[dietcokeplease]

OK, I admit, too much reading this week even for a philistine like Mr DC! This article was taken from Steve Cropleys column in Autocar, 18th September 2002.

FRIDAY

"Our man Gavin Conway tells a rueful tale of testing Audi's A8 luxury car in Barcelona. Driving through the city with a colleague, he suddenley noticed the tyre pressure warning system - one of the car's numerous refinements - flashing its head off. He stopped to investigate, discovering a deflating tyre and set about changing it, removing his luggage from the boot to get to the underfloor spare. Suddenly he was surrounded by local citizens, all talking and pointing and creating a disturbance.

By the time the hubbub had died away Conway realised they'd helped themselves to the best-looking pieces of luggage, both of which were his - containing passport, address book, and lots of other personal stuff. His colleagues less imposing travelware wasn't touched.

At the destination, Audi's people were issuing warnings: don't stop if you get a flat tyre. Seems local thieves target tourists in ritzmobiles. No better case was ever made for the run-flat tyre."

Moral of the story, drive a MINI with runflats and put your belongings in a binbag.

[AidenL]

The good suitcases always get targeted at airports too....

[NEMINI]

Moral: Use your brain and keep an eye on your stuff

[Damo]

I thought that car would of had bloody run flats, tut tut!

[12000rpm]

alright guys!

just a small question for ya relating to the run flats... i've got a puncture on the drivers rear and the bmw dealers said its not possible to fix, so i've temporarily used one of those tyre fixing canisters from halfords (sorry can't remember wot their called) and its kinda sorted out the problem... though the tyre pressure light still comes on (but not as often as b4)...

so to the main point now... is the run flat replacable with any tyre that is of the same measurement or does it have to be replaced with another "run-flat tyre"?

sorry i'm not sure how it works u see

cheers thx

[Donut]

Strange. That's the second time I've heard of someone's car being robbed in Barcelona. I've been there several times and have never had a problem...but I guess that's off topic.

[rich]

I'd still rather have normal tyres & a spare wheel

[BruceK]

Quote:

Originally posted by rich
I'd still rather have normal tyres & a spare wheel

But where would you store it? Give up the rear seat area and store the spare tire there?

[rich]

Quote:

Originally posted by BruceK

But where would you store it? Give up the rear seat area and store the spare tire there?

I was meaning I'd rather they had designed the car with a normal spare wheel to start with, not to put one in the boot

[cooper4us]

I am not 100% convinced about the effectiveness of the runflats tires. The greatest benefit I see to get them is for female driver's safety when faced with a flat tire in an unfamiliar or questionnable area as they can drive to their nearest gas station or even make it home.

Otherwise they seem to be very expensive to replace and a pain to patch and repair if so required.

We almost went for the 16" runflats when ordering the Cooper (I really dig the 16" 5 star wheels) but after going over the pros and cons of having the runflats, we decided to stick with the standard 15" Continental tires (Cheaper tires to replace) and at least we get a spare tire mounted under the boot area of the car. We also figured that since MINI includes free roadside assistance for 3 or 4 years, we would be better off pocketing the $550 extra for the 16" runflats in the long run.

But is nice that MINI gives it buyers such choices.

[mini-is-4-me]

You can't visually see that your tires are low in pressure. The tire does not visually show a low tire as well. I measured a tire at 15-18 psi and I could barely tell.

[deej]

Those Runflats are the dogs danglys ive experienced one on a runway with no air in it and let go off the steering wheel and the car didnt deviate whatso ever
also there was no damage to the alloy wheel even though it had been used like that for about 2 weeks for demonstration purposes

which was nice

besides who wants to stop and get their hands dirty

[HarryHBMCC]

Regular tires may look flat when devoid of air but you can't tell just by looking at them if they are low. Only a tire guage can tell for sure.

The pressure sensor is there to tell you when your runflats are low.

Harry

[Damo]

Everyone keeps going on about the price and forgetting about the added safety. If you have a blow out with a normal tyre all hell lets loose, surely with a run flat you can;t have a blow out!

Besides I was quoted £105 for a Pirelli Euforia Runflat so I'm happy

[goldmbr]

Damo-I'm with you. The added safety is worth any downfalls to owning runflats. Here in the US, no one pays attention to their driving. I do not want to be stranded on the side of the highway changing a flat tire. I would rather change it when it is more convenient/safer. The ride may be firmer, but in the end it is worth it to me. Now I just have to wait for my MCS to arrive. But I have driven a car with runflats, my brothers Mustang Cobra. He bought runflats so he would never be stranded on the side of the road with a flat tire.

[HarryHBMCC]

I hear about people getting killed now and then, run over while changing a flat at the side of the road, so I feel better with runflats. Losing your luggage is one thing but losing your life...

Harry

[phong13]

From what I know, the run-flats are NOT repairable. Anytime you get a flat, you will be out $250 for a replacement. The idea that you can still drive it to a local gas station if you ever get a flat is pretty cool, but what if you are in the middle of nowhere or it's really late at night. I would highly doubt that a local gas station would stock a run-flat in your size or even be open that late. Now you have no spare to continue on your way to make your way to a larger city or home, because the run-flats have a limited range.

That's my $0.02 worth.

[HarryHBMCC]

250km (150 miles) is pretty decent range, 3 times longer than a donut spare is supposed to take you and try finding the MINI's 175/65R15 size at a gas station! At worst this range will get you to a place of lodging where you can call a tow-truck to flat-bed your MINI to a place which sells runflats. Some of the runflats are pluggable too (Goodyears at least, http://www.goodyear.com.jm/auto/abou...echnology.html).

AND, 150 miles is just the suggested maximum range. The tire won't immediately expire at that point. Those donut spares supposedly have only a 50 mile range but some people drive on them for weeks before fixing the regular tire. Driving on them longer may mean they can't be repaired though.

Harry