For all you plug kit carriers.... be sure your kit has some pliers or better yet, needle nose pliers. If the nail, screw or whatever punctured your tire is still in there, it needs to come out prior to plugging. Just found out the hard way last week, NOT on the Vette, but on my DD.... Had pulled in a convenience store parking lot, got everything out to plug my half flat tire, and no pliers. Luckily the clerk at the store let me borrow a pair.

Anyway, just throwing it out there... maybe it will save someone a hassle.

Kenny g

 

Yes, I can see what it looks like to you. You view things differently from me because you are the person who says that the half glass of water is half empty, while I am the one who says that it is half full.

 

I would add a piece of chalk to circle the puncture and a small water bottle to make sure the leak is plugged. (or to find where the leak might be)

 

Meanwhile, back to the OP's question.....

You will find that there are many opinions regarding which tire to get so here's my two cents. Please note that I have gone through several sets of flats on both my corvettes and switched to Hankooks non-runflats two years ago:

Advantage for runflats
1. Peace of mind.

Disadvantage for runflats
1. Loud.
2. Rough.
3. Lousy handling.

Advantage for non-runflats
1. Quiet. You'll actually be able to carry on a conversation even on rough roads.
2. Smooth.
3. Your car will handle like its never handled before.
4. Try a set and you'll never go back to runcraps.

Disadvantage for non-runflats
1. Be very afraid to drive in bad areas that are not safe.
2. You won't be able to ever sleep at night for fear of what might happen to you some day. The "if's" will haunt you forever and ever.
3. Perhaps you should consider driving a truck or a tank.
(Note the sarcasm on these 3 points)

These are MY personal experiences of the two different tires from first hand experience. Ask yourself, how many blow outs have you had in the last two decades? In fact, how many have you ever had? I've been driving for 42 years now and I've never had one. If you have frequent blow outs then protect yourself and get the runflats. If not then don't worry, be happy. Get the nons and you'll never buy runcraps again.

 

Same reason I use the run flats.

 

How many blow outs? A couple in the last 10 years. By blow outs, I mean tire damaged beyond repair. Not in the C5, luckily.

But many, many screws, nails, etc., including ones that cause a fast deflate, i.e. inside a few miles. My last set of tires resembled pincushions, there were so many plugs. That's what happens when you visit Lowes, Home Depot, etc., where people drop stuff all over.

 

Then I'd say the run flat is best for you. No argument from me.
I've never had one so for me, a run flat is not the best.

 

It seems we are bashing each other over a question that has no definitive answer. Each one of us has different criteria when making decisions. That why there are so many choices out there. I'm on my first set of non runflats (Hankooks) after running two sets of the Goodyear runflats. For me the noise and harsh ride got to a point where I felt I needed to make the change. At this time I'm glad I did. After my first flat I may wish I would have stayed with runflats. I would not tell someone else however that they should think the same way.

 

However, I've been a regular participant on this forum for close to 14 years, and every 4-6 weeks, there's a NEW discussion entitled, "What kind of (tires, battery, spark plugs) should I buy......

 

http://tires.about.com/od/understand...flat-Tires.htm

 

Thanks for sharing. It is a well written article and the points against run flats are well taken. However, the author does say,

"My advice has always been that runflat tires are just not worth the hassle, the performance hit and the expense. The best way of handling a deflation of a runflat tire is precisely the same as a conventional tire – pull over as soon as possible and change the tire for the spare to avoid having to replace the tire,

I do not carry a spare, do you? My understanding was the OP was trying to decide on either run flats or the option of carrying a plug kit and compressor.

My original post was intended to be a fictional worst case scenario and nothing more. I did not think that anyone would actually take it that seriously. I did not intend to cause such a fracas. I would like to apologize to any forum members who may have been offended by my Aussie humor. Next time you're in Brisbane, stop by and I'll take you to the pub.

 

I carry a can of inflator/sealant and even when I had a spare tire, I used it. Takes a couple minutes to get back on the road, drive home, remove tire and get it patched. Cost? 7 bucks for sealant and 20 bucks to get tire fixed. Safer than changing a tire on the shoulder of a highway.
Now if I had runflats and drove home, more than likely I would have to replace the tire. The structural integrity would be gone. Cost? 3-4 hundred bucks, that's if I could find a replacement tire. Peace of mind? Runflats could be a huge nightmare. Finding a place that will fix them and finding a replacement tire.
Inflator/sealant has saved me a lot of grief over the years and contrary to what some say had no effect on my TPMS.
Everyone has to decide what is best for them.

What if you have a runflat go down and it's 60 miles to the nearest service center?

 

All great points. There's definitely no right or wrong answer just personal preference. Got to admit largely because of the discussion I'm leaning toward going to non run flats but staying with the Michelins because I've had such good experience with the them.

 

Very informative, very good article . . . Thanks for posting

 

I am always up for a tire discussion, as my tire selection skills are low, and I will be in the market at some point, but I am not qualified to give tire advice

I am skilled in assessing some parts of the buying decision, as I worked in sales for a while.
Never base a buying decision on fear, what terrible thing will happen without this product. Or from an unfavorable comparison with another product. As when someone says buy this because the other product is crap. A product needs to stand only on its own merits, not another products problems, or some impending harm without this product . Any product pitch with fear is a giant red flag, as it usually means an inferior product that can not be sold on merit.

It's all about identifying your needs and then finding the product features and benefits that meet those needs. The product with the best match is your trigger for the buying decision.

I have no experience with run flats, and am not looking for any, trusting the discussions here, and the fact that GM dropped the feature on the higher line performance product. I will always be choosing a better performing tire for this car, so I skip the run flats.

I carry a pump and slim sealant. I favor the canned stuff for simplicity sake, but the cans are bulky, and I would need a few with the C5 tire size, so my mock factory set up saves space.

Tires are pretty safe , it is rare I have a concern, although I am a flat tire veteran, having run an old and heavy antique Jag that required inner tubes. Apparently the Chinese guys at the plant figured they were now only used as snow toys, and quality was not a big deal. I had a lot of flats with that car, that's when I discovered tire sealant in a can and how easily it solved problems.

All the best with your buying decision. I think I will post a tire question of my own.

 

http://www.edmunds.com/driving-tips/...-a-primer.html

 

Damn, I guess I'm going to get struck by lightning as I've had a blow out. The tire must of had a defect as it blew out with only about 300 miles on it. Still, I'd go with non-runflats and buy a subscription to AAA like I did.

 

I have been driving since the mid 60 and have had many flats and blowout. In the 70's i had Monte Carlos that came with firestone tires. I had two that came apart on the pa turnpike at the same time. Any one old enough should remember the problems with that tire. I have had two different run flats on this vette that have lost air and had to be repaired with no need to replace. And i have had other occasion when I had to have tires repaired because of sudden loss of air. So you guys who never had these problems should go play the lottery because you have been very lucky.

 

Why would I lie about having a blowout?
I can tell you this too. It happened on a hill, on a curve, and it started to rain right after the blowout. Even though I was on the side of the road with my flashers on, the hilly wet curve made it very dangerous to be out changing a tire, espically since the blown tire was nearest the road . The first two attempts to jack her up she fell back down as the hill was that steep . Before the third jacking up, I had my daughter (we were on the way to an all day concert) find some big rocks in the ditch I could use as chocks.

 

I've had similar experiences. However, as this thread clearly demonstrates, there are just some people that you can't tell anything.....





And having said that, I'm done here.