I actually think the mini's a lot safer without run-flats most of the time.
When driving down a wet bumpy road, even when reducing speed, you are hanging on for dear life and have to concentrate to keep the car on the road!!, also i had my parants take a ride with me when shopping, (there getting on a bit) and they where practically paralised for days with a bad back.
Was getting so bad on long journeys with the aches and pains, that looked at the new r56 and decied it wasnt for me, (its the light electric steering that i dont like, why do all cars now have this!!) so i had another plan....
Ive now had fitted 4 new continental's and it has basicly removed the harshness of the ride, and enhanced the feel of the steering in a big way.
Normal tyres ride much more smoothly, grip better, dont wear out as fast, repairable, gives much better feedback of whats going on with the tyres, feels so nice on the open road, and to top it off they are far cheaper!! The guys in the garage where i got the tyres fitted told me even the worst normal tyre performs better then the best run-flat -thats there words not mine mind you.
The only drawback is you have to carry this slime with you incase of puncuture and a tyre pump, but i think i could live with that! oh and to some people with no muscles the steering might feel a lot more heavy in town!
As it hapens, my car was not provided with a space saver wheel, and has no space for it in the boot! So, I eventually felt obliged to continue with the runflats. Still the switch to the new Briedgestones has ben a revelation! Either the runflat technology has come on a lot in the last 4 years, or it's just that the Bridgestones are so much better! Not only do I seem to have more grip (not yet experienced in the wet), but the steering is lighter, and the economy has improved by about 8%.....
I totally agree. I thought the same thing when I drove away from Bridgestone. It was a huge difference with the lighter steering, that I had always thought it was as if I had been driving around with two flat front tyres the whole time.
Great thread thanks, just got a MCS with worn Dunlop RFs on the front and was horified at the cost of replacement, so joined the forum to ask the same questions! The rears are like new ,so rather than throw them away I will probably now put them on the front and get a pair of non RFs for the rear (I also agree its bolox to say you cant run different tyres on different axles! Its no problem as long as the tyres on each axle match and are roughly similar in width and diameter to the other axle. Many "Supercars" run different width tyres on the rear to the front.
Very true, Miniac my point was that while its true that different types of tyres will have different grip levels and caracteristics that can effect the handling, this is only evident at the the extream end of the handling envelope and would be quite safe in normal circumstanses.
The same effect can be produced by having exactly the same tyres front and rear, but altering the pressures in them to promote a different characteristic in them. I used to race a FWD car in a series that allowed minimal modifications to suspension geometry and had a one make tyre rule, therfore one of the only ways we had of dialing out the inherent understeer that our cars had was to play with the front / rear tyre pressure ballance.
Therfore as stated earlier in the thread, due to their construction, the non RF tyres are considerd to have more grip than the RF models. So at normal pressures in both front and rear, with the RF on the front you would expect to have predminant understeer at the limit. Nice and safe for the wife to drive
Great site, great thread. My first post, having just registered.
Like Abzz I am about to buy a MINI (cooper convertible, 2005) with shot front tryes (runflats) but the rear tyres are good. Was going to replace the Dunlop 195/55/16 with like for like (just the two), but now am thinking it better to switch the rear fun-flats to the front and get a set of something non-run flat for the back. The car is my Xmas present for my wife (she deserves it for putting up with me for so long), and she'll be mainly driving around with my young daughter. So safety is crucial; more so than cost frankly.
With that in mind, any thoughts anyone would like to share on what I should put on the rear to go with the 195/55/16 run-flats that will be on the front?
Thanks!
Last edited by RedHotChilliPepper; Dec 3rd, 2008 at 06:34 AM.
I'm inclined to agree. I reckon if the car is being driven mainly be your wife with child, the safety and convenience of runflats would be a higher priority than the need for ultimate perfomance and ride of conventional tyres? I don't want to sound sexist, but is your wife the sort of driver who will be driving on the edge, or well within the limits of the car?
I agree with the two posts above - its for your wife and child so safety is a priority - stick with the runflats Yes, they're more expensive, but you can't put a price on safety.
I cant believe all the gayness surrounding runflats. If you are a girl then you have an excuse, if you are a guy then grow some balls.
I used to own a Clio182 for the best part of 3 years that ran Michelin Pilot Exalto tyres. The car was never even built with a spare wheel (as a lot of the renaultsport range are not) and came with a couple of cans of tyre weld.
In those 3 years I had one slow puncture that was repairable a the grand cost of £16. Never a total failure and never was I anxious about having a blow out.
If you choose to run high performance non runflat tyres, you are very unlikely to suffer a blow out as these are premium tyres which are designed to be more reliable than budget non runflats.
I have just ordered a set of 205/40/18 Michelin Pilot Sport 2 tyres today and cannot wait to get rid of the rock hard Dunlop SP001 thats on there at present. The crash and bang when going over some drain covers etc is simply unacceptable for a car such as this. Even the Clio wasnt as bad!
And I must be really gender-confused! I have summer runflats, but conventionals in the winter - I must be doing something wrong (except there's no winter runflat available on a 15" rim, apparently).
here's a question - my wifes car needs new tyres and has the 16" x-lite rims. we will be selling the car in 1 years time so i was thinking it's cheaper to get some aftermarket GP works copies and put them on instead of replacing the tyres ... what you reckon?
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Yes, they're more expensive, but you can't put a price on safety.
