I have a question about wheels and the Run Flat tires. If this has been talked about earlier I am sorry.

If you want to run with RF tires do you need a special wheel if you go aftermarket? Someone told me the stock Mini wheels are engineered specially for the RF tires.

I have never heard of this before.

We are thinking about aftermarket wheels since our stock powder coating project is going down the toilet.

 

No. Wheels are wheels. The tires simply have extra-rigid sidewalls.

 

Squirlz, thank you for the reply. That was my thought also but since it was my brother-in-law who told me this I did not want to start a debate over something I was not 100% sure of.

Peace in the family is much more important than run flats on wheels.

Thanks for the help.

 

I hear ya bro. So now you can tell him the "experts on NAM" set you straight!

 

That's right!!

 

There is an excellent article about run flats in the June Issue of Grassroots Motorsports.
there are 2 different types of run flats: Auxiliary Supported & Self Supporting
We have Self supporting on our Mini's. Which is good. With this type you can mount regular tires on their rims. With the Auxiliary type you can not.

 

Tools, in the future if we do get new wheels and when we need to replace the RF how would you know which type is which?

Thanks

 

The tires are marked:
Self Supporting - RFT - Bridgestone & Firestone& Pirelli& Yokohama
DSST - Dunlop
EMT - Goodyear
XRP - Kumho
Auxiliary Supported - PAX - Michelin

 

I will contradict the early answers, based on Moss Mini's catalog listing for Panasport wheels. It specifically stated that the Panasports were not compatible with the MINI's run-flat tires. I know someone on NAM (Redworf) had a problem with the run-flats losing pressure when he mounted them on Panasports. Maybe it was due to the wheels, maybe not. I think the best answer is: ask a professional about the specific wheels you want to buy.