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Flattyre gets you nowhere
I have a BMW 320d Tourer with runflat tyres. Has any reputable motoring magazine done a pros and cons article on these tyres. I would like to know please. Not ever having had a car with no spare wheel before, this concept is a worry. I am told that if I get a puncture I can run the tyre for 150 miles at 50mph before replacing it with a new tyre. According to Etyres, Michelin can be repaired just once, all other makes have to be replaced, but one notable tyre replacement depot says that as long as the sidewalls appear undamaged, other makes can also be repaired. Is this correct? My present strategy is to carry with me an aerosol tube of Car Plan RunFlat and a tyre inflator and then reset the car computer. Hopefully this treatment will save the tyre so it can be repaired, as long as there is no apparent damage to the sidewalls.
Asked on 25 April 2009 by
Answered by
Honest John
Yes I did a full test of runflats at the Bridgestone test facility near
Rome, exploding them, running on the roads with no air in two tyres,
running on different test surfaces, the lot. I haven't done a tyre life test because that would have taken too much of my life. A partially deflated runflat where the puncture is in the tread can usually be repaired. If the tyre has ever been run completely flat it cannot be repaired because damage may have occurred to the strengthened sidewalls and shoulders. If you fill any tyre with tyreseal foam it damages the structure making the tyre unrepairable. Having had to replace a blown offside rear on a narrow hard shoulder on the M3 in the rain with my back only 18” from passing trucks (even after having called out police protection) I am in favour of any tyres that cannot blow out and can get you to a safe destination after losing pressure.
Rome, exploding them, running on the roads with no air in two tyres,
running on different test surfaces, the lot. I haven't done a tyre life test because that would have taken too much of my life. A partially deflated runflat where the puncture is in the tread can usually be repaired. If the tyre has ever been run completely flat it cannot be repaired because damage may have occurred to the strengthened sidewalls and shoulders. If you fill any tyre with tyreseal foam it damages the structure making the tyre unrepairable. Having had to replace a blown offside rear on a narrow hard shoulder on the M3 in the rain with my back only 18” from passing trucks (even after having called out police protection) I am in favour of any tyres that cannot blow out and can get you to a safe destination after losing pressure.
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