Runflats - What Type?

[ace_dude]

Hey, I'm gonna replace the 2 runflats on the front of my Cooper but I don't know what to go for.
basically I don't know the difference between the budget, mid-range and more expensive branded ones.........can anyone enlighten me or tell me what to go for. The ones on just now are Continental.

[Colin]

What size you looking for?

[ace_dude]

205/45 R 17 84V - thats what is on just now.

Basically want to know what the difference in look and performance is between the budget tyres and the more expensive ones...whats the wisest choice?

[Big Gordy]

Wisest choice would be to dump the run flats and buy a set of normal tyres:rolleyes:(cheaper,lighter and better grip:thumbs up:)
I've only experienced the dunlop and pirelli versions of the run flats and there's not much to choose between them IMO:frown:

[GCA3N]

205/45 R 17 84V - thats what is on just now.

Basically want to know what the difference in look and performance is between the budget tyres and the more expensive ones...whats the wisest choice?


It's not always the rule of thumb, but generally the more you spend the better the tyre. I think most folks on here would agree that the tyres are one of the most important things regarding safe driving. This is the thing that keeps your car on the road. I would suggest going for one of the more expensive tyres, dunlop, pirelli, toyo, goodyear, michelin, continental, bridgestone, firestone, i'm sure there are a couple more. The dumping of the runflats is a personal choice, if you can get a garage that will fit them. In my 17 years of driving i have found that good tyres really make a difference, pound for pound though my favs of the years (although never had them on a mini) would be the bridgestone. Hope this clouds the muddy waters a bit better.

[andy_cooper_s]

bridgestone potenzas on the mini at the moment. replaced them about a month ago, I had dunlops previously. Not cheap but they seem to have plenty of grip, road noise not too bad, ride is ok for RF - no grumbles from me so far (apart from the usual runflat issues!). Probably rate them better than the dunlops.

[Colin]

To be honest I don't know if anybody does a "budget" run flat tyre :confused:

The three main ones for run flats are Pirelli, Continental and Dunlop. At the moment I have Pirelli Eufori on my car, which I think is the OEM tyre which BMW use. I have also had the Dunlop SP Sport 9000 on my last car and thought they were slightly gripper than the Pirelli's.

The Pirelli's will cost about £110 a corner (tyre only)

Continental Sport Contact 3 SSR about £120

and Dunlop SP Sport 9000 are the most expensive at about £140.

There's not much difference between the Pirelli's and Dunlop's performance wise, so if it was me I would go for the Pirelli's (javascript:fnShowProductModel('?modelid=8575868&cid=912&productid=11025023');)on cost.

(Or change them to non-runflats)

Hope that helps. :smilewinkgrin:

[andy_cooper_s]

I was offered the Pirelli Euforis but stayed clear of them as most people had said during my "runflat research" - good in dry but suicidal in the wet (not that I can agree or disagree as I have not tried them). How do you find them in wet conditions CCM?

[Colin]

I was offered the Pirelli Euforis but stayed clear of them as most people had said during my "runflat research" - good in dry but suicidal in the wet (not that I can agree or disagree as I have not tried them). How do you find them in wet conditions CCM?

They are far from suicidal, and I like to push on a bit. The Dunlops were better in the wet, but only slightly. I suppose it depends on how hard you drive your car. For day to day stuff, you can't really go wrong with any of the big names.

[andy_cooper_s]

suppose it could have been the driver and not tyre!
The comments put me off them even though they were cheaper than the Bridgestones. But I canny complain about the bridgestones.

As you say, probably cant go wrong with any of the big names. confused now ace dude!!:thumbs up:

[GCA3N]

runway do a budget runflat I think anyway

[ace_dude]

Haha just a tad confused now......nah seriously thanks for the advice - always very helpful on here. It's actually Pirelli Euphoria's I have on just now (dunno why I said Continental).
Well the place I got my MoT quoted me 92 quid inc VAT per tyre, not sure what brand that was. Called another place today and quoted me 65 incl VAT for a budget tyre which seems rather low.
Willing to spend a bit more for good grip so guess I'll go for Pirelli's again.

And yes the hard ride is starting to piss me off slightly these days (had runflats for a year) but I think I can put up with it purely for the way they look.......don't think anything else comes close? :P

[KenL]

I had Goodyear Excellence runflat (16s) on my R56 Cooper. These were "second generation" ones and the ride and grip seemed good to me.

[Colin]

Tyre choice is a very subjective thing. It's always the same when a post about tyres appears. :confused: Never easy to choose, I suppose the only way is to try different types yourself, and you'll soon know what suits you. :yes nod: