No Spare Wheel On Many New Cars

shaun_from_Africa

My car has a spare (spacesaver) but I still carry a bottle of tyreweld.

On the 2 occasions that I've had a flat, I have used the spare, but if for example I was to have a puncture on a busy motorway when there was poor visibility or it was raining fairly hard, I wouldn't hesitate to use the tyreweld to enable me to get off the motorway as quickly & safely as possible.

albionrovers

Can anyone tell me how many miles runflats are good for?

neilmcl

BMW recommend 100 miles at no more than 50mph. Realistically if you had a compressor in the car you could extend this a somewhat.

Iceweasel

Not only do I carry a spacesaver, I have the aerosol 'tyreweld' can and a Conti Mobility Kit with a bottle of latex 'goo' as well.

The Conti inflator/compresssor is the best I've ever seen - small and in it's own integral box it's lightweight and pretty fast.

It's like this one:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Continental-Tyre-Conti-Mobility-Kit-NEW-/231163974648?pt=UK_Cars_Tyres_RL&hash=item35d27253f8

There are always a few on eBay as it seems lots of folks are buying a spare wheel and then selling the mobility kit that came with the car.

I have run-flats on my car and like the idea that Mrs Iceweasel doesn't have to be involved with wheel-changing at all.

Some folks complain that run-flats are noisy and bumpy compared to normal tyres but I think that only applied to the earlier 1st generation ones.

neilmcl - where did you get the info that BMW say 100 miles at 50mph?

AFAIK the tyre manufacturers say 80km at 80kph which is 50miles at 50mph. My BMW handbook confirms this.

But you are right in that it's possible to extend that. I had a slow puncture in a run-flat on holiday in Austria and I left the nail in the tyre and just blew it up a bit every couple of days until I could find a dealer with the correct tyre in stock and have it fitted at a time convenient to me.

Run-flat tyres are not a normal stock item - so almost all the dealers said "It'll be here tomorrow or the next day" which didn't suit me on a touring holiday.

Something not mentioned yet is the 'self sealing tyre' which has a layer of sticky 'stuff' on the inside to repair itself.

How common are they - anyone any experience of them?

albionrovers

I just read an article from a Mercedes view point.
They mention runflats as the way forward espec in A- and B-Class models "because they will be popular with the women folk".

Can't see my missus getting down n dirty at the road side with the aerosol 'tyreweld' can and a Conti Mobility Kit with a bottle of latex 'goo' as well. Neither can Merc by the sounds of things.

force_ten

they did a totally unscientific test on fifth gear with run flat tyres

where they had a car on run flats and they put it around the track to set a time, then they let all four tyres down and put the car around the track again and it set a time 16 seconds slower but got around without to many dramas

after setting a lap time they ran them on the track again with four flat tyres and the car was taken up to 100mph and the driver said it was very well behaved and didnt feel like it was running on four flat tyres

now for me if they can run at 100mph without to many dramas i would happily sit at 50mph on a runflat

neilmcl

Iceweasel wrote: »

neilmcl - where did you get the info that BMW say 100 miles at 50mph?

AFAIK the tyre manufacturers say 80km at 80kph which is 50miles at 50mph. My BMW handbook confirms this.

From this - http://www.bmw.com/com/en/insights/technology/technology_guide/articles/run_flat_tyres.html it does way 150km at 80 kmph, so 93 miles if you want to be more accurate.

neilmcl

albionrovers wrote: »

I just read an article from a Mercedes view point.
They mention runflats as the way forward espec in A- and B-Class models "because they will be popular with the women folk".

Can't see my missus getting down n dirty at the road side with the aerosol 'tyreweld' can and a Conti Mobility Kit with a bottle of latex 'goo' as well. Neither can Merc by the sounds of things.

But then if your missus wouldn't do that would your really have expected her to "get down n dirty at the road side" changing a wheel.

force_ten

albionrovers wrote: »

I just read an article from a Mercedes view point.
They mention runflats as the way forward espec in A- and B-Class models "because they will be popular with the women folk".

Can't see my missus getting down n dirty at the road side with the aerosol 'tyreweld' can and a Conti Mobility Kit with a bottle of latex 'goo' as well. Neither can Merc by the sounds of things.

the big problem with runflats is they are still to expensive and some run £30.00 to £40.00 more expensive than their non run flat stable mates

now for some that will be a big stumbling block

I think if the car has no spare or space saver then it should have run flats

Iceweasel

neilmcl wrote: »

From this - http://www.bmw.com/com/en/insights/technology/technology_guide/articles/run_flat_tyres.html it does way 150km at 80 kmph, so 93 miles if you want to be more accurate.

Thankyou very much for that link Neil - this is revised information in the last few months I would think.

Good to know, but a bit confusing because of this:

http://www.continental-tyres.co.uk/www/tyres_uk_en/themes/extended_mobility/ssr_runflat_en.html