Plan B Forum

Not talking about the last six miles of a marathon, or an old keg. Learned about run flat tires, which BMW has embraced. My expense but not my car, these tires were well worn at 25K, so needed to be replaced. I opted for good quality regular tires which cost 65% of run flat, and last at least twice as long, and are generally considered to ride much better.

I'm probably the only one here who did not know what they were, but in case someone has not been exposed to this type of tire, when you get a flat, these tires supposedly can go 50 miles at 50 mph to allow you to get to service.

My bit of research came up with several good thoughts. First, is to figure out how often you get a flat and where a flat is likely to happen. In my case, I get a flat maybe once every 6-10 years and I almost always see it going flat before it can't be driven anymore. And in every case in my life where I did not notice a flat developing, the flat was waiting for me when I came out in the morning. And for that matter, one rarely sees a car pulled over fixing a flat anymore, at least in the West.

The options appear to be: 1) get a donut spare/jack/lug wrench and figure out how to store those when you go on long trips (otherwise just keep them at home); or 2) get a small air compressor and leak repair kit. Any other thoughts on how to address this besides getting another car?

Wow ! I am completely obsolete. BMW uses 'run-flat' for their normal new cars? I was thinking that run-flat was for cars that were gonna be used for quasi-military purposes, armored VIP limos,, vans for money haulers. like Brinks. The braking, cornering, tread mileage were all sacrificed for hazard survival. My experience is similar to yours--no flats in the last 100,000 miles of driving. I wonder just what BMW's justification is?

snailgate

No spare tire, saves weight and money. Also, some cars CANNOT use a donut spare. (Mine is one of them.)

First car with factory run flats was the 1997 Corvette.

Lots of German cars have run-flats, but people don't follow the directions and end up shredding them as bad as a normal tire. I tow a lot of cars with no spares. An inflator kit is useless when the sidewall shreds off.

Many cars have no spare and do NOT have run-flat tires.

Jarlaxle wrote: ↑

Sat Apr 10, 2021 5:46 am

Many cars have no spare and do NOT have run-flat tires.

Yes, those cars are usually owned by poor people who ran on the donut spare until it popped too. Then they were forced to buy a 1/2 tread used tire and toss the donut in the trash.

A friend has a Honda Odyssey that originally came with run flat tires. He got it used, and had to replace the tires a year or so later. They cost over $1300, and were only available from the Honda dealer. They were well worn at 30K miles. The 2nd time it needed tires, he bought some used wheels from a Honda Ridgeline, and regular tires. Regular tires won't mount on Honda's run flat wheels. I don't know about other brands.
They will probably outlast the Odyssey as it had 270K miles the last time we talked. Chances are its long trip days are over, so having a flat will be close to home. Just in case, he carries a cigarette lighter powered air compressor. So far, so good.

MGMcAnick wrote: ↑

Tue Jun 15, 2021 9:50 pm

Yes, those cars are usually owned by poor people who ran on the donut spare until it popped too. Then they were forced to buy a 1/2 tread used tire and toss the donut in the trash.

A friend has a Honda Odyssey that originally came with run flat tires. He got it used, and had to replace the tires a year or so later. They cost over $1300, and were only available from the Honda dealer. They were well worn at 30K miles. The 2nd time it needed tires, he bought some used wheels from a Honda Ridgeline, and regular tires. Regular tires won't mount on Honda's run flat wheels. I don't know about other brands.
They will probably outlast the Odyssey as it had 270K miles the last time we talked. Chances are its long trip days are over, so having a flat will be close to home. Just in case, he carries a cigarette lighter powered air compressor. So far, so good.

No, they come with no spare from the factory, and do not come with run-flat tires. I have one, so does my mother.

Jarlaxle wrote: ↑

Wed Jun 16, 2021 2:29 am

No, they come with no spare from the factory, and do not come with run-flat tires. I have one, so does my mother.

I rented one in the U.K. It was a Mercedes.

Yes, I got a flat...and had to call for road service.

Econoline wrote: ↑

Wed Jun 16, 2021 3:46 am

Jarlaxle wrote: ↑

Wed Jun 16, 2021 2:29 am

No, they come with no spare from the factory, and do not come with run-flat tires. I have one, so does my mother.

I rented one in the U.K. It was a Mercedes.

Yes, I got a flat...and had to call for road service.

Mine is a Challenger, which CANNOT use the compact spare. My mother's is a Hyundai.

I was being somewhat facetious.

I had to google it in disbelief. Geez. AAA says all of these cars skipped the spare as early as 2017:
Here they are in alphabetical order as of 2020:

Acura NSX
Audi R8
Audi TT
BMW 2 Series
BMW 3 Series
BMW 4 Series
BMW 6 Series
BMW i3
BMW i8
BMW X3
BMW X4
Cadillac ATS
Cadillac CTS
Chevrolet Bolt EV
Chevrolet Camaro
Chevrolet Corvette
Chevrolet SS
Chevrolet Volt
Dodge Viper
Fiat 500
Fiat 500L
Fiat 500X
Ford C-Max
Hyundai Accent
Hyundai Ioniq
Infiniti QX30
Jaguar F-Type
Jeep Cherokee
Jeep Compass
Jeep Renegade
Kia Forte
Kia Niro
Kia Rio
Kia Soul
Mazda MX-5 Miata
Mercedes-Benz B-Class
Mercedes-Benz C-Class
Mercedes-Benz CLA-Class
Mercedes-Benz E-Class
Mercedes-Benz GLA-Class
Mercedes-Benz S-Class
Mercedes-Benz SL-Class
Mini Cooper Countryman
Mitsubishi i-MiEV
Nissan GT-R
Nissan Leaf
Porsche 718 Cayman
Porsche 911 Carrera
Porsche Panamera
Smart ForTwo
Tesla Model S
Tesla Model X

And I was pissed when most car makers dropped the passenger side and trunk keyholes. Save half a dollar on each car, make two million cars, and the company just saved a million dollars.

I have a 2015 Chevy Malibu that the push button to unlock the trunk stopped functioning this week. I need to order a key fob for it, as well as a new switch. Currently (There may be a pun there.) I have removed the trunk switch from the door panel. I use the scissors on my multi-tool to short across the contacts.

A doughnut spare tire and a jack probably costs them $20 from the lowest bidder. How's $40 million saved grab you?

You should call the president of your car company whenever you have a flat. See if he or she will come fix it for you.

Of course some cars have a roadside assistance phone number sticker on them. It's not free to use, nor is GMs OnStar.

It's incomplete...add the Hyundai Elantra and Charger and Challenger SRT models.

For the Hyundai, yes, it's purely penny-pinching. For the SRT, it makes perfect sense: the spare will not fit. (Hits the front caliper.)

Jarlaxle wrote: ↑

Wed Jun 16, 2021 5:17 pm

For the SRT, it makes perfect sense: the spare will not fit. (Hits the front caliper.)

A lot of regular sized wheels won't clear the caliper on other years with larger wheels and differently positioned calipers. I had a 2000 Buick LeSabre with nearly new 15" tires. I wanted to put them on my 2003 LeSabre which had 16" wheels before a long trip. They wouldn't clear the caliper. Same is true of an MGA/MGB swap. I tried that one 50 years ago. They wouldn't clear the caliper either.

You'd think Chryco could come up with a spare wheel that would fit, even if they had to use a wheel just like the other four. I mean, the car has a trunk, right? I hope you don't have any flats, and/or tithe regularly to the AAA gods. (I have towing on my cars' insurance. It's cheaper.)

Do like we used to do back in the days of custom vans ... just mount a regular-size spare on a carrier on the outside of the rear doors.



-"BB"-

That's some smart planning there....

Check out the rear plate.

Speaks volumes.

Jarlaxle wrote: ↑

Wed Jun 16, 2021 5:17 pm

It's incomplete...add the Hyundai Elantra and Charger and Challenger SRT models.

For the Hyundai, yes, it's purely penny-pinching. For the SRT, it makes perfect sense: the spare will not fit. (Hits the front caliper.)

It's still penny pinching. Obviously you don't use an 18" spare wheel on a car equipped with 20" wheels for caliper clearance. You include a 20" spare. 20" compact spares exist; the Challenger/Charger forums have plenty of articles about how to acquire a proper spare, jack, and lug wrench and how to stow them.

100% of the people I've had to tow their cars because the car didn't come with a spare wished they'd had a spare. It's massively inconvenient having to wait on the side of the freeway for up to a couple hours to get your car towed to a (closed) tire shop or the dealer at 1:00 in the morning, then having to catch an Uber home when you could have had the spare on in 30 minutes had the car had one.

MGMcAnick wrote: ↑

Wed Jun 16, 2021 6:54 pm

Jarlaxle wrote: ↑

Wed Jun 16, 2021 5:17 pm

For the SRT, it makes perfect sense: the spare will not fit. (Hits the front caliper.)

A lot of regular sized wheels won't clear the caliper on other years with larger wheels and differently positioned calipers. I had a 2000 Buick LeSabre with nearly new 15" tires. I wanted to put them on my 2003 LeSabre which had 16" wheels before a long trip. They wouldn't clear the caliper. Same is true of an MGA/MGB swap. I tried that one 50 years ago. They wouldn't clear the caliper either.

You'd think Chryco could come up with a spare wheel that would fit, even if they had to use a wheel just like the other four. I mean, the car has a trunk, right? I hope you don't have any flats, and/or tithe regularly to the AAA gods. (I have towing on my cars' insurance. It's cheaper.)

The spare fits all models except the SRT (they don't get the big Brembos). A full-size (20x9) wheel won't fit the well in the trunk.