Yes, this has been beaten to death, but it is a significant subject, IMO (but notg one worth fighting over). For those of you who say that the ride is fine with the RF's but you haven't experienced the car without the RF's, I say, find someone with a MINI who has non-RF's and ride in their car. The difference is remarkable - not just noticeable - remarkable. This is especially true on "washboard" road surfaces. For the poster who said it's silly to replace a perfectly good set of RF tires, I disagree. 15,000 miles or so of comfortable, quiet smooth driving is worth it to me. I had RF's on my 335 that I kept until they needed to be replaced and then replaced them with non-RF's. I was amazed at the difference. When I got my MINI a couple of weeks ago, I replaced the RF's immediately and I love how the car rides. I have a deluxe slime kit and if your car is new, you also have MINI Roadside Assistance and many also have roadside assistance through your insurance company so there isn't even any need to pay for AAA.

 

danigurrl, no i havent used a sealant treatment. i went to a mr. tire store and asked mechs there, they said using sealant not only damage tpms but also the tire will not be able to be repair, which means the tire would have to be replaced. i dont like that idea.

i guess i have to figure out a different way other than fix-a-flat type

 

Slime doesn't damage anything, washes right out. You need a 12v compressor to re-inflate the tire though.

http://www.slime.com/shop/category/products/sealants/

Dave

 

I got a plug kit and carry a compressor. Have not had to test either one (knock on wood). I've been told by someone in our club that using the plug kit is very easy - they indicated they did not even need to remove the wheel.

 

There are different kinds of sealants. As DneprDave said, Slime is fine and won't destroy the TPMS. Fix-a-Flat - no good. Get a Slime kit that comes with the compressor and plugs to repair the hole. With that kit, if conditions are right, that is, you're not in a dangerous place, it's daylight, the weather is cooperating and you can find the nail/screw that flattened your tire, you will be able to actually fix the flat and re-inflate the tire. If conditions are not ideal, Slime it and re-inflate. I rarely use the back seat for passengers and I store the slime kit upright on the floor behind the passenger seat. The cost of the Slime kit is negligible considering how much you save on the cost of the non-RF's versus the RF's.

 

oh my effing goodness! i replaced my OEM runflats with some Yokohama (205/55R16) regular tires on my MCS today and the ride quality has been significantly changed!

it is very comfortable now! i should have done it sooner.

i took your advice (quite of few of you recommended) and bought slime sealant to carry on the car now. i think the increased level of comforts is worth of going thru the trouble replacing runflats!

Thank you!

 

Had a plug in one RF from last year, was gonna beat em to death then replace. Then decided to go smaller and ordered a MCS, so was gonna send the RF's on with the car since they were still in good shape. Only just under 20K miles total on car and tires switched out each winter for the snows. Driving along the other day, heard a bang. Made it to my destination about 3 mi away (after pulling over and checking everything over) thanks to the RF not deflating. MINI roadside came out and put on my spare and we found THREE nails all clustered together. So just this am, put on 4 new non RF tires! Drove home the long way (tire place less than a half mi from the house) and tried to hit the all small bumps along the way. What a difference!!! Well since for sale, will not get to enjoy them as much as the person will who I sell them to, but I may have to work harder to kill the RFs on my new car!

 

Lots of believers! I must switch... when I can afford new tires!

 

Thanks for the intel on this thread. I have an '06 MCS w/77K miles and we're looking at our fourth set of tires. Northern Virginia roads are not good and I'll confess that I've been tardy in rotating my tires but four sets of tires seems excessive. Got a charged cell phone, AAA membership, gonna pick up a Slime kit and take a shot at non-run flats.