My S (coming next month) will have run flats. i chose the performance tires. will i have problems with them? should i change them out for better tires and gamble on the flat tire? am concerned with the avaliability of 17" tires on the fly when they might blow. any suggestions? reassurances?
thanks and dark silver forever!

 

jmarsz,
Welcome to the site. Congrats on the Car..... when you get it.

From what I understand the tire industry hasn't really taken hold of the run-flat tire as of yet. There are some available should you need a new one. But, your looking at around 220.00 per tire!! You may also look into the self-sealing tire. These too are hard to come by but I'm pretty sure they are less expensive.
Course you could always go with normal tires and use a roadside assist.
Hope this helps.
SW

 

I had a problem with my tires today... I was driving a friend's Vette today, and while driving over a bridge that had construction going on, i punctured my two left hand tires on a board, with nails sticking out of it... I wish it had run-flats! I had to wait 2 hours for a tow truck from AAA to come and pick me up... The construction company is going to pick up the tab for the rires, and one new rim though.

 

wow! 220?!
the tires on my '87 supra are 130. and they are big fatty's.

witht he runflats...how do you know when they go flat? what use is the extra mileage they give if you are unaware of the problem? sensors? car tilt?

 

The MINI has a tire pressure sensor at each wheel...... well kind of. It picks up variations in rolling diamater of the wheel. Thus telling the system that you have lost pressure in the tire. I think it even tells you what % of air loss has occured somehow. In the owners manuall they show a graph of air% vs. travel distance.
You can learn more on this topic by either searching through the forums here.... or visiting MINI USA

The pricing I'm not positive about..... I did see pricing somewhere (mind escapes me at the moment) and prices shown were around the above mentioned. Again, I could be wrong..... I really hope I am.
Hope this helps.
SW

 

I had my first "flat" today in my right, rear tire. Dash sensor was flashing but I didn't notice it right away (pale yellow, far side of speedo) so I don't know how long I ran on it. When I pulled over I checked all tires just to be sure it was true. Looking you couldn't tell which tire was low. I did a pressure check and the right rear was off 10lbs. I drove it another 20 miles to a neighborhood tire shop and they pulled the nail and patched it ($12.50). With the "flat" I couldn't feel any difference in the handling although I did keep it under 50mph. The MINI dealer also said the sensor would indicate if the front end was out of alignment.

 

Nice to know the sensor works! But $220 for a tire, geesh! I'm not to cool on spending a grand to replace my car's tires.

 

As another post on this site mentions there is a reset button for the tire pressure sensors somewhere under or around the hand brake.

 

Reset button only works after the problem has been corrected. And then only if the tire pressure is correct.

 

I can't wait for my run-flat tires on the S! I had the sidewall on BOTH sides of my tire blow open on my Mustang when I was going 80mph on the Mass Pike. Yikes. I heard the vibration immediately and was able to pull over, just as white smoke poured out of the tire and deflated completely. I saved my rim, woohoo! And I had to teach myself how to change to the spare tire...

 

I'm going to end up buying regular tires, and if i get a flat, i'll just call AAA so they can pick me up! I pay my dues, so it's the least they can do! Come to think of it, before the Vette accident, I haden't had a puncture in almost 4 years!

 

i have been askign about performance vs radials.
any information? will ihave to buy winter tires if i get performance? am i gaining all that much over radials?

 

I ain't too knowledgable about tires, but aren't all tires radials now, even performance?

 

Just an FYI,

I recently went to 18" wheels and tires. Despite going to a smaller sidewall tire than my original 17" wheels, the ride was NOTICEABLY smoother. I actually went back to my 17" stock wheels and run flats because they looked better.

The Run Flats have a VERY stiff sidewall and thus the ride can be harsh over rough roads. Standard tires will improve the ride, but then you're screwed if you get a flat.

 

I was told by both Mini-USA and Pirelli technical service that the run-flats CANNOT be repaired! The owner's manual (page 110, bottom of center column) backs this up. What gives? Is this just a ploy to sell $220 tires? My S is due in September, and I can't seem to get a straight answer on this question.

 

>>I was told by both Mini-USA and Pirelli technical service that the run-flats CANNOT be repaired! The owner's manual (page 110, bottom of center column) backs this up. What gives? Is this just a ploy to sell $220 tires? My S is due in September, and I can't seem to get a straight answer on this question.


It makes sense from a physics stand point that they could not be repaired. The way the runflats work is by using a sidewall so stiff they can support the weight of the car for a little while. The constant flexing/compresing/stretching that the sidewall goes through when being used to support the car destroys the tire after 50 or so miles.

So if you get a hole in the tire and have to limp to a service station using the runflats ablity then the tire is destroyed and cannot be repaired.

Now if you get a hole in the tire and notice it right away without running on the flat then I think you would be ok. Someone needs to contact the tire manufactuer and find out what they say.

Better yet find an engineer who works for a tire maker and find out what he thinks.

 

You know what you should try to get? Self-sealing tires.. They're not quite as expensive!

 

>>You know what you should try to get? Self-sealing tires.. They're not quite as expensive!


I did not think they ever solved the High Speed problems they had with those. I heard about them years ago but they were limited to lowspeed applications because of the way they became unbalanced at highspeed.

 

I used to work on tires and I can tell you the 'self sealing' tires only seal on very specific, clean punctures. The inside is coated with a thick tarlike substance. The tires are heavy and hard to get balanced well.

 

Patrick,

Did your 18's look bad because they were too big in the wheel wells or were they just not the right style?

I'm thinking about opting out of the 17" sports package on my S and buying some 18" M3 replicas without the run-flats, so your input would be appreciated.

Also, what did you do with the pressure sensors when you switched to the 18's?

Thanks,

Jason

 

Standard tires and a can of Fix-a-flat do just fine for me!

 

My experience with run-flat tires on a Corvette is that they can either be patched or plugged with no problems. Patching is definitely preferable for a permanent fix, and you wouldn't want to drive too long on a future flat on the same tire.
:smile:

 

Actually, the run flat sensor is part of the rotor/brake assembly. It compares rolling distance with the other wheels/tires on the car. If one starts rolling faster it assumes you have a tire going down.

When I put the 18" wheels on you just turn the key to position two and hold the reset button down for 5 seconds or so until the light goes out on the dash.

So, the run flat indicator will work on any tires and wheels, assuming of course they're all the same size. The problem of course is what do you do about it if you don't have run flats.

As far as putting 18" wheels on it. I was dissappointed for two reasons. One, they showed to much of the interior disks etc. On the back it looked goofy because the disk is relatively small. The standard S 17" wheels do a nice job of hiding the rotor etc.

I was also dissappointed that they didn't fill the wheel wells up better. Honestly, it would probably take 19's or 20's to fill the well. In fact someone here in So. Cal put 20's on, but had to have the wells rolled to limit rubbing.

IMHO, the 17's are better proportioned to the car, so I am just going to lower it an inch or so to reduce the gap.

 

>>I was also dissappointed that they didn't fill the wheel wells up better. Honestly, it would probably take 19's or 20's to fill the well.

I think part of this problem is that normally with "plus" sizing (ie, 1, 2, or 3 inches larger wheel diameter than "stock&quot, the OVERALL TIRE diameter remains CONSTANT. Each "plus-up" in wheel size is offset by a reduction in the tire "aspect ration" (ie, from 55-->50, or 50-->45).

This is necessary for the speedometer, etc to maintain accuracy. So, the only way to "fill up" the wheel wells is to: (1) go to a larger size (ie, "taller" aspect ratio) tire (ie, 50 or 55 series, rather than 45, as on the standard 17" wheels), which will affect your speedometer & gearing, or (2) lower the car, which gives the "impression" of better proportion because it eliminates the air gap at the top of the wheel. I did the latter, on my Golf VR6, and it worked pretty well. I also increased the WIDTH of the tire (wider, but lower aspect ratio, to maintain accurate gearing) to provide a little more "stick"; and, as a side benefit, this also helped with the aesthetics of the proportioning of wheel & wheel well (to a lesser degree).

I hope this helps! (And, I also hope that my name comes up for ordering a MINI before someone outlaws them; for being too much fun

-DavidG

 

Do you guys know which run-flat winter tires should put on MINI-S??