[turboblue]

I appreciate we probably need another run-flat thread like a hole in the head, but wondered whether anyone else has had much experience of actually getting a puncture on one…? Happened to me on Sunday when the returning from a dinner out with friends the car emitted the bong-of-expense along with the tyre pressure warning light.

Obviously I assumed it was probably the warning light playing up or something, but even as I stated cursing the errant electrons, it occurred to me that whatever was up, I could still keep on driving home and not have to pull over and start arsing around with wheel changing kits in the drizzle while a car full of passengers looked on.

Main concern was trying to remember if the maximum speed you are supposed to do on these was 50mph or 60mph when a tyre is possibly deflated…?

Finally got around to changing the wheels this morning for the winter set and found that err yes, it really was a puncture…



A big old screw embedded in the tyre there. Fortunately it is a pretty worn tyre and it will need replacing soon anyway – so not a big loss.

Then it occurs to me that I have driven over 30 miles on that, and to be honest, couldn’t really tell much of a difference. At 60mph, the car feels completely stable and didn’t pull to one side or anything – quite amazed by how unaffected the car was.

I know we are all supposed to hate run-flats, because of the cost, shorter service life and ride etc, but having had the “full” use of one now, thought I would stick my head above the parapet and write something nice about them for once.

Anyway, the winters are now on, and I have to hope this is my puncture for the year because those aren’t run-flat…

Which gives rise to my final observation, the ride quality on my car isn’t much different whichever tyre is fitted. Admittedly I only have dinky 17”wheels, which probably helps, but the tales I have read on here about night and day transformation don’t happen on my car.

I do recall driving an earlier (08) pre-LCI model with the same wheels / suspension /tyre combination and that was pretty brutal over the bumps. I suspect they do keep tweaking the suspension, but the later cars definitely seem to ride a lot better.

Anyway, next spring I have to buy a new RFT – and I will be cruelly reminded how much they cost – at which point I am sure my new found enthusiasm for this technology will promptly disappear…

[Danny.B.]

I like the RFT too, not got a problem with the rite with them at all!

[swanseahammer]

Same here: very much in favour of RFTs. Again, like the OP, I have 17" wheels. However, I do think it depends on the tyre. I absolutely hated the Contis which the car came with, Nokians very good as were the Pirelli P Zeros until I got a puncture in one on the shoulder less than 500 miles after having it fitted.

[EddieL]

Not sure I can trust your opinion of not noticing the difference between RFT summers and non-RFT winters when you can't tell the difference between inflated and flat.

Seriously though, I'm now on non-RFT winters and noticed a difference when I drove off on them but you quickly become used to what you drive and the runflats become a distant memory.

I've yet to get round to buying some puncture 'Slime' so might regret not having the RFTs if the worse does happen. Price aside I think I favour the laziness the RFTs allow you if you do puncture.

[m1bjr]

Its not the diameter that makes a difference to ride, so much as the profile of the tyre (height over rim)

[Kerr]

Originally Posted by m1bjr

Its not the diameter that makes a difference to ride, so much as the profile of the tyre (height over rim)

I've always wondered how much difference between a run flat and a normal tyre when you are as low as a 30 or 35 profile tyre.

Having run 35 profile normal tyres on a previous car after upgrading wheels it was very harsh compared to previous wheels.

On normal roads I would not say my 19 run flats are any worse at all. It's only with sizeable bumps that they do get coarse.

I don't think the ride is anywhere near as bad as others suggest.

[cr55]

I have been running on a punctured rft for several thousand miles now, front near side,,,, obviously extremely lazy and no doubt extremely stupid, but hey-go so far none the worse for wear, and neither is the tyre!! During this time i have at times been upto "maximum" speed limit,, and have to say if it wasn't for the dash warning light you would never know, seriously,,
I have filled it with tyre weld once or twice and it stays up for a while,, but credit where credits due!!!
Are rft puncture's repairable as normal tyres are ??
For note, these are on 19" 313 alloys,, and I have only put them back on a couple of weeks ago having had CSL'S reps on for a couple of months.
CSL'S are fitted with Nangkang cheapo's and have to say, even with punctured rft they area lot quieter than the non rft nangkangs ,,
Take from all of that what you want !!

[mowflow]

I had a puncture on a rft on a 1 series. It made a noise like flip flop and felt quite wobbly anywhere after 40mph. I later found out the puncture was caused by a bent alloy so the flip flop and wobble may have had more to do with that.

I never noticed much difference between rft and non rft on my e90 on 18" wheels.

[225_AB]

Hated the ride on my 19" RFT's, huge transformation on non RFT's.

cr55 I presume that you are running on a repaired RFT, no one would be stupid enough to keep driving thousands of miles on a punctured RFT when they were aware of the problem. But then I read on and it appears that you are, if so are you mad?

[wayne71]

Swapped last week from Michelin PS RFT to Non RFT winter Falkens (both 18's). Can't honestly say I've noticed much of a difference in ride quality (certainly not the day and night difference some have quoted) but it was 1.5 degrees driving home yesterday morning, did a spot of hooning and was amazed the traction control light did not flash.

Now the Michelins rears were approaching the legal limit but I have noticed a massive improvement in traction during damp weather this last week when in the main its probably been between 8 and 12 degrees.

[mowflow]

Originally Posted by cr55

I have been running on a punctured rft for several thousand miles now, front near side,,,, obviously extremely lazy and no doubt extremely stupid, but hey-go so far none the worse for wear, and neither is the tyre!! During this time i have at times been upto "maximum" speed limit,, and have to say if it wasn't for the dash warning light you would never know, seriously,,
I have filled it with tyre weld once or twice and it stays up for a while,, but credit where credits due!!!
Are rft puncture's repairable as normal tyres are ??
For note, these are on 19" 313 alloys,, and I have only put them back on a couple of weeks ago having had CSL'S reps on for a couple of months.
CSL'S are fitted with Nangkang cheapo's and have to say, even with punctured rft they area lot quieter than the non rft nangkangs ,,
Take from all of that what you want !!

Supposedly yes, but no tyre is repairable after you've pumped several cans of tyre weld into it. When you finally do get round to getting the tyre replaced you better tell the tyre fitter you've used this stuff as they generally don't like it.

[AlanYoro35i]

Originally Posted by cr55

I have been running on a punctured rft for several thousand miles now, front near side,,,, obviously extremely lazy and no doubt extremely stupid, but hey-go so far none the worse for wear, and neither is the tyre!! During this time i have at times been upto "maximum" speed limit,, and have to say if it wasn't for the dash warning light you would never know, seriously,,
I have filled it with tyre weld once or twice and it stays up for a while,, but credit where credits due!!!
Are rft puncture's repairable as normal tyres are ??
For note, these are on 19" 313 alloys,, and I have only put them back on a couple of weeks ago having had CSL'S reps on for a couple of months.
CSL'S are fitted with Nangkang cheapo's and have to say, even with punctured rft they area lot quieter than the non rft nangkangs ,,
Take from all of that what you want !!

hopefully your wheels arent buckled or cracked

[parapaul]

Sorry, had to quote this:

Originally Posted by turboblue

... the car emitted the bong-of-expense...

Brilliant!

[Anneka @ Sytner]

Not a fan of the ride but had a MINI to take from Chigwell to Reading for BMW Bootcamp a while back and the steering seemed slightly off when I set off in the morning (just put it down to KDS as it didn't seem to bad and I couldn't see any punctures).
It's a long way (circa 75 miles), I was edging close to being late so naturally I was driving carefully and not being aggressive at all.

I got all the way to Reading and was driving along slow country roads, about 5 minutes in to that I heard a whooping noise coming from the rear of the car, the steering was still good though and the tyre pressure warning light hadn't displayed!!
It wasn't easy to spot that the wheel was flat it looked near perfect from the outside, it was only when the wheel came off that I could see where the puncture was, literally a hole in the tyre accompanied by a 1.5 inch gash, the tyre had literally shreaded in that area. Overall, well impressed that it didn't fall apart on the motorway and that I made it to Reading alive.

[HighlandPete]

Originally Posted by Anneka @ Sytner

Not a fan of the ride but had a MINI to take from Chigwell to Reading for BMW Bootcamp a while back and the steering seemed slightly off when I set off in the morning (just put it down to KDS as it didn't seem to bad and I couldn't see any punctures).
It's a long way (circa 75 miles), I was edging close to being late so naturally I was driving carefully and not being aggressive at all.

I got all the way to Reading and was driving along slow country roads, about 5 minutes in to that I heard a whooping noise coming from the rear of the car, the steering was still good though and the tyre pressure warning light hadn't displayed!!
It wasn't easy to spot that the wheel was flat it looked near perfect from the outside, it was only when the wheel came off that I could see where the puncture was, literally a hole in the tyre accompanied by a 1.5 inch gash, the tyre had literally shreaded in that area. Overall, well impressed that it didn't fall apart on the motorway and that I made it to Reading alive.

Understand what you are saying, but had they been conventional tyres you'd have known of the puncture, and likely not even have driven the car... so what is the greatest risk...? But why no warning?????

In my view, RFT technology is a two edged sword, fine if it is all textbook, but open to abuse more easily than normal tyres.

Plus the idea many have, that the car will tell you when you need to add air to the tyres....

HighlandPete

[kaishang]

I like RFTs (maybe not as much as a full sized spare).

I like that it almost eliminates the risk of a sudden blowout.

[Anneka @ Sytner]

I can't make my mind up whether to be grateful for that runflat or not tbh; the tyre got me to Reading safely, but the tyre pressure warning light failure kept me in the dark about the flat!
One thing is for sure I now know first hand how well runflats run flat. With a conventional tyre, I would have been flat on the motorway, waiting by the side of the road for recovery/tyre fitter to turn up (not my favourite place to be). With runflats, at least there's always the possibility of getting somewhere else.

[kaishang]

Anneka - you think the tyre was flat prior to your departure; then in addition to that you lost part of the tyre during the journey, is that correct?

[m1bjr]

Originally Posted by Anneka @ Sytner

Not a fan of the ride but had a MINI to take from Chigwell to Reading for BMW Bootcamp a while back and the steering seemed slightly off when I set off in the morning (just put it down to KDS as it didn't seem to bad and I couldn't see any punctures).
It's a long way (circa 75 miles), I was edging close to being late so naturally I was driving carefully and not being aggressive at all.

I got all the way to Reading and was driving along slow country roads, about 5 minutes in to that I heard a whooping noise coming from the rear of the car, the steering was still good though and the tyre pressure warning light hadn't displayed!!
It wasn't easy to spot that the wheel was flat it looked near perfect from the outside, it was only when the wheel came off that I could see where the puncture was, literally a hole in the tyre accompanied by a 1.5 inch gash, the tyre had literally shreaded in that area. Overall, well impressed that it didn't fall apart on the motorway and that I made it to Reading alive.

And this could be added to the scremongers in the other thread.

The one where you will die or spin off into the scenery if you fit newer tyres to the front of your car.