As I’ve aged, I’ve begun to notice that certain carmakers are determined to enrich chiropractors and practitioners of restorative dentistry. When driving my Nissan 350Z, I found myself avoiding pockmarked roads for fear of ceiling-related spinal compression. Even on smooth roads, I couldn’t quaff carbonated beverages. Since then, I’ve created a checklist of cars my increasingly fragile skeletal system cannot abide. This includes the aforementioned Z, the Acura TL, pretty much any Infiniti or Porsche product, the S4 and S6 Audis and the Lexus SC430. There is a special sub-category— torture– reserved for the vehicles made by BMW equipped with run-flat tires.
I understand the concept behind run-flat tires. Changing a flat on the side of the highway is only slightly less dangerous than marshalling at an Estonian track day. Since most people pull over at the first whup-whup, run-flat tires could be a life saver. Drivers can reach service without the need to sit on the side of the road and pray that drunk, fatigued and inattentive drivers have already found a safe place to crash. And then there’s the complexity and the mess. I personally have no problem jacking my own car (it’s getting the jack re-stowed that puzzles me), but there’s no way to change a tire without ending up with the tire stats imprinted on your clothing.
Run-flat tires are fine in theory. In practice, at least as applied by the Bavarians, it destroys all hope of a luxurious ride. I’ve sampled the BMW 645, 545, 650 IC and 330 with run-flat tires. Every single one was harsh riding: introducing an unacceptable amount of impact-related violence to otherwise stable suspension and solid chassis. And that’s without discussing the stiff sidewalls’ numbing effect on BMW’s formerly sublime steering, on top of the automotive Novocain BMW calls Active Steering. In any case, compound run-flat fatigue with nineteen inch wheels (sport package) and there you have it: the ultimate punishing machine.
German car lovers often shake their heads knowingly and point out that Bimmer’s backyard is also the original home of the billiard table road. I’ve been to Germany often. And it’s true; find a twisting two-lane road in the Bavarian countryside and you’ll be traversing a surface as smooth as a supermodel’s epidermis. But it’s also true that the roads in and around Munich, and throughout the formerly communist eastern part of the country, are marred by potholes and bumps. No; I think it’s down to age-related snobbery.
Perhaps BMW believes that once a potential customer turns 50, the tipping point where enthusiasts are suddenly willing to trade razor-sharp handling for long-distance commuter comfort, they should be earning enough money to afford their more expensive models. This would explain why Bimmer’s most costly cars– the 750, M5 and M6– don’t sport run-flats. Of course, that theory wouldn’t explain the fact that the 7-Series was the first BMW model to include the pre-Boomer’s worst nightmare: the iDrive mouse-driven multi-infuriating controller. But it’s possible that BMW’s left hand doesn’t know what the right hand is doing— which is about as good a description of iDrive as I can provide.
This run-flat torment is not the roundel’s exclusive domain, but they have certainly perfected the torture. RF tells me that tire technology is evolving; that the 325i is not so bad, and that the comfort – handling nexus will eventually be sorted. For the time being, nothing beats installing a couple of pairs of proper summer and winter shoes. But I’m not happy buying a brand new car only to throw out (or wait out) the OEM tires for something that should have been installed from the git-go.
Meanwhile, I’m struggling to understand why we need wheels larger than 17” for street use. As I drive down the highway next to a youngish person driving a Chrysler 300 with double dubs, I notice how the driver looks bobble headed as their car impacts abruptly over the slightest road imperfections. What is the point of this? At the risk of pissing off at least three separate demographic groups, I blame women for both trends.
My wife loves the idea of run-flat tires. In fact, she thinks all tires are run-flat capable (which explains why every flat tire in my house is accompanied by the need for both a new tire and a new wheel). In addition, my wife doesn’t complain about the deterioration in ride quality from run-flat tires. I suspect her tolerance for auto-related physical abuse is related to her reasoning for wearing shoes (especially high heels) that “look fantastic” but eventually, inevitably, hurt like Hell. So let’s make those twenty two inch run-flat tires standard equipment on all the chick cars and let me have my seventeens and some Michelin Pilots and call it a day.
Jay,
I always understood my run flat tires to be just that: flat….. I drive a brandnew (company) Lexus SC 430 as a daily commuter from March to about mid-November with the OEM 18″ Dunlops.
New York and surrounding area being pothole city, I have to refill/change tires on a weekly bases. Sometimes I feel like being one of these pesky kids, bugging the local mechanic every 10 minutes to fill their bicycle tires,Lol. Fortunately this is done under warranty.
The run flat tire monitor that car comes with is set off constantly(as in permanently) and the ride harshness in no way corresponds to that car’s non-sporting layout. At least with the above mentionned Bimmers they have the sportiness going for them. How do CONSUMER put up with that???
A Emmental cheese weel is coming in sizes between 24″ and 28″. The OEM and especially aftermarket industry seem to have discoverd that format. Case in point GM’s teaser the (’08’,09,`10 ??) Camaro. The car looks mouth watering good EXEPT for the chariot of fire weels!!!!
I don’t have run flats, but the suspension in my car is not stock. So i can see where this is coming from. The sacrifice of virtually no body roll in the corners yields to having to avoid crappy roads.
Here in Florida the roads suck and are rarely paved. I avoid those roads like the plague.
then about have “all cars roll on 17’s”… The manufacturers do that so they can get the “hip buyers” the people who think they are rap stars so they don’t have to go out and down 3 grand for 23 inch chromies when they basically come stock now. But the “hip buyers” do it anyway
re: bigger wheels. I drove a Boxster iwth 17s and another with 18s.
18s all the way.
I also had that AC Schnitzer (verboten!) with 21″ dubs. My favorite parts of the car was the wheels followed cloesly by the ride.
However, Farago and my self recently helped a 545i owning friend of mine ditch the runflat factory Dunlops (Which had a sidewall buldge after only 13,000 miles) and replace them with Goodyear Eagle F1s — my friend claims the car rides much better and is much, much quieter.
The Triumph of form over function
I am aghast when I see a late model 7 Series Bimmer with dubs. How many man years of German engineering did they toss in the scrap pile for the bling? Worse yet are spinners, or my personal favorite, spinner hubcaps!
I just got rid of a ’97 Thunderbird w/ 15 in wheels and Goodyear Assurance ComforTreads. Only noticed bumps when I (commonly) had a suspension problem (Go Ford!). It was awesome comfort and the handling didn’t suffer. The antithesis of everything discussed in the article.
Having worked at a dealership, I learned to HATE the cars w/ aftermarket rims. My ass just couldn’t take it.
Up yours Jay, I bet I change my wheel/tire combos more often than you do and I hate run flats too.
Let’s blame paunchy, over-50 men who don’t want to soil their manicures instead.
Indeed run-flats are getting better. The units installed in C5 vettes had nothing going for them: loud, rough riding, and light on grip. (C5s performed admirably even with this handicap) The new Z06 run-flats are significantly better but they can’t match a conventional tire.
I shudder to think how much more unsprung weight run-flats add, not including the added weight of 18-19-20+” wheels. In the quest for bling, performance and luxury cars somehow lost their way.
Then again, the obese hindquarters of today’s whips make larger wheels mandatory from a design standpoint. 17″ rims don’t look good on cars anymore.
I didn’t think the picture on my profile revealed my paunch! I better hit the gym instead of the keyboard. Oh, and hope my wife doesn’t visit this site.
Although I have been a loyal BMW guy, I am thinking about dumping my ’06 330 sport. Just moved from the midwest (where I thought the roads were rough) to LA (where the roads really suck the big one). I can’t take the abuse anymore. My almost new car rattles to high hell now, after one too many LA potholes. Doesn’t help that my car is a 6-speed manual. I’ve recently learned the meaning of traffic jam.
I am at a loss why BMW doesn’t reconfigure its cars for the US market. I wanted BMW’s sport package because it comes with great looking wheels and incredible 12-way sport seats that are much better than stock; but you can’t get either of them with the standard suspension. BMW should offer a US version of the sport package, and if buyers want the German version, they can just check a box on the order sheet.
I’m thinking about trading in the tires for non-RFT’s. However, if you’ve ever seen a low-profile wheel sparking on the pavement with a flat tire the driver failed to notice, it makes you think twice. Seems like a no-win situation to me.
Grand Marquis or Town Car – smooth and silent. Run flats? I cannot remember the last time I had a flat tire.
Am I the only one who notices that manufactures are dialling the “fun” out of automobile ownership.
With every so-called advancement (or fad) cars are becoming less desirable to live with.
New cars are like $7000 plasma screen televisions….the latest technology to view the poorest content.
I mean …….you can’t even get a new 911 coupe in North America without a sunroof.
I’m starting to view this whole car thing as a fools game.
Tell me I’m wrong.
I struggle to figure out why 17″ even fitments are standard on some cars. I own a Mini Cooper S; switching back and forth between 15, 16 and 17 inch wheels reveals very different characteristics (and that’s taking into account the differences in tire performance).
17″ runflats provide a crashy, unnerving ride that doesn’t inspire confidence over potholed roads or frost heaves. The 25-pound boat anchors (excuse me, OEM 17″ wheels) coupled with unforgiving runflat 205/45 sidewalls are no more fun than 15″ sixteen-pound rims shod with quality all-season rubber. Yet somehow if one ticks the “Sport” options box the 17″ rims are automatically slapped on. “Pressing on” implies a sense of being able to soak up the imperfections of a road surface. 15″ wheels and tires do just fine in this regard, thanks.
Fashion probably plays a far greater role than function when it comes to these upsized monsters. As cars get taller perspective is skewed when smaller wheel and tire combinations are stuck on the side.
Mr. Shoemaker > It’s Funny you should mention that, “there???s no way to change a tire without ending-up with the tire stats imprinted on your clothing,” because I have these pair of chinos that have Bridgestone Turanza Revo speed ratings indelibly etched on one of the legs from a set that I replaced four years ago. Those Bridgestones were terrific grand touring tyres. I smile in memory every time I avoid choosing to wear the marked trousers.
On Bridgestone Turanza tires: just got through a week’s time with a 2007 Toyota Yaris “S” and Turanza tires are what come on that variant of the Yaris. They’re great tires for those who want touring tires; the sidewalls flex a bit, and even at freeway speeds, the automobile felt and sounded very much as if you’re driving a Prius (hybrid). But yes, if you pick up a nail or such, you might end up like the last poor chap whose tires left an imprint on his chinos. But sometimes with cars, as with politics (and maybe life itself for most of us), it is indeed about compromise.
On “increasingly fragile” skeletal systems: Hey, I just hit “56” on my own personal odometer in April, and having driven a 350Z, know full-well that you make personal friends with freeway expansions joints. (Ah, there’s “freeway expansion joint Number 56 and how is it today?”) But it’s just goes with the territory of having an auto that is autocross-ready, from the get-go. If you want something that doesn’t shake the old bag of bones, get on down to the Infiniti store and order up a G35 (instead of its cousin, the Z car).
I ended up stuck on the side of I44 with my entire family on the 3rd. Tried to change the tire, but could not.
The problem? The weakest link in changing a tire: the lug nuts. I’d just had a Chrysler dealer inspect the chrome wheels for corrosion. And some idiot there, when he put the wheels back on the car, tightened the lug nuts way beyond spec. I ended up destroying the jack handle trying to get them off. The AAA guy ended up using a two-foot pipe with a four-way tire iron and bottle jack (to hold up outer end of the tire iron) to get the things off–and it was still a struggle. He could not budge them using the 4-way alone.
Unfortunately, this isn’t uncommon. Why is it so hard for tire shops and dealers to properly tighten lug nuts? Makes you wonder how well the perform more complicated repairs.
I’d suspect that the reason people throw 22’s on a performance vehicle is the same that makes them purchase a $3k vehicle and put $3k of rims on it, instead of buying a $6k vehicle.
Being that I have not driven on run-flat tires, I am not too sure how they behave upon depressurizing. I imagine that the car with squats a bit on the side of the “flat” tire. Considering that I have an AWD car, I don’t think I would like that. If the change in tire diameter is enough enough to affect the differentials, yet not enough to notice, that may proved to be a much more expensive problem in the long run (on say, a road trip) than a flat tire.
Karesh, I’ve had fizzicul arguments at tire shops when I tried to tell them 95 foot-pounds on the air gun. The orangutans simply won’t believe it.
Stephan
Air guns can’t control torque. The only right way to torque a lugnut is with a hand torque wench.
The reason for larger wheels on sports cars is brakes. You need bigger wheels to fit bigger and bigger brakes. My RX-8 won’t fit anything smaller than the factory 18″ wheels due to the brake diameter.
Factory run-flats always have tire pressure monitoring systems, due to the fact that it’s hard on the highway to tell you have a flat from the feel of the car. Pretty hard to drive along “not knowing” when there’s a big yellow light blinking at you.
You may need a big wheel for big brakes, but you certainly don’t need a heavy wheel.
Shame on rappers for making everyone think rubber bands on solid chrome hoops are cool.
And double shame on automakers for making wheel wells so large that sensible wheels won’t fill them anymore… forcing more people to buy said chrome hoops.
These two factors have increased our annual oil consumption by at least a few million barrels, don’t you think?
I’m in agreement with Homourless up there: even 17’s are too big for compact cars. 15’s, with the right tires, will give you more compliance, a better ride, nearly the same grip (just get better tires) and won’t suffer catastrophic damage over potholes.
I’ve got a car on 17’s and a beater (for work) on 13’s. I’ve had lots more fun in the second one, despite the total lack of grip. Heck, I believe 90% of speed-related road fatalities can be prevented by sticking the smallest wheels possible on each new car, with the narrowest rubber. Everyone will be sliding around at 15 mph, having a grand old time, and too busy trying to stay in control to get close to 100.