I have to agree with DnepreDave. I was extremely disappointed after virtually giving my brand new OEM Continental runflats away and replacing them with non-runflat Yoko ENVigors. Based on what I had read here, I was expecting a big improvement in ride quality. Didn't happen. There's very little difference and the Contis were better in heavy rain than the Yokos have proven to be, probably due to having wider grooves. I am running cold pressures of 35 psi front, 32 rear with the Yokos in order to acheive even tire temps. Lower pressures (say, 31/28) improve the ride quality quite a bit, but result in shoulder temps 10-15 degrees F above the center which will obviously greatly reduce useful tire life.

This was a painfully expensive lesson.

So, the advice should now be if you have Conti runflats, wait 'til they wear out before replacement. I assume that the "old" advice still applies to "other" runflats that do seriously compromise ride.

DOC

 

I've got the Conti RF's still and I'm looking forward to ditching them, but not until they wear out. Too expensive for me to just toss. BTW are you running 17" or 18" rims? That might affect the ride difference. I would think 18" RFs ti 18" conventional tires would not show much of a difference in ride quality. Not much rubber on the road no matter how you look at it

 

I've got the Continential All Season Run-Flats and I don't think they are too bad also, but I'm stil planning on getting non run-flats when they are worn out.

 

I wish people on this site would get into the habit of filling out their car info in their signatures. It's standard on other vehicle sites I participate in. It really helps when trying to figure various things out.

The OEM Conti runflats were the same size as my current Yokos. I would agree that, at least theoretically, the difference between the ride quality of runflat vs. NRF, everything else being the same, will incrementally be less as the section height decreases, but in the real world, maybe not.

In any case, I would suggest that you will also be unhappy if you get rid of your Conti runflats prematurely.

That said, I have a spare tire in my Justa and don't plan on ever going back to runflats if, for no other reason, the significantly higher weight of runflats. I understand some people are willing to suffer with less good ride quality and much higher cost in order to not have to worry they might have to deal with a flat at some point. That's why it's good that we have options.

DOC

 

Cooper S now comes thru standard with 16" conti RF.

I drove one for a few days, on dry/wet pavement, and in the snow few weeks back. The ride was awesome, nothing like the 17 Goodyear RF's I once had on my R53, and traction was more than acceptable for the snow on the road and they were quiet.....

I was really impressed. Sorta reminded me of the 16" non runflat Bridgestone Potenza G019 Grid all seasons I had last year but these Conti's had more of that go kart handling I missed.

 

My '08 JustaCooper had 16" Conti runflats as standard from the dealer. I liked them at first. Good grip, pretty quiet, ride was OK - all good, really. Snow performance sucked - but I have winter tires for that, so not an issue for me.

Unfortunately they wore out way too quickly. As they wore down, they got louder and harsher. Wet braking and handling had degraded significantly. Finally, they began hydroplaning in the rain from time to time. It became very easy to spin the wheels from a start in the wet.

I finally got rid of them at around 17,000 miles. They had a little tread left, not much. I considered getting the same tires again - until I checked the price. Ouch!

I checked reviews of other tires on various websites (Tire Rack has some really good comparison charts, etc.) including here on NAM.

I ended up buying a set of General Altimax HP's - 205-55-16. Good reviews and specs. Nice quiet ride. Handling is great (don't know about snow & ice performance, as mentioned above I use dedicated winter tires for that). All good so far. I have put about 7,500 miles on them - wear seems good so far, we'll see how long they last. They were around $100 each mounted & balanced (Continentals were around $250 each).

As long as treadwear remains reasonable over the life of this tire (so far so good), I would highly recommend these tires. They're a good match for the handling, ride and braking characteristics of my MINI.


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