying what I was told. Opinions will differ and every shop that sells tires has their own agenda.

dean.

 

chrisjlcadwell - to answer some of your questions ... my '02 came with the Pirelli run flats - my commute is 100 miles a day (I live in a town with the population of 36k and work in the city) - I picked up a nail on the way home one night, drove home my ususal 'back road' route and took the car into my neighborhood tire shop the next day. They took one look at it and told me it would be 45min and $12.00 to fix. I drove that set of tires smooth without any other problems.
Due to ride comfort and cost I now run regular tires and have a can of fix-a-flat and a small compressor in the left hand cubbie in the boot.

T

 

I bought a regular MINI MC spare and keep it behind the seats. A ratchet tie-down strap holds it firmly in place by running it from the loop at the front-right of the trunk area, through the middle of the spare to the loop at the back-right of the trunk. The spare is small enough that I can still lower one of the seat backs but if I need more cargo space, I undo the strap holding the spare, push down the seats and drop the spare into the footwell behind the driver's seat.

I bought new wheels when my runflats wore out and keep the original wheels in the garage. When I got a flat, I used the spare to get home and then put on one of the old wheels until the flat was fixed the next weekend.

 

This might help:

http://www.edmunds.com/ownership/tir...8/article.html

There's also a whole tire forum here, where TireRack people hang out, so you might get more definitive answers there.

I think the repair problem is that the requirements are more stringent from the manufacturer to retain the warranty, and you generally shouldn't use Slime or Fix-A-Flat on a runflat-sensor equipped car, unless you never intend to use runflats again, from what I understand.

 

The flat tire sensor on the 02-06 MINI works on wheel rotation speeds. Smaller wheel, ie going flat, spins faster, and the sensor picks this up and sends a warning. Fix-a-flat will not effect this. I think the 07 MINIs use the same system.

Mark

 

I suggest you read this

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...ad.php?t=64565
and
http://www.carnutgarage.com/board/vi...?p=86214#86214

I bought a real spare on a real wheel. If around town, the wife drove the car with the RFs ... thats fine.

Take a trip, the real spare goes in the car

The FACT is, you get a blowout in the boonies ... NO goop will help here and here is proof of blowouts, taken in the Nevada desert



Buy the car ... and buy real spare.

 

No spare? WTH? I watched the video of the build process off of miniusa.com and I could have sworn I saw a spare slung under the rear of the car. I definately won't get run-flats now.

 

you saw a cooper being built. Those have spares. (even if equipped with runflats)

the Coopers S does not have a spare. It always comes with runflats.

 

Oh, ok... I also saw on the build site where you can opt for all season radials instead of run-flats on the S model. I want an S so I guess I get to spring for an extra tire and rim. :(

 

The configurator allows you to change from performance to all season for better traction in snow and rain. Nothing on there says that they aren't still run flats. I made that change since in Houston we get about 50 inches of rain a year. I'm still planning on them being run-flats since there is no spare.