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Pot holes.

2K views 3 replies 4 participants last post by  ihughes 
#1 ·
Hi all this is my first post,so sorry if i am going over old ground. I have a mini cooper d running on 205 (cheap fitted by garage) runflat tyres , and i coming to my witts end with ride quality on my local roads, recently having to have my alloy repaired due to pot hole (tyre man baffled because he thought the stiffness of the side wall would have protected the rim ). Thinking of buying 15 inch alloys with standard tyres and a space saver(gutted 17 inch look good) What do you think.

Thanks.
 
#2 ·
Are you running tyre pressures below the recommended level to try to improve ride comfort? That would explain the alloy damage since a tyre with lower pressure won't prevent the rim from bottoming out on the edge of the pothole (often damaging the tyre sidewall at the same time).

Lots of folk say moving to non-runflats makes a dramatic improvement on 17" wheels. You would then need a tyre pump and tyre goo to deal with any punctures.
 
#3 ·
Well Ive had an alloy ruined because of a pothole, it distorted the inner rim by approximately 25mm causing tyre deflation, the inner rim is where theres least support from the webs in the casting, cost me £340 for a new wheel.

I didnt want it repaired as I didnt feel I could trust it once it had been bent and then straightened back as the alloy tends to fatigue once worked, also it wasnt recommended you try by the tyre people either.

No reason why you can carry a space saver spare in the boot as long as youre not worried about the space it takes up
 
#4 ·
As many people will confirm, changing to normal tyres on 17" rims will make a huge difference to the MINI's steering and road holding. Mine used to tramline all over the place with run flats (Pirelli Euphoria's) and I hated it!

Once I changed to non-runflats it was a different car. I'm running standard size Kuhmo Ecsta's on mine which are good value and perform well in the wet but not so good on overall wear rates.....but I don't do a huge annual mileage so they suit my driving and budget.
 
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