snampro

Those of you that ditched the runflats and went with normal tires...what's your back-up plan incase of a flat?

Slime?

AAA?

owc6

AAA, USAA, or other roadside assistance.

Sure, you can have a can of slime, or a plug tool, but I dare you to get to the actual puncture point and put a plug in with the car virtually sitting on the pavement, gravel, or mud. Try driving on a sidewall slice and slime on a non-RF.

Cue the folks who have never had to deal with this on a Sunday in the rain, 50 miles from the nearest town, in a dead zone, with no shoulder and only mud in sight.

They make it sound so easy with what they imagine they would do in that scenario.

Let me tell you that pulling our low-slung cars with fully-inflated tires up onto a flatbed is not good, but pull one up with a flat tire, and avoiding damage is darn-near impossible.

PatternDayTrader

I've had to deal with this sort of thing many times. Obviously you cant fix a destroyed sidewall, but you can fix just about anything else. Even if it's only temporary.

My vote is carry a plug kit and small compressor like in many other cars such as the c5 z06 or even the pontiac grand prix gxp. Know how to use them, before you need to use them.

KGrant

I have non run-flat and carry this Slime Kit in the Hatch...I do have AAA.... I have gone on 800 mile trip without a problem and never say never. Worse case, if the Slime Kit doesn't do the trick then I call AAA. The Slime Kit worked perfectly in my Wife's 2002 Lexus SC430 with non-runflats. In 17 years that car has had only one-flat and Slime was there for me....

kevpull

Both.

hcvone

Been doing this since the C5 came out with run flats, replace with Michelin pilot super sports non run flats, carry two plug kits and a small compressor, all fits easily in the rear storage compartment, all my euro cars come wtih non run flat tires and none of them have spare tires, I carry the same kits in those cars too.

cowboy casey

I have USAA and towing on all my vehicles... I have nothing in my vehicles for over 15 years...

Vetteman Jack

When I had my C5 with non-runflats, I carried a plug kit with an air compressor in the car. Thankfully, never had to use it. I also have emergency road service on my insurance.

usrodeo4

I am 62 and have been driving since I was 14 years old...I have had exactly three instances where I suffered a flat tire that resulted in immediate stoppage being required. Run flats are the devil's spawn...unfortunately, in Z06 sizes we have almost no options that I like for air tires anymore.

Corgidog1

To me driving with run flats is as important as driving with a cell phone for my peace of mind.

obxchartercaptain

This has been discussed on the Corvette Forum ever since they came out with Run Flats for our Vettes. It is really simple...DO YOU FEEL LUCKY...If you do...get the non run flats, Our Corvettes do ride better with them. HOWEVER, like many posters have said..when you do get a flat with them it almost always is in a very inconvenient location or in inclement weather....one other thing...MOST owners don't put that many miles on their Corvettes to really appreciate the difference. Once again...DO YOU FEEL LUCKY.

Gearhead Jim

1. Cellphone with a good network and car charger.
2. AAA.
3. Credit card and $500 cash.
4. Compressor.
5. Plug kit.
6. Slime.
7. Sidearm to keep you company while waiting for help or working on flat.

Actually, we've only had one flat in 18 years/250k miles of Corvette touring. But it was in the boonies on a road where you couldn't get a flatbed.
So we just got in the car and drove about 30 miles, up the Tail of the Dragon, on the runflat. Tire was already ruined with a sidewall cut, so we didn't mind driving on it and a plug/slime fix wouldn't have worked.

EDIT:
Several years ago I started a thread asking how far you can drive on a flat runflat. Of course, more than a few miles will mean you can't repair the tire. But I couldn't find anyone who'd had a runflat come apart because of being driven while flat, and the "winner" in that thread drove over 400 miles to get home on a flat runflat.

dcova

I keep a V-Bridle tow strap stowed in the back of the vette in case my vette breaks down. I want to ensure that it can be loaded on a flatbed safely without damage. I am not going to assume that the tow truck driver will have all the equipment necessary to get my vette on the flatbed safely without damage. And, I also have AAA. It is like an insurance policy.

rfh928

I've only had my C7 for a month, so still quite a ways from needing to replace the tires...but on my C5 I went with non-run flat tires...didn't want to pay the high price for the run flats. I figure that I've never that far away from home with the Vette and the CAA here (with the Plus coverage) will tow me up to 160 kms (100 miles)...so I can always get back to my mechanic's to get it fixed. I'll do the same next time around. Modern tires seem to be pretty bulletproof anyway...I haven't had a true flat in 20 years...just slow leaks running over nails that are easily plugged.

RobsCountach`

Pretty sure that SLIME will ruin your TPMS, besides making changing the tire, a much more difficult task.

Bill Dearborn

The only thing wrong with today's run flat tires is the price. There are no performance losses and the freedom they give you when traveling or just driving around town is something a plug kit or towing insurance can give you. Plug kits can be dangerous to the user if a rear tire is punctured as the person plugging the tire will be laying down on the ground in a most inconvenient place. Towing means you sit around waiting for a couple hours for the tow truck to show up.

My 03 Z06 didn't come with run flat tires. It had a GM tire kit in the rear. After owning the car for 6 years I sold it, the new owner didn't want the spare set of rims/tires I had. About 2 weeks later I got a call from him. He was about 100 miles away and had suffered a flat right rear tire. He had used the GM repair kit to get the tire inflated but when he was driving the car it didn't feel right with the rear of the car feeling wobbly. He wanted to borrow one of my spare rim/tires and have a friend bring it to him. After they got the car home and took the slimed tire to a tire store they found out the inside of the tire sidewall had been destroyed by the rim as he had driven the car to get off the highway he was on. The sidewall cords were cut almost all the way through and the tire was ruined. There are times when a plug kit or slime will not work.

Even with a two inch hole in the sidewall a run flat can get you home. The Michelin ZP tires that come on the C7 are not run craps like the C5 GY EMTs were (due to them being able to be run 200 miles at zero pressure and still be repairable) and outperform many run flat tires. The Cup2 versions are competitive with Hoosier R compound tires from a performance standpoint while the PSS ZPs aren't far behind.

Bill

msdunkel

I don’t get the aversion to run flats. I had a boat trailer blow a tire and then the spare an hour later as well as a travel trailer suffer a blow-out which both left me stranded on the side of the road. I’ve had at least another half dozen flat tires where I was able to limp to the tire shop. My point is flat tires are not a rarity and I don’t trust the high school JV football 2nd sting tackle to properly load my car on the flat bed. Corvettes typically aren’t purchased by people who can’t afford to pay to play. Suck it up buttercup, get run flats!

KGrant

I understand all that have been mentioned and makes sense for each individual but getting flats are the daily risks we have in our lives like anything in life and runflats are something that can be used to mitigate the risk. Some people are more lucky or less lucky than others so you make decisions on your experiences.

I switched my 2002 Lexus SC430 from runflats to non runflats in 2003 about a year after owning it because it was my wife's toy and she thought the ride just was to harsh, since that is her toy I switched to non-runflats so that she could enjoy it better. We've had the car for 17 years now and 90k miles later we have not had a flat until 10/2018 and that's in the snow belt where the salt eats up the roads in the winter and creates many potholes.

I have to be honest as I am a risk taker and play the odds. I am that person who have never bought a warranty on anything and 90% of all my cars have been bought gently used so that others pay the depreciation but no warranties for me on any car. I believe in paying for thorough car inspections and know that anything within reason that goes wrong that I can self-insure and pay the cost out of my pocket. In the last 30 years, nothing significant has ever happened that I would make me say I should have done something differently.

When I look at my brother that buys warranties / extended warranties on everything I would say that over 30 year period, I am easily in the 15k saved where he has paid 15k in warranties when you add them all up. So I am ahead of the game compared to my brother by not buying warranties on major appliances, cars, tvs, tire warranties, new roofs etc. Heck, my new roof was 15k and the guy wanted me to buy a lifetime warranty for another 3k. I told him if something went wrong, in most cases it won't cost 3k to repair, so I will self-insure any potential repairs.

I say all of that to say, I am a calculated risk taker and I love my Michelin Pilot Sport 4S Non Run flats on my corvette and took both an 800 and 1000 mile road trip with my non-run flats without incident and a can of fix-a-flat/slime! If I get stranded, so be it and it's on me. That said, coupled with MSRC update and non runflat, car is as smooth and comfortable over bumps as well as my SUV.

The right answer is the one you make for yourself and we are all different in the amount of risk that we take!

4thC4at60

I'm 78-years-old and I travel a lot - in places with ZERO phone service..... RF tries all the way.... last tire I changed it was 17 degrees and had been raining which was all, now, becoming ice along with the mud.... never again. Same with changing a tire in Texas, New Mexico, or Arizona in the summer..... no brainer.

geewez

I switched to non run flats after suffering two cracked rear wheels due to the run flats. After that, I went with aftermarket forged wheels. Here's what I carry in the rear storage bin:
a compressor, tire plug kit, tow hooks/strap, flashlight and disposable latex gloves. When I go on a road trip I also carry: 12V scissor jack, small tool bag with misc tools, 12V lamp with a long cord, wheel chooks, lifting pucks and my AAA card. I also activate Onstar for temporary limited service. I've been on several cross country road trips and have never had to use any of these items, cross my fingers.