Run flats or Standard.Comfort or Convenience???

[caskin]

I recently began a thread "Mini 2 love or hate "??
Having purchased a new Mini 2 clubman Dec 2008,car build completed Nov 2008,I have in all honesty become less enchanted with my Mini ,which after a great deal of chat with other members seems to boil down to the RUN FLAT tyres that I have fitted.As you can apprecaite very litle give/absorbsion in Run Flats

Spec of vehicle chosen was auto/manual box,fully active steering wheel with gear change paddles,cruise control,traction control,sports pack,chilli pack,specialized interior chrome paint job etc,plus run flat tyres.

Since Dec 2008 we have only covered 1100 miles but our one big disappointment and annoyance is the road noise intrusion plus the bumpy edgy ride (Taking into account the state of our roads!!)We didn't pick it up on the test drive as with all the interior gismos plus different driving experience we were more involved with the esthetic's of the car a opposed to the "Feel"!

Now with the initial new car enthusiasm waning and the more practical side of motoring coming to the fore we find the points mentioned almost intolerable,and have even considered selling.....(our days of booming exhausts,open windows with full bass,plus squealing tyres are long gone!Boring I know,but smooth and peaceful is now the name of the game)

But before actually selling could we gain the comfort and peace by a simple conversion?,we are running on 16inch star blaster Run flats....would we gain the extra comfort required by changing to 15 inch Star spoiler wheels and standard tyres???

Financially which would be the most viable way of carrying out the mod?/

[iain cooper]

I can see where your coming from Caskin, as we find the ride and handling on our cooper leaves a lot to be desired, and I think the runflats do not help. ( 17" flame alloys )

the ride has always been very hard, and twitchy around bends that are not completely smooth.

we have now done over 27,000 mls and I can assure you that as the runflats wear out the problem get's much worse !!

if I keep the car much longer I am considering changing to non runflats as there seems to be a lot of people on the forum that have found a big difference.

I would say that my runflats only have another few thousand miles to go and would need changed anyway, so I am constantly reading all the posts re this topic before I make my decision.

[BigStuff]

Normal tyres on your 16s would make a huge difference imo

[Paul]

I'm with BigStuff.


Never thought I'd "say" that out loud?!

[caskin]

Quote: Originally Posted by iain cooper (original)

I can see where your coming from Caskin, as we find the ride and handling on our cooper leaves a lot to be desired, and I think the runflats do not help. ( 17" flame alloys )

the ride has always been very hard, and twitchy around bends that are not completely smooth.

we have now done over 27,000 mls and I can assure you that as the runflats wear out the problem get's much worse !!

if I keep the car much longer I am considering changing to non runflats as there seems to be a lot of people on the forum that have found a big difference.

I would say that my runflats only have another few thousand miles to go and would need changed anyway, so I am constantly reading all the posts re this topic before I make my decision.

Quote: Originally Posted by BigStuff (original)

Normal tyres on your 16s would make a huge difference imo

Quote: Originally Posted by Paul (original)

I'm with BigStuff.


Never thought I'd "say" that out loud?!

Hi Guys....Well that clinches it,run flats are out! I did think at the time that it was perhaps a bad option as any tyre designed to run flat has to built and braced like a brick toilet!!!
I have had experience where this car has bounced out of line after hitting a rut or pothole making realxing at the steering almost impossible.Plus every little change to the road surface is fed up into the car making for an uncomfortable ride.(You can get a similar action from running low profiles on other vehicles)

Thanks IanCooper for your pos input which mirrors my feelings entirely...my run flats are still as new so I am contemplating a return to my BMW dealer to see if they will swap with a similar vehicle with similar mileage.....on that point is there any difference in clubman/hatch tyre spec?

Would I gain by dropping to 15inch or just stay with my 16 inch???

Any particular tyres coming up better than others??

Once again thanks guys for your input and advice.

[humph]

Caskin. The 1st gen MINI was optimised to run on 16" wheels. I believe the 2nd gen was too.

I agree with Paul and Bigstuff. I have always found that the MINI's I have drived with 15" wheels have too much play in the sidewalls

[BRG/Blk Cooper S]

Yes stick with the 16's, give the Vredestein Sportrac 3's a try, they are at the moment on top of the list of tyres I've ever owned.

I went from 17" S-Spokes and Pirelli run-flats to 16" X-Lites and the tyres mentioned above on my 05 S - changed the car so dramatically it had me cursing myself for not having done it sooner.

It's now just a lovely drive and a very comfortable motorway cruiser.

High performance tyres cared for shouldn't let you down, just keep a bottle of goo and compressor in the boot.
I had more punctures with runflats in 2 years that I've ever experienced with conventional tyres - I now actually think runflats are a product designed as a safety net for those who generally neglect their tyres.......there is nothing high-performance about runflats on any level