[PerthBMW]

Hi

Got a puncture in my front passenger side tyre with the dash lighting up like a Christmas tree telling me about a pressure drop warning. Went to service station and put air in but it was dead - ran my hand around the face of the tyre and found a bloody big screw (see picture).

Went home and took tyre off to inspect thinking I could get away with getting it plugged. Unfortunately, not going to happen as I noticed some other damage on the inner face of the tyre with some of the metal strip exposed under the rubber (see pictures) - it was likely to pop anytime and why waste money on a plug might was well replace the tyre.

Do you know how hard it is to get Run flat tyres at the moment in Perth....grrrrrrr

Most places I rang said they didn't have stock of Bridgestone run flats and their warehouse indicated likely none until February 2017. I was after Bridgestone Potenza RE50A 225/40 R18.

Ended up doing with Bridgestone S001 which are meant to be a better tyre anyway - got them for $275 each fitted, balanced and wheel alignment. Going to get two and replace both fronts.

My tyres are the originals from new so 6 years and 78,000KMs old - rears have heaps of meat left on them.

The joys of run flats - get them on tomorrow...don't be in a hurry to get Run flats if you are in Perth and you want the Bridgestone Potenza RE50A...have to wait a while.

Happy New year....

[EB89]

Question

If you couldn't drive on your run flat during a puncture why put runflats back on?

Get normal tyres a slime kit and a compressor, at least you can repair them if you get a puncture.

Normal tyres won't feel like shit. Also chances are they are going to chip the paint off your wheels during the removal of the runflats, double that damage if they are putting some back on.

[PG]

s001 are great bang for buck tyre
hope you get the buy 3 get 1 free promo0.

[PerthBMW]

Originally Posted by EB89

Question

If you couldn't drive on your run flat during a puncture why put runflats back on?

Get normal tyres a slime kit and a compressor, at least you can repair them if you get a puncture.

Normal tyres won't feel like shit. Also chances are they are going to chip the paint off your wheels during the removal of the runflats, double that damage if they are putting some back on.

Sorry but I think you misread what I wrote - I never mentioned I couldn't drive on them...in fact, I did from the service station to home without a problem. If it wasn't for the inside wear I would have had it plugged and been back on the road with them.

From what I have heard and seen using a slime kit wrecks the inside of alloy wheels and you never can get it off.

I hope they don't damage my rims replacing the tyres - I would assume they will be professional in their approach and do the right thing as most tradies do.

I am happy with my run flats and don't see any need to change

[EB89]

Originally Posted by PerthBMW

Sorry but I think you misread what I wrote - I never mentioned I couldn't drive on them...in fact, I did from the service station to home without a problem. If it wasn't for the inside wear I would have had it plugged and been back on the road with them.

From what I have heard and seen using a slime kit wrecks the inside of alloy wheels and you never can get it off.

I hope they don't damage my rims replacing the tyres - I would assume they will be professional in their approach and do the right thing as most tradies do.

I am happy with my run flats and don't see any need to change

Oh ok cool,

When my runflats were removed they chipped the edges of my gloss black wheels, pissed me off, dude said he had been changing tyres for 15 years and they were the hardest he had ever removed, super still and hard

[titium]

Originally Posted by EB89

Oh ok cool,

When my runflats were removed they chipped the edges of my gloss black wheels, pissed me off, dude said he had been changing tyres for 15 years and they were the hardest he had ever removed, super still and hard

that's no excuse. really pisses me off when they damage wheels changing tyres.

still can't believe the original poster got nearly 80k km out of a set of tyres that's awesome mileage!

regarding the s001 in my research the re003 are almost as good in terms of grip but last alot longer. they are what i ended up going with.

[DR-JEKL]

Disregarding the nail damage that tyre is stuffed anyway, check out the amount of wear on the inner tread block!

Perhaps get a proper wheel alignment done also

[PerthBMW]

Originally Posted by DR-JEKL

Disregarding the nail damage that tyre is stuffed anyway, check out the amount of wear on the inner tread block!

Perhaps get a proper wheel alignment done also

Hi

Yes very good advice and have booked it in to have that done also.

[Fundguy1]

Run flats are horrid. If you ever swapped to a good non run flat you'd understand. Softer ride, cheaper, less rotational mass=faster, quieter, just as good traction and wear, better mpg.

[e36mmm]

I hate run flats. I rather a have a wheel and tyre destroyed and get stuck on the road than crapping the hell out of my suspension in longrun with runflat tyres on as they do apply more pressure on the suspension than normal tyres due to the hard sidewalls. It's all marketing gimmicks imho. One thing I loved about rft was the grip in wet and dry. Besides that I think they are rubbish and designed to make you visit the dealer for potential wheel and suspension repairs..

[Fundguy1]

Getting rid of them is my number one mod recommendation. As for above post about grip, they don't grip any better. Maybe they had different model tires. Look at michelin pss if you're above 40F most of the time.

[e36mmm]

Originally Posted by Fundguy1

Getting rid of them is my number one mod recommendation. As for above post about grip, they don't grip any better. Maybe they had different model tires. Look at michelin pss if you're above 40F most of the time.

Well because of the harder sidewalls seems to me that there is less understeer on run flats and that made it feel grippier for me. I don't know about bridgestones but pirelli p zero rfts were really impressive in all weather conditions.. bridgestone rft felt like 2 generations behind the pirelli p zero.

I went from stock bridgestone potenza rft to:
Pirelli P zero rft twice
Michelin PSS non rft once
Continental 5P non rft three times
Falken 453s non rft once..
Bridgestone s001 once
Back to continental 5P until it is time for continental 6!
All within 7 years of ownership and counting..

I can't recommend the conti's enough as they are a perfect mix of all weather street performance. Durable, comfortable road manners, very low tire noise plus the great grip you get in all weather conditions is impressive.. only downside is centre steering reaction and how quick you can wear out the rears.. michelin pss was the worst on rears for longevity as they lasted like 12 months max. Contis would last about 18 months on the rears for those that are wondering..

[e36mmm]

Originally Posted by EB89

Question

If you couldn't drive on your run flat during a puncture why put runflats back on?

Get normal tyres a slime kit and a compressor, at least you can repair them if you get a puncture.

Normal tyres won't feel like shit. Also chances are they are going to chip the paint off your wheels during the removal of the runflats, double that damage if they are putting some back on.

You can do upto 100 or 200 kms on run flats. They do work trust me but just not the best when it comes to matching them with big ass wheels like 19 inch and expecting rolls royce quality on ride comfort i had put rft on the test back in the day and was able to drive 60 kms upto 80 km/h to visit my tyre shop for a new replacement when I destroyed one of the rfts with a nail. Getting from A to B while having a destroyed tyre is a luxury you pay for. Also had a moment where i had a nail in my rft tyre and was able to repair the tyre despite 90% of people saying you can not repair them. Reality is, if you catch the damage early and can visit a tyre shop asap, you can save a rft. Main reason i got rid of them is ride comfort. I remember how much I was smiling with non rft tyres as the car felt so much smoother over any suface I drove on.

[Fundguy1]

Originally Posted by e36mmm

Well because of the harder sidewalls seems to me that there is less understeer on run flats and that made it feel grippier for me. I don't know about bridgestones but pirelli p zero rfts were really impressive in all weather conditions.. bridgestone rft felt like 2 generations behind the pirelli p zero.

I went from stock bridgestone potenza rft to:
Pirelli P zero rft twice
Michelin PSS non rft once
Continental 5P non rft three times
Falken 453s non rft once..
Bridgestone s001 once
Back to continental 5P until it is time for continental 6!
All within 7 years of ownership and counting..

I can't recommend the conti's enough as they are a perfect mix of all weather street performance. Durable, comfortable road manners, very low tire noise plus the great grip you get in all weather conditions is impressive.. only downside is centre steering reaction and how quick you can wear out the rears.. michelin pss was the worst on rears for longevity as they lasted like 12 months max. Contis would last about 18 months on the rears for those that are wondering..

And i can't remember one person who switched who regretted it. Your tires though. I've had 3 sets of pss, one conti dw, one conti dws, and 6 other sets. The pss had twice the life of the dw and dws but they were in a different category of max performance summer. Dw and DWS didnt last 10k miles on my car. Maybe the Pilot A/S3. I have them on my Ford Focus beater. Longer wear than contis and great tires.

[Fundguy1]

Originally Posted by e36mmm

You can do upto 100 or 200 kms on run flats. They do work trust me but just not the best when it comes to matching them with big ass wheels like 19 inch and expecting rolls royce quality on ride comfort i had put rft on the test back in the day and was able to drive 60 kms upto 80 km/h to visit my tyre shop for a new replacement when I destroyed one of the rfts with a nail. Getting from A to B while having a destroyed tyre is a luxury you pay for. Also had a moment where i had a nail in my rft tyre and was able to repair the tyre despite 90% of people saying you can not repair them. Reality is, if you catch the damage early and can visit a tyre shop asap, you can save a rft. Main reason i got rid of them is ride comfort. I remember how much I was smiling with non rft tyres as the car felt so much smoother over any suface I drove on.

My bridgestone oem rft lasted 8 miles at 10 mph. Then I towed. Depends on the failure. Puncture you're ok. Anything else is a tow.

[e36mmm]

Originally Posted by Fundguy1

My bridgestone oem rft lasted 8 miles at 10 mph. Then I towed. Depends on the failure. Puncture you're ok. Anything else is a tow.

Thanks for clarifying.

[Grohouse]

If anyone wants decent reviews of tyres before they buy have a look at tyre reviews UK - The Bridgestone S001 is overall a great tyre, http://www.tyrereviews.co.uk/Tyre/Br...tenza-S001.htm.

The site provides benchmark test scores and real customer feedback (which can sometimes contradict test verdicts).

[Fundguy1]

I like the tire rack reviews too. They have each tire scored for each category and do road tests with videos using identical 328 coupes.

[MJ80.]

Runflats have exceptional initial turn in due to that stiffness and profile. Its all worse after that though lol.