Automotive

Had a situation with them and would care for any opinion out there and Run Flat in General.

I had a set of them in my Mini Cooper S installed a few years back. In fact, I went trough two sets, as the first one were OEM. 

My problem is my Infiniti is leased and I really do not feel like throwing a 1,000   dollars or more or tire that only have 24 more months.

I had the Dunlop Run Flat tires on my BMW until less than two years ago. 

The following is more about the Michelin non-runflat tires than the Dunlop Run-flats, but I hope it'll help you.

The Dunlops were harsh-riding, but fairly quiet tires, with good handling characteristics except for braking (they were very heavy tires).  Treadwear and life of the tire was probably around 20,000 miles+.  Overall, the Dunlops were unbearable only for the fact that they had really harsh riding characteristics.  The Yokohama Advan Sport Runflat would also be a good comparison to the Dunlop's runflats. 

The BMW suspension was already firm, but the Dunlop tires, with their thickened run-flat sidewalls, really transmitted the bumps to the cabin and gave a teeth chipping and bone-jarring ride.  Not the kind of ride quality befitting a BMW 4-door sedan car.  The extra firm sidewalls does good things for the steering feel though.  You feel much more through the steering wheel.  I also had a cracked wheel.  I attribute the cracked wheel to poor wheel quality from BMW and poor road surfaces, but also the extra firm side wall of the run-flat tire transmits more of the bump to the wheel and suspension, which I believe causes greater wear (and this subsequent failure) on the wheel. 

Fortunately, the BMW I had did come with a spare tire, and I've since changed to the Michelin Pilot Super Sport non-runflat tire.  And the ride is significantly better now!  The only loss so far is that there's a tiny bit less steering feel, I presume due to the sidewall being less stiff than before.  Also, the non-run-flat tire is significantly lighter by about 20%, so the reduced rotational mass allows for better braking that I could notice even in day-to-day driving! 

I'm definitely sticking to the conventional tire.  I know I can get a flat, but I just can't stand that bone jarring ride. 

My rear tires are due for replacement soon, and I already have the tires sitting in my garage, the 275/35 ZR18 Michelin Pilot Super Sport rear tires will be replaced with the same brand and model of tire.  The rear tires will last about 20,000 miles with my driving pattern.  The fronts look like they'll last around 25,000 to 32,000 miles. 

On a side note...

I just switched from Continental Conti Sport Contact 3 on my Mercedes-Benz vehicle to Michelin Pilot Super Sports and I'm really pleased with the Michelin Pilot Super Sports.  Much less tire and road noise than before.  But now, perhaps due to the greater ambiance, I now notice the wind noise of the car more.  The Continental ContiSportContact3 tires lasted only 19,400 miles front, and 15,000 miles rear.  And despite the greater wear, I personally believe (without instrumented tests) that the handling of the Michelin Pilot Super Sport tire is better than the Continental ContiSportContact3 tire. 

I would only recommend a non-runflat tire if you have a spare tire. 

I will insist on either Continental DWS or a Michlelin top tire, had Michelin X one tires years ago, darn tire could handle anything from wet dry even Ice in Vermont.

I also want to add, Run Flat tires on today's BMWs is much better.  The suspension is tuned to accept Run Flat tires, and thus suspensions are softer to accommodate the harsher ride characteristics of the tire.  It's possible that if you drove a new or very current BMW the car may feel overly soft with non run-flat tires. 

My BMW, a 10 year old BMW 5 series, came from the factory with run flat tires.  However, the car's ride was so harsh with run flat tires that it was truly unbearable.  Teeth chipping was a possibility, no exaggeration.  Makes me wonder if BMW tuned the suspension more for non-run-flats but decided to put on run-flats at a later time without a very extensive recalibration of the suspension. 

I have to pick up my new BMW 120 d next week, it's equipped with runflats and the dealer doesn't want to change them for normal tyres :-( ....

The tire are speced at the factory by some a-hole  that most likely gets paid under the table for buying a crap tire at a cheap price .

Hi Don,
I've had 16 years of daily driving in Corvettes with run flat tires ranging from Goodyear F1 EMT, Michelin Pilot Sport PS2 ZP, and the Michelin Pilot Super Sport ZP.  I had flat tires twice and able to make it home safely so I'm happy with them.  Other than the high cost (, there is a trade off in wet driving conditions as the rears seem to break loose on tight turns at high speed.  Treadwear is average and road noise isn't too bad.  I think the original Goodyear F1 EMT's were pretty bad but they were OEM.  I like the Michelin's much better.  I don't have any experience with Dunlop.
Regards,
ED-209

A friend and his friend killed themselves going down to Atlantic City, I believe in 1964 or 65, Speedometer  was frozen at 130 ,think it was a L5,  L76 or L84 Do not remember.

No message body