Tyres - run flat and conventional mixing

[noiseboy72]

Hello, after a bit of advice if I may.

I need some new rear boots on the Zed, as they are almost down to the canvas... Kwik Fit are telling me that I cannot fit conventional tyres to the rear (I would replace them as a pair) if it has run flats on the front, as it would invalidate my insurance. Is this correct?

Obviously I would not mix across an axle, but is there anything stopping me from fitting them to 1 axle only?

The other question is whether the current rears are run flats anyway. They are Bridgestone Potenza S001 255/35R18 94Y. Can't see anywhere on the tyre suggesting it's a run flat though.

Thanks in advance.

 

[paullyjay]

Ask your insurance company... or... have a good read of all the small print on your policy booklet... I can't see why tyre choice has anything to do with your insurance company, you could put the cheapest budget tyre on your car or the most expensive, as long as the tread depth, speed and weight ratings are correct - shouldn't be an issue...

If a tyre is run-flat it should be clearly marked...


(I really don't like or trust Kwik Fit - I have had a couple of run-ins with them over the years...)

 

[philbo909]

It shouldn't invalidate your insurance, but check with them
I ran rft on the front and normal on the rear, but very quickly changed the fronts too, got rid of all the tramlining

 

[SeanConnor]

Discussed here :-

https://z4-forum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=23861&start=15

Also I seem to remember one of our members who has spent most of his working life fitting tyres saying it's a bad idea.

 

[skelters]

Tell Kwik Fit to shove it and go elsewhere.

Personally, the tyre fitting place needs to have the Hunter road force equipment or they don't get my business. I also wouldn't want to mix the fronts with runflats and normal tyres on the back for any prolonged period of time or do any serious driving at speed etc. with a mixture. I did do it for 1 month when I had the 2.5 E85 but it was only town driving and nothing over 40mph during that time.

Contact the insurance company and ask them. They will say it's ok to put whatever tyres you want on the car.

Go onto Black Circles and price the tyres on there. Then ask the local tyre fitting place with the Hunter equipment for costs on the same tyres. If they can match the price or better it then get the tyres ordered.

If anything bin the fronts too ASAP and get a decent set of tyres on the car.

Michelin Pilot Sport 4 or Goodyear Eagle F1's will be fine on the car and probably cheaper than the runflats.

Tramlining will suddenly disappear, the ride will be better and you'll enjoy the car more.

 

[skelters]

Turns out the Michelin and Goodyear Tyres are not cheaper than the Bridgestone tyres on Black Circles.

Fully fitted prices.....

Bridgestone Potenza S001
255/35 R18 Y (94)
£130.04

Michelin Pilot Sport 4
255/35 R18 Y (94)
£140.88

Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric 3
255/35 R18 Y (94)
£131.40

 

[noiseboy72]

Thanks all. Will have another look at the tyres, but I don't think they are run flats front or rear.

The car does tramline horribly at low speed and under heavy braking, so I'm open to suggestions as to what to get to improve this a little.

We have a good local tyre fitter who I trust more than Kwik Fit. They have the Eagles @ £115 each at the moment, including fitting etc.

 

[wingnut]

Hi
I agree with Philbo909, having runflats on front and normal on rear is a nightmare, tramlining is horrendous. I ran with that combination for a short period but soon swapped them round (luckily I have same wheels front and rear), car then drove fine with runflats on rear and normal on front.

 

[Sidewaze Samm]

I really don't like or trust Kwik Fit - I have had a couple of run-ins with them over the years...

+1
My father had a right ding dong with them over refusal to repair a tyre on his 535 some years ago. He took the tyre to another depot who fixed the tyre, calling the others a bunch of cowboys - til they realised they were criticising another Kwik Fit!
Personally, I will never visit Kwik Fit and haven't for 32 years. That's because I didn't like the way they worked and their approach to the customer - and I used to work there!! :thumbsdown:

 

[noiseboy72]

Ordered via Black Circles and fitting by my local bloke next Friday. I've gone with the Eagles, as they are quieter and have better wet grip and fuel ratings. We'll see how different they feel and sound.

It only worked out £220 cheaper than Kwik Fit!! The current tyres are not run flats, so why their fitter was so insistent they were is a mystery to me. My local tyre fitter confirmed that the particular type is not available as a run flat and he wouldn't fit run flats to after market wheels unless as a replacement to current in any case - due to potential differences in the rim profile.

Around here the cowboys all work at Halfords. The turbo waste gate actuator failed on my company Volvo and the leasing company sent it there to be fixed. They changed the turbo and not the actuator, managed to fit the wrong one, didn't calibrate the ECU to take account of the different turbo and when it subsequently failed ended up fitting the old one back again!

This took them more than 6 weeks and they tried to charge for the incorrect part they had fitted. In the end, it needed a new actuator and the fuel system calibrated to sort it out - which I insisted was done by the local Volvo dealership. I gather their bill went to Halfords as well.

The manager then complained about my "attitude" - something I found out when I outlined all of this to his regional manager. I gather calling him an incompetent arrogant twit in front of his gormless spanner monkeys didn't go down very well...

 

[noiseboy72]

I really don't like or trust Kwik Fit - I have had a couple of run-ins with them over the years...

+1
My father had a right ding dong with them over refusal to repair a tyre on his 535 some years ago. He took the tyre to another depot who fixed the tyre, calling the others a bunch of cowboys - til they realised they were criticising another Kwik Fit!
Personally, I will never visit Kwik Fit and haven't for 32 years. That's because I didn't like the way they worked and their approach to the customer - and I used to work there!! :thumbsdown:

I gather that most chains won't repair run flats, as there's no way of telling how long they've been run under inflated and this can damage the carcass in ways that cannot be identified.

 

[montymog]

changed from runflats to eagle f1s all round christ a totaly diffrent car now happy to use all the power the 3.0 has without worrying about funeral costs

 

[skelters]

Get yersel a Hunter Alignment done and it'll feel like a new car!

 

[philbo909]

Only thing about Goodyear F1 eagles is that they're awful in snow- but they're a summer tyre so I forgave them

 

[noiseboy72]

Get yersel a Hunter Alignment done and it'll feel like a new car!

It had a full wheel alignment a couple of months before I bought it.

The handling is generally excellent - even with the threadbare rears!! Tyre wear has been very even and the handling nice and sharp.

Not worried about snow performance. Any of the white stuff and the Zed stays on the drive.

 

[Steve84N]

I expect he was insisting they were runflats as that's what the car should have according to his computer but failed to understand what was actually on the car.

 

[skelters]

I've had two sets of Eagle F1 Asymetric 2 on this car and one set of the original Eagle F1's on the previous Z4.

Nothing bad to say about them apart from keep an eye on the rears as they were very soft rubber and managed to get 12k - 15k miles out of the first set of rears. Put another two on the back and had two years out of those too.

Now on Michelin Pilot Sport 4.

 

[noiseboy72]

I expect he was insisting they were runflats as that's what the car should have according to his computer but failed to understand what was actually on the car.

Nope, he looked at the tyres that were fitted and told me they were run flats. In hindsight, I should have asked him how he could tell, as there's no RFT labeling on them at all!

 

[noiseboy72]

Just an update on the tyres. The Eagles are so much better than the Potenzas. Much less road noise, same levels of grip and stability and they ride better as well, absorbing the bumps well.

Would recommend