All you need to know about runflats is spelled out quite clearly here, in this screencap from Tire Rack:



Let's count the ways...

1. Price. Set of OE Dunlop SP Sport 01 DSSTs = $1368. Set of General Exclaim UHPs = $376. That's almost 4x the cost!

2. Average review rating. Uber-expensive runflat = 5.8. On-the-cheap, non-runflat Ultra High Performance summer tire = 8.3 MASSIVE difference, for FAR less money.

3. Tire wear. UTQG ratings aren't standard across different manufacturers, but are still a good yardstick for approximate tire life. Again, the non-runflat absolutely KILLS the runflat - 380 to 280.

Runflats ride harshly, are heavier (which causes other ride/handling/braking ills), wear more quickly (due to softer tire compounds, attempting to make up for the harsh nature of the runflat-supporting rock-hard structure of the tire), and are just all-around inferior from a performance standpoint. Toss in the added expense and you have a LOSER!

Don't even get me started about the tire shops who will refuse to repair a runflat, even for a simple puncture; how hard it is to find a runflat in stock somewhere in the size you need if you kill one out the road, and other headaches.

The best thing you can do for your Mini is ditch these things the moment you purchase it. Ask anyone who's done it and there's no disagreement. Carry a cellphone and either your Mini roadside assistance or AAA, and you'll get bailed out of a rare flat in short order. And you'll enjoy driving your car a LOT more, trust me.

 

Replaced pronto on my 2010 MCS with Michelin PS2's. All joy, no regrets.

Only quibble is unlike other runflats (like on my old Sienna) the Mini runflats (at least the 17" Dunlops) don't weigh hugely more than many non runflats. A pound or two type stuff as I recall, which surprised me. On my Sienna it was almost 50% more heavy, which was (is) absurd. But weather heavier or not, lousy ride on the Mini with the Dunlop runflats. I like good Dunlops like Gen 1 SportMaxx design and M2 and M3 snows in non runflats, but these runflats aren't remotely similar for the money.

 

Dunlops on my 2011 JCW are way better than the Bridgestones that came on my 2010 MCS. I was going to yank that at purchase as I figured the 17" with the JCW and RF would be a bruttle ride. Not the case. Not sure exactly why but the ride is much smoother and tires are not to bad. They can hang to spring and eat up some miles.

 

MINI is not the only manufacturer out there selling cars with runflats. Your tire shops should be well learned in these types of tires.

I have been driving a 2011 MCS equipped with Conti Pro-contact All Season runflats, on dry pavement and in the snow....( about $170 ea. ) they were quiet, grippy, and just as good as the blizzaks in the snow. Drove some 40 miles in that huge storm out here on Wednesday.....it definately opened my eyes and refreshed my opinion as to these tires. And have you ever change a flat tire at the side of the road in the middle of winter ? Not fun.

If you get a flat with these tires, you can always take it to your MINI dealer if area shops are ignoramusses.....you can plug a RF tire up to 3-4 times absent injury to the sidewall.

Basically, if tire shops are telling anyone here that plugging a RF tire is impossible to do (absent sidewall damage), they are just upselling you a $300 dollar solution.....to a 6 dollar fix.....

 

Yes and no. The reason shops and my local MINI dealer will not repair a runflat is that you do not know how long the driver has been on the runflat portion of the car and how badly the sidewall has deteriorated from its use. I was able to plug mine and had no issues but I did it myself and did not drive on it while flat, maybe it was 20lb of air but no less and not for very long. So yes thew tire can be repaired but most shops won't do it as a liability.

 

The UTQG wear rating on my truck tires is 640..... Beat that....... Toyo H/T Open Country.......

Only problem is, I am ready for some Michelin LTX M/S2 (UTQG 720 !) and the darn Toyo's may never wear out...



Back on subject - Got low rolling resistance Michelins (UTQG 620) in my sig and the ride is FANTASTIC, and gained 3 MPG. Discount Tire even bought the runflats rocks in trade.

 

Yeah, the only thing in the example is that you can actually buy the RFs while the General NRFs are on backorder. So if you need a tire now...

And instead of picking the highest price RF in that size for the comparison, you could compare it with the Kumho Ecsta SPT XRP at only $624.00 for a set of four and a treadwear rating of 340 (includes a better traction grade).

So the Kumho will give you better grip and better turn-in performance due to the stiffer sidewall of a RF. And some additional insurance (but not absolute) that you won't end up stranded due to a flat tire. You would pay a penalty of 7 lbs per tire in weight.

 

Good comments from all, and I'm surprised I haven't been flamed yet.

Runflats have definitely improved over the past few years, but the original headaches remain, while ride quality has gotten better. And you can obviously do better than the price example I showed above, but not necessarily if you're out in the wild and have no choice but to accept a local price. No sooner did I post that last night than I read a letter to the editor in Roundel from a guy who had just had picked up a nail in a 328i while away from home, and after driving safely to his destination, called 6 different tire shops, none of whom would repair the tire, nor did they have a suitable replacement in stock. He finally was able to buy one from the BMW stealership (at accompanying exorbitant cost) and was able to get on his way, after much hassle and delay. Same thing happened to a friend several years ago, and he was so furious with the whole ordeal that he dumped his 650i and bought an Audi.

 

At least your running 17s, you have choices even with the OEM. Go to Tire Rack and punch in 205/40/18, OEM for a GP, not to many choices and the prices, in my opinion are rediculous when you compare them to other sizes in, around that range. I am running 215/35/18 now, a fraction of the price and a huge jump in the ware rating compared to OEM.

 

I swapped out the runflats on my new Clubman a week after driving it home. It's now smoother and quieter than before, so I'm happy.

But for some people, the runflats are a good thing because they don't have to immediately stop to plug/change a tire. I think we can all picture a time and/or location where we would really rather not have to do that, for any number of reasons; personal safety would be primary among them.

It's like many other things in life: You pays your money and makes your choice.

 

True dat. If my girl were driving the 710 freeway daily in LA, I'd want them on her car - that's NOT a place you want to pull off the freeway and wait for help - especially a woman.

But I'll take my chances. I've been driving since 1973, and have never been stranded by a flat. Many slow leakers, but never anything I couldn't limp to a tire shop for repair. Except for the time that Discount Tire didn't install the stem properly on a new tire a few years ago, but that's another story altogether.

 

Hi,

I did change out the runflats on one of ours for the summer tires, but I still run the runflats in the winter.

Our MINI dealership will NOT fix a run flat, but a few local shops will.

One thing to be aware of is I don't believe the MINI roadside assistance will help you if you change out your run flats. You will need AMA or similar. (that is the case here in Canada I'm told, not sure about the US).

 

I drive the 710 everyday, and I agree. Parts of the 91 and 105 are just as bad.

 

Understandable.....for a blow out I wouldn't want one patched myself.

I think after 3 lbs is lost in a tire, the TPMS sensors kick in. When that happens it would be best in most cases that the driver immediately divert to the next availble safe stop or exit so you don't totally run 50 miles on a flat tire...Runflat or not....

Just because you can, does not necessarily mean one should with these tires unless it's 3AM and your in a bad neighborhood.........my 2 pennies. It's just nice to know you can if like I stated, your in a bad place and unable to do so.

 

I heard the nail I hit and it seemed instantly (200 yards) the TPMS told me I had a tire going down and I stopped at the gas station (300 more yards) and examined the tire and noticed a slow leak around the nail. Pumped it up to max PSI drove home before it got swishy and repaired it and rotated to rear. On the road I would have repaired it and been on my way but I had only had the car a few weeks and not yet gotten all of my tools and "stuff" in it to repair right then. I like the idea and theory behind them but also understand the liability of repairing a car that has driven on the sidewalls. In my short 10 years of driving I have had over a dozen puncture that have been fixed by a plug kit on the road and only 1 blowout where the entire sidewall was gone. I had 35s on the truck and the spare was a stock size (32, lol that was an interesting trip home). I had to run it on the front and hope I could still steer and brake fine as putting it to the rear was no option with a LSD on the truck, the clutches would have been toast.

 

I've been wrestling with the idea to change over on my '09 MCS to non-RF, but I hastily purchased the 5 year warranty program from bmw which covers tread loss, nails, blow-outs etc... Im stuck for now.

I have to agree, I live in Manhattan and the ride quality on bumpy rugged streets here is horrible but has become bearable I guess...

 

Like Charlie says...."You pays your money......"

I'm generally in the minority on this discussion subject in that I like my RunFlats.

I put these on my MINI in April last year:

ContiProContact SSR

205/55/16

Cost $700.00 even. Works for me.

...Les

 

Im not going to replace the RF that came on my 2011 MCS but I wont be putting them back on once they wear out. My MA was talking about the RF and if I had ever run a set on my VW and he actually gave me info on the doughnut spare that some use. I had the same set of tires on my VW when I bought it new when I traded it in. Im not hard on tires at all, so I imagine these will last quite a while.

As for the harshness, I like the way it rides. Reminds me of my 2002 GTI with coil overs and front/rear adj. sway bars. That car was amazing at the Autox!

When I do replace them I hope the Conti DWS are still being made.

 

After 2 sets of Pirelli run flats..........I will buy the inflata spare and go to a set of high performance all weather Kuhmo's. Had a set on a previous BMW and got 50K miles out of them. The name run flat should address the way these tires feel after driving on them for a while...not what they do!!

 

I've got a new 2011 MCS and opted for the 16" wheel package. They are Bridgestone Turanza run flats and I was pleasantly shocked at how well they ride and handle.
I ordered the "el cheepo" tire/wheels in anticipation of immediately ordering some lightweight Enkeis and some sticky rubber. I'm sure that will be an improvement, BUT, my last car (350z) had Bridgestone RE050's and they were non-runflat's but were totally awful. Loud, bumpy, moaning, plowed when overheated at Autox, etc. The RE050's are supposed to be a performance tire (pricey too $$$) and I couldnt wait to dump them in favor of some Falkens. Much more live-able and not a big drop in performance.

I'm really interested in a non-run flat tire that is designed for "spirited" driving on mountain roads for 70% of the time, and good enough for AutoX the other 30%.

High priority aspects:
1. Grippy
2. Low Noise
3. Sturdy Sidewall

Low priortiy aspects:
1. Treadwear Rating
2. Snow Traction (Pu-leeezz, I'm in the South)

Anyone else experienced the Bridgestone Turanza's run flats? If so, what tire would you compare it to?

 

Ha on my mcoupe i was running rears that were 285/30/18. Staggered setup means no rotation (i did however switch from left to right).

So mini sized tires are a relief!

 

I've got a question, I have 16 inch runflats, that I have no complaints with. My Pirelli Snow Sport runflats snow tires are awesome. I just picked up some R112 17 inch Challenge wheels with Bridgstone non runflats for the spring. Did anyone notice a decline in handling when switching from runflats to non runflats? On my Caddy CTS-V, I had to switch to stiffer sway bars to make up the difference from the new soft sidewalls compared to the runflat sidewalls.

 

285/30/18 and they weren't unidirectional? Huh.

 

You should get better handling with non RFT, but it does depend on which non RFT you have. Stiff sidewall is one factor in handling.

 

I have run flats on my 2007 S and they came in handy when I ran over a piece of metal ate at night at the kayak launch. The flat was immediate and my little 12V compressor would not fill the tire. I had to run all the way home. Also no one would patch the tire so I bought the plug kit and all was fine. I did replace all the tires as soon as I could because they were just on the good side of tread ware anyway. If you buy a kit get the reamer with a great big "T" handle so you can get through the tire. When the run flats need replacement on the Countryman I am thinking seriously about other options. I made a mistake and opted for the 18-inch wheels.