The genesis of runflats is (relatively) small cars with big tires. Heck, I could barely fit a deflated full size tire in my Miata. It works for the MCS coupe, but try to fit a 285/35-19 into a Corvette or 911.

The MCS could manage if they altered the exhaust, but the product planners decided we'd rather have dual exhaust and no spare. Given the straight through exhaust and battery placement in the R56, they didn't have enough complaints to change it.

 

Battery placement? What has that got to do with runflats or space for a spare? The battery in the MC is under the bonnet, in front of the passenger.

 

In the R53 MCS the battery box was in the center under the boot, where the spare sits in the Cooper.

 

Okey-dokey. I thought you were talking about the R56. Sorry.

 

I had RFs and still bought a REAL spare. If around town, RFs are not an issue. My wife could get the car home. Take a trip, the real spare goes in the boot.

You have just hit upon a very sore spot with some owners. I don't know if Vettes still use RFs but no Porsche is sold with them today.

Some P-car owners buy Vredesteins made for older 996s at very expensive prices but your point is well taken. There is no room to put the bad wheel/tire, especially with a passenger. I don't even know if they will fit in the little back seats of a 997. It is very annoying and the idea of goop is ... just, IMO, a bad choice for stranded situations or sidewall damage. I just dont understand why they dont put donuts in all cars (MCS included) ... at least give you the option to buy one but the question then becomes ... where do you put that wheel and tire?

 

True, I ususllay get my order from TR the next day, unless DE is out of stock. I agree that it is cheaper to go somewhere besides the dealer, but because of the insurance, I'd rather have MINI do it.

I actually spoke with a rep. from MINI, in Montvale, as well as a Dunlop rep. Both said to replace it, due to sidewall concerns.

 

Actually, I don't drink coffee...no one said that "I was going to die", Dunlop & MINI simply said that the possibility of a blowout was greater on a repaired, and/or driven flat, run flat tire. If you have ever had a high speed blowout, you know that it is not a pleasant experience. Driving on a flat run flat this morning was scary enough...a lot of side to side instability.

It is also worth noting that the tire pressure monitoring system never alerted me to the fact that the right rear tire had zero air in it. It is coincidental that I checked and adjusted all 4 tire's air pressure this morning, before I left the house, and reset the TPS.

Finally, I don't buy the theory that runflats are safer because they allow one to keep driving. If I'm in a "dangerous area", I can call 911, keep driving on the flat, or take my chances and change it. Rural areas, where I drive a lot, are what worries me. Getting a replacement runflat in some small town, let alone finding anyone there with the proper equipment and training to mount and balance it, seems unlikely. My MINI dealer had to get a replacement runflat from another dealer, so tonight, I still have their loaner. If my dealer, who is a very large MINI dealer, was out of stock, I wonder how many other dealers are?

IMHO, the runflat concept is a good idea in theory, but its implementation has been less than stellar, and not quite ready for prime time.

 

Just butting in to reiterate this point. A small (?) portion of the difference in ride that you felt could have been due to the difference in wheel size.

Runflats are also a lot heavier than the same size non-runflats, and it's unsprung weight, so even worse.

 

Well, my .o2 is... I like my runflats. I think it is cool technology.
OK so I approaching 5 decades old in 24 months....when I started driving I had a '68 289 Mustang with recap tires. You want to talk technology and handling? Have you ever had a recap fly loose at 75 MPH on I85? Yes I have...it is an experience....Back in the day, so they say, when I had my 1974 MG Midget I ran Michelin 70 series 175/70's (very narrow and tall) tires taken off cars from the junk yard

I am a gadget freak and I love German cars that ride hard and handle like a rocket. I always thought the runflat tire concept was just plain cool. I sold my 4th - in - a - row Mercedes sedan with Michelin's best on it to buy my MINI...and I LOVE the ride...even across the concrete expansion joints on the way to work at 80 MPH..they stick and they rock...the Dunlops I have are a dream in the rain... The heck with ride....I love my runflats and the coolness factor...just my .02, everyone is at a different point in their life.

 

I have the Pirelli's on mine and have been pretty happy with them. I am getting close to replacing them though and can't decide RF or not...Whats the diff in the Pirelli RFs and the Dunlop Rfs that I always hear the complaints about...PS: I did have one repaired after a nail.

 

Coffeeman, one thing to consider is that your loaner, a standard MC doesn't have the packages your fully loaded MCS has and those tires work well with it IMO as I have the same set up and actually had a loaner MC for 6 full days and I can tell you this, that softer ride and quiet take away from the driving experience IMO. Now if you really don't care as much about handling and such, by all means, get the non-runflats


BTW your car is still awesome

 

Took my worn out runflats to my tirerack installer (who is also my Saab shop) to have the new Goodyear real tires put on the rims a few days ago . . . it was like graduation day for my MINI. Now its a real car! Real world responsibilities. Old and wise and capable enought to handle a flat tire. But hey, how about a run flat battery. Batteries have standed me a lot more often then tires! Play music all day at the park, the tires don't go flat.

I do sympathize with the technology rush . . . it is great to be on the new wave even if it happens to be a shore break.

 

Klasse, thanks for the compliment ! I wasn't passing judgement on the ride, but only commenting on the difference. I like the ride quality of my MCS, but the run flats are a little too noisy for my taste.

My loaner also has automatic trans....my left foot keeps trying to find the clutch!

 

I was doing the same thing, talk about being disconnected to the road and to the world for that matter

 

It is certainly possible to get performance non-runflats that are excellent at handling. A blanket statement that non-runflats = worse handling just isn't true.

 

My mini mcs has the 17" 205/45 run flats. The idea of a REAL spare tire interests me. Is there a cheap rim that you can get to mount a REAL SPARE ON for use on long trips. Any ideas. I agree that RF is a flawed non practical concept. I also do not like donut spares as they are just as useless and mileage restricted. I do not feel that a defective tire should be driven on at all even if it is a run flat.

 

I just got off the phone with Discount Tires in Tucson Az where my mini lives. I asked questions about run flats and there experiences with them. I got the following points answered:
1. I asked about emergency full size spare info.. Basically any 17" 7" wide rim that fits the cooper will do.
2. I asked about run flat capabilities from their experience. They tell me that a run flat should be good for 200 miles at 60 miles an hour even with a quarter sized hole in the sidewall.
3. Asked about use of non run flats on MCS and Discount Tires position is that you should stay with run flats as "that is what the car was designed to run on".
SO the debate over rf vs non rf continues. But, I trust the recommendations of Discount Tires over MIni any day

 

Ok, just for grins and giggles.
1) What's the offset. The lug pattern on the 07's are kinda unique, so if it fits that, it prolly has a 3 wing stamp on it.
2) I kinda agree. I think I would rotate it to the back axle....better to chunk a shoe there than on a steering tire.
3) By that logic we know that it can run on 15" non runflats, too.
The guy at Discount...was he an Engineer or an MBA?
The debate continues.

 

I just came out of an '04 545i and switched out the 18" oem rims with RF for aftermarket 19" rims on regular tires 2 years ago. When I switched back to the OEM 18" with RF just before I turned in the car it was noticeable how much harsher the ride was on the RFs.

This past week in the 10 mile trip up the 5 freeway here in SoCA I saw 3 cars with flat tires. All were lucky as they were rear tires and the tire was completely shredded with essentially just the rim and a few inches of sidewall left.
If that had been a front tire it may have been a different story and ended up with a damage car due to loss of control.

My MCS has 16" RFs and rides like they are indeed solid rubber. It is a shame as the concept and safety of the RF is great as well as the extra space of no spare but you would have thought they could have tuned the suspension better to account for the lack of complaince in the RF sidewalls.

 

So, if those people had endured the harshness of runflats, they would still be SOL, and not able to run flat. They needed runshredded tires.

 

My MCS maintenance manual says that roadside assistance covers flat tires.

Chows4us, You're probably the most experienced in these matters of those of us who have posted here. Question: Over the years that you've been involved have there been any reports of people with flat runflat tires taking advantage of roadside assistance? Actually, I'm wondering if they repair the tire for you, tow you to your place of choice (as long as it's less distance than to the nearest MINI dealer) or do they just tow you to the nearest MINI dealer (which may be very far away - an expensive tow).

In any case, if I had to drive a long way on a runflat (not unlikely here in the Southwest) I'd replace the tire. But if roadside assistance was willing to flatbed my car to the nearest tire repair shop and the damage was somewhere in the tread and not around the sidewall I would definitely have that tire repaired.

And, for what it's worth, with today's CYA environment, you can bet that Discount Tires would not repair runflats if tire manufacturers stated that those repairs should not be done.

 

Just for information (and I don't want to hijack this interesting thread), Roadside Assistance is great even if you're out of warranty. A couple of times I've been stranded on the side of the road in older BMWs, and they arranged tows even though they knew the warranty period was long over. Worth a call no matter what the circumstances!

Ok, on to the runflats debate...

 

See these threads

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...ad.php?t=64565
https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...d.php?p=913847

Roadside assistance will come get you ... eventually. They will tow you to the nearest dealer. I dont know if they will patch the tire ... dont even think AAA will do that. They will mount a spare (at least AAA does)

If your in the desert southwest, not fun and there any many places with NO cell service.

I can tell you from personal experience I once got a blowout driving from Laughlin to Vegas outside of searchlight (not a MINI). Tire destroyed. NO cell service. I ended up hiking to Searchlight (not fun) ... and waiting FIVE hours for AAA to come out out Kingman (tire wrapped around the axle!).

First thing I bought for the MINI, despite having RFs, was a REAL spare (no donut). If we took a long trip, I got a tire bag from the "bag lady" ... http://www.njbaglady.com/ In fact, you can see the bag she made for me here 4th pic down on the left, CR/W with checkers! She is very nice.

Theres another thread but you need a logon to read

I view RFs as fine around town, close to home. But not if your in the boonies

 

I'm really interested in this subject too, because I think the runflats definitely don't handle as well as some regular tires. Also at $265 a piece from tire rack is just too much money with the way I drive.

Here are some options I'm considering:

http://new.minimania.com/web/Item/NM.../InvDetail.cfm

or:

http://new.minimania.com/web/AddedFr.../InvDetail.cfm

Just wondering what the thoughts are??? I'd get the donut if I had a way to mount it in the boot area without it rolling around constantly. That seems to be the best option. But the pump/goo is light and compact. I've never used the pump/goo combo and I was wondering if it's good for most flats. Obviously blowouts you'd want to have the donut..

 

I LOVE my runflats. These new GY Excellence RunOnFlat tires ride smoother than those old Dunlops. So until or if I ever get screwed by runflats I'll stick with 'em.

....Les