Well, I know that most of us are not fans of the Eagle run flats. The obvious noise and rough ride make them undesireable and I was thinking about pulling them off and putting non-runflats on. Well, last night, in the middle of nowhere at 11 o'clock the DIC tells me that my right rear tire pressure is low. Well needless to say it took me forever to "limp" to the dealer and leave it overnight which just killed me. Since I've now experienced this first hand, there is no way that I'm going to chance a flat with a conventional tire and pay to have a tow truck driver damage my car when they tow it away. The run flats will stay. Anyway, I talked to the dealer this morning and they can't fix the tire themselves so they have to send it out to the goodyear dealer. I'm still waiting to hear if it's repairable or not. Surprisingly enough, Tirerack is more expensive than the goodyear dealer for the tire. The tire dealer wants 360 installed. Tire rack is 357+14 shipping and then I'd have to pay to have it mounted. I've always made out pretty well buying from tire rack in the past. Well, there, my rant is done.

Save the Wave

 

Flat tires suck....

I haven't run w/ run flats for a minute, but my insurance has road side assistance, so tows won't be extra.

Also, I have had great experiences w/ Discount Tire. They have great prices, but the benefit is free tire rotations and free tire repairs.....for the life of the tire.

I am willing to pay more for that.

good luck w/ the tires

 

I agree with you wholeheartedly. It would suck to have a flat, and even if you have free towing, roadside assistance, or what have you, if you DID have to tow the car because you couldn't get a regular tire to hold pressure after a temp flat repair, there is a very high chance of something getting damaged.

So, I will continue to run run-flats. From the reports I hear, and my firsthand experience, there are other models which are much quieter than the stock ones. I'm running the Firehawks, but I've researched quite a few others, and it seems that manufacturers are getting smarter about design compromises.

The one thing that really SUCKS about run-flats is the the firewall is so stiff it compromises handling big time. The Yokohama AVS Sport seems to have a good tread design, and is also rated at 50 miles at 50 mph on a flat compared to the Firehawks, which are rated at 100 miles on a flat, and the Goodyears which are rated at 200 miles on a flat. I believe this indicates that the sidewall is softest on the Yokohamas, but I'm not sure.

Anyone out there care to provide feedback on the Yokohamas, so that I know when I replace my tires next time, which with my driving miles is in like 3 years ?

 

One morning, about 18 months ago, I started my Vette and noticed that the DIC said "RR Tire Flat." Checked it over and discovered a piece of aluminum imbedded in the tread. Drove it to a local tire shop and they pronounced it unrepairable. Went home and decided to look for a replacement. Since I had nothing to loose, I pulled the aluminum object from the tire and plugged it myself, hoping for a temporary fix that would allow me to drive the car for a few days. To my surprise, the tire held pressure and I never got around to replacing it, until about a month ago, when the tread wore down and I replaced all 4 tires.

Don't really recommend this as a permanent fix but sometimes you do get lucky.

 

Runflats can certainly be lifesavers. Mine has saved me several times from having to get a tow. I run non-runflats during the summer, but in the winter I switch over to a set of Firestone Firehawks. They ride well, have lots less noise and give me that protection in case of a flat.

 

These tires are designed to drive 50 miles an hour for 100 miles, why did you limp? (Unless of course 50 MPH is limping for you ) Anyway, drive that thing home, get the info you need then drive it to the dealer. No need to leave it anywhere. Good luck and I'm with you, no runflats is a scary thing.

Wavegoodbye...Very Cool Avatar!

 

Well, when I read the manual, it said that I can drive 55 mph for up to 50 miles and I may still be able to get the tire repaired. I took this to mean, that either the tire may be repairable as it's only a nail or something or that I'm still chancing ruining the tire by driving with very low to no pressure. I just kept stopping every couple of miles at gas stations and putting air in so that I didn't take a chance on ruining a potentially repairable tire. The manual said that you can actually drive upto 200 miles but that will ruin the tire so it led me to believe that driving any distance on it must cause some type of degredation to the tire. When I moved the car with the very low pressure, you could hear the tire making noise just like a regular tire does when it's very low on air or flat. It just didn't sound good.

 

I got a flat a few months ago. I pulled into a Texaco to air it up, hoping it would hold some decent PSI on my way to the dealership. I talked to the Texaco mechanic and he offered to fix it, but as soon as he came out of the garage with his lift and started jamming it under my car, I said NO WAY. I told him nothing personal and drove off to the dealership. It lost all pressure fast, so I drove the rest of the way with no air pressure. Overall, I would say the runflats work well, but it definitely was load running on it with no air....didnt feel right either and I was careful not to make too sharp of a turn (felt like it might pull of the rim, but that may have just been my nervousness).

Anyway, the dealership fixed me up nice. I had 2 options - new tire or plug my existing one. Since the plug was only $12 I definitely went this route, but with the plug you lose the "speed rating". I asked if it would hold at 120-130 for 30 minutes (jokingly) and he said yes, so I went with the plug. Tire pressure's been fine for months now.

On another note, I had a slow leak in my left front. Appeared that the custom rim place damaged the bead on the tire when I installed the chrome custom rims. The Rim shop works closely with the dealer, so when I took the car into the dealer, they gave me a new tire at no charge - now thats good service!

Well - off for a spin.

 

As you stated, the GY runflats are just too noisy and stiff. I installed the Michelin Pilot Sport A/S runflats shortly after buying my 04 and they are great.

 

Get this. I haven't heard from the dealer all day so I called them to find out the status of my car. They said that the tire was at the Good Year dealer being fixed. I'm very glad that the tire is repairable. I asked them when I can pick the car up and the service advisor told me that they thought I was leaving my car for a few days. I have no idea why they would think that I'm leaving my car for a few days to have a flat repaired. I'm having the CL recall done on Wed, but I have no intention of leaving my car at the dealer for half a week. I told him that there have been corvettes vandalized and removable roofs stolen from that dealer and I don't intend to leave my car there. He's going to get back to me of course. How long does it take to fix a tire?(sarcasm)

 

This is not true. According to Goodyear, the speed rating of a Goodyear EMT is retained after one plug. After a second plug, all bets are off.

I look at running runflats as being similar to paying every year for earthquake insurance. You may have more piece of mind, but you pay for it dearly every day. I refuse to "pay the piper" AND suffer the consequences all year round for something that may happen every 10 years or so. The risk is small enough that eliminating it is just not worth the punishment you receive in return. I used to cringe every time I rounded a corner that had any manhole covers or pot holes when I had the EMTs. My car would do the sidestep toward the guardrails and my hands (and face)would turn white. With my GS D3s, I can take the same corner without any fear. That more than makes up for any fear of having a flat once every 10-15 years.

Isn't that why we bought a sportscar - to handle corners without worry?

 

A long time if they think they have several days... a few minutes if you're waiting in their waiting room.

 

I recently had a flat in my GY F1 Eagle - a screw in the left rear - the 'vette dealer recommended a Goodyear dealer about half a mile away. When I arrived, there was an identical 2002 silver coupe there for the same reason!

Took the dealer 30 minutes to repair the flat, and it cost $35. The tires still have 70 percent tread - and then it will be a quieter set of tires when I replace them.