Just purchased a beautiful 2002 SC430 - showroom condition. Tires were bad and I was going back in forth about replacements. Michelins? Continentals? Almost pulled the plug on Michelins (and thought I'd either go naked or get an outrageously expensive spare tire kit) until a tire guy educated me about the new Bridgestone DriveGuard run flats. Tire Rack and Consumer Reports reviews (http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/n...mise/index.htm) were very good, so I took the plunge today.

My concern was performance, quiet and tread wear. I'm not a pedal to the metal guy, so I wasn't in need of max performance tires. Took car out on local roads and pushed it on the highway here and I gotta say they were quiet and did well. I'll post in the future about my experience in case anyone is interested in the 2015 version of run flats, which everyone knows sucked in the past.

 

How much did they cost per tire, ex mount and install charges ? Good luck and hope you like them.

 

I have these tires on mine also.

The ride is very good for a run flat.

 

The new Bridgestone Drive Guard is a redesigned run flat tire that will allow you to drive up to 50 miles on a flat. It is basically like all other run flats just not as stiff sidewalls as the previous run flats. Basically the theory is the the same , just less thickness in the sidewall as the previous run flat technology had a little harsher ride because of the thickness of the sidewall which prevented friction which causes heat and deteriorates a tire rather quickly. I personally have always thought the run flat technology was convenient and safer although the price and stiffer ride slowed the sale of the product to the masses.The technology in tires is really ramping up , I see run flat as getting another grip in the industry and other tire manufactures are coming out with there comparable run flat products. Changing the subject a bit, some of the most exciting automobile news to me is the new "vehicle to vehicle" communication , this will prevent a lot of accidents and possibly deaths involving automobiles. it is changing very fast. I am sure ,and hope you will have good service with your Bridgestone's, they make good products. I would like to here other feedback on this product to the people who have these tires. I own a retail tire store and love to here from the actual people running a new product. Over the last 38 years i have figured out customer feedback does work.. Did you install N2 or 02 in your new tires ,I am just a little curious about that. Hope everyone has a good weekend.

 

When do you think the Never Flat NonPneumatic Tires will hit the consumer market? They are available for military at the moment... Another interesting type of "runflat." Def needs a cosmetic factor though. Forseeable Pros? Cons?

http://elitedaily.com/news/world/fir...ss-tires-flat/
http://www.hightech-edge.com/resilie...ic-tire/13305/
http://www.gizmag.com/bridgestone-airless-tires/20710/

 

I didn't realize that the airless tires were available in anything other than off-road applications like construction equipment (backhoes, mowers, etc.). I hadn't heard that the military had started using them.

The Michelin Tweel is the tire that is available that I'm referring to. There may be others.
http://www.michelintweel.com/

 

Can you compare the quietness versus regular tires?

 

I have found them to be every bit as quite as a non runflat.

They are just a bit harsher over a bump, other than that I think they are very comparable.

 

These Bridgestone run flats costs $229 each, plus. Not cheap but much less expensive than the older versions of the RFs. Ride is quiet and smooth. I expected less but am very pleased. Tirengolf. Great post! By the way, they are N2.

 

Shawn, I assume you directed that question to me , I will give it a whirl. I saw this product 10 to 12 years ago so it has been in the works for some time on our end of things. It makes sense to me as run flats do although when a tire is built , if you have ever seen it , it is quiet amazing process. I really do not know if the regular person is ready to drop that kind of money. The tooling for a tire is very expensive as we no , it is one mold per tire, This is one of the reasons that tires have jumped in price so much, there really are to many sizes when I started at my store in 1975 we probably had 20 to 30 sizes, today we have gosh 500 plus sizes, thats a guess. We need a standardization in the industry to try trim the sizes, I will walk my parking lot today and literally out of 20 to 25 cars on my lot it is not uncommon for only 2 cars to have the same size, to me, that is unreasonable and the consumer pays for that. Jan 20 2015 Dept of Commerce issued a duty "TAX" on Chinese built tire's from 17 to 21%. I have been a Michelin dealer for 25 years, I also am a Cont/General as well as Cooper and Nitto. Michelin tires are actually ,to my knowledge, down about 12% across the board the last 2 years . I just do not know if the consumer is ready for this as you know the price would be very high, does not surprise the Feds have it on some of there vehicles. The Hum V tire actually has a bladder in it and you can air up and reduce air on the fly, i took one apart one time very neat setup. I hope I informed you a bit on this matter. Good Luck, I just saw a new Lexus commercial and It appeared to me it had the VTV capability, i caught the tail end of it. Godspeed

 

Smalltown , what was your reasoning for N2 if you do not mind sharing that with me.Thanks

 

Tirengolf. I wasn't really posing anything specifically in your direction but thank you for the explanation. I just thought this type of tire might be something we'd see more in the future, but you're correct if it is actually cost effective for the consumer. It also must be able to have quality performance. I just found it interesting that I only saw it a few years ago on military applications and this was the first I've heard of it being applied to construction and off road applications. So it has moved forward somewhat. I think with a cosmetic facelift and proper testing, it has a future in automotive industry; of course it will carry a heavy pricetag(like RFT's) initially

 

I agree, I am actually a fan of any run flat application especially on the wife's car.

 

One thing you have to consider about run-flat tires is beyond the initial expense, ride comfort, grip, etc is that if you do get a puncture, they are generally NON REPAIRABLE. Yeah, they may be good to drive on for up to fifty miles after they loose air, but that will be the last 50 miles you will be able to drive on them.

My wife had run-flats on her BMW for a while, but she had to drive by a scrap metal place on the way to work (Only one way in & out)....needless to say - she got a lot of flat tires. We were visiting Discount Tire at least once a month, or more. They said it was sometimes possible to plug them from the outside, but in most cases, we had to buy a new tire, even with their free flat-fix & pro-rated tire replacement guarantee, it got very expense.

After about six months of that foolishness, I just bought a good set of regular tires (Michelin Pilot SS), and never looked back. Other than better ride & grip, when we get a flat now, they fix it in a few minutes & we are on our way. It's also odd that we seem to be getting far fewer flats than we did before....

I have the Michelins on my SC and don't carry a spare. but I have a self-contained flat tire kit (with the cigarette lighter air compressor) that fits perfectly in the spare well that will get me to the closest Discount Tire to take care of a permanent fix.

When/if the run-flat technology gets to the point where they are as comfortable as a conventional tire, and are repairable, I'll give them another shot, but as for now, I'll just stick with what works for me....

 

The repairable thing isn't that important to me but when RF ride quality is smooth and quiet,I'm in.
This RF may be better but still not like a conventional tire....yet.