I will have run flats on my r56. If I am driving say to Vegas and I get a flat and pull into one of the those little areas with a Taco Bell, Jack in the Box and a small service/gas station with tires, I am assuming there not going to have a run flat for my car and say they can't fix it. I'm kinda stuck. Can I put a non run flat on the bad tire and go on my way with no problems?. I don't really want to dump my runflats at this point.

 

The chance of any of the small towns having a tire in your size (runflat or not) are pretty minimal. But if they did, it would probably be ok to run a non runflat with a runflat. For a short time though (just to get you out of a mess) because handeling may be affected. You can get a small spare and stick it in the boot. A run-flat can be patched like any other tire (depending on where the hole is). You can always do the can of "Fix-A-Flat", but then any chance of the tire being repaired is pretty much gone.

Not sure if I answered anything

Nik

 

So its not only the run flat that is less abundant but its the size?. I thought 16" tires are pretty standard?.

 

Get a plug kit and a small compressor and most likely you can fix it yourself. Better than waiting hours on the side of the road waiting on a tow truck that may never come. And then when you get to wherever the two truck takes you, they still may not have a suitable tire.

YD

 

Sorry, I assumed 17", the 16" might be alittle more common.

Nik

 

Agree 100%, "plug kit and a small compressor" can probably be had for less than one service station repair.
I still have my 17" run flats from new in 03 two have plugs in them that I did with a kit I bought 20+ years ago from Sears, they don't leak. They are only used for Winter.
You can add a can of fix a flat, truck/SUV size to that list.
Check and set all tire pressures just before trip.

 

16" are common, but the OEM size - 195/55-16 is not common.
I second the plug kit and compressor. That will get you through 95+% of issues, and won't render the tire and wheel 'a goopy mess' as it would if you used 'slime'.

 

Its far worse than that

First, they are not going to have the right equipment to take off the RF and mount one

Second, the ain't going to have any tire that fits

Third, if you get a blowout, your screwed. No amount of goop is going to fix it. Yes, blowouts happen all the time, I got one 3 miles outside of Searchlight and no amount of goop was ever going to fix that tire

If you drive in the desert, get a real spare (IMO)

See https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...ad.php?t=64565
for a desert flat story

 

If you have a plug kit and compressor, I see no reason or use for fix-a-flat or slime... just a big mess that someone may or may not be willing to clean up when you change tires.

I found a great compressor that is quiet, reasonably powerful and doesn't shake all over the place at PepBoys. It was much more affordable than the Conti Kit and is built like a small compressor should be. It also fits nicely inside the boot cubbies also.

I use it all the time for adjusting and topping my my tires. I'm very impressed with it compared to other small portable air compressors.

I'm not so good at linking from other threads, but I posted some pics on page 2 of the tire thread called Continental comfort kit. If someone else could link to this thread better it might be worthwhile.

YD

 

Here is a good plug kit. Oh, it works, I've had to use it.

http://www.dynaplug.com/product.html

I'm a little overkill in what I have with me. I've got the slime kit in there also and have only used the compressor.

http://www.slimesealant.com/product.php?product=CRK0305

 

I guess the real question is...do you want to be prepared for a full blow out? If so, a spare seems the only answer. For a nail hole or something it seems plugs will suffice. Depends on how much of a tire-catastrophe you want to be prepared for.