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      02-03-2012, 10:52 PM   #11
brissim
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Drives: X3 30d (2011 F25) - now sold
Join Date: Jul 2011
Location: Brisbane, Australia

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Quote:
Originally Posted by KF View Post
Hi Tony

What tyre did you use? Are you on 18 inch rims?

We are still undecided wether to put another run flat on the fifth rim, do the RFT's have any advantages or would we be better off going to not RFT and getting the better ride?

With both RFT and not RFT there is little choice in styles, most are high performance soft compound tyres so will wear quickly.

Any other comments opinions are welcome.

KF
KF - the non-runflats I have on are Pirelli Scorpion Zero 235/60/17 on (obviously) 17" wheels. At the time of placing my order I made the delibrate decision to down spec my wheels to 17" (18" are standard on the 30d) because I wanted to maximise ride comfort with the higher profile tyres. As it has turned out I probably made the right descision because there happens to be somewhat better range of tyre options for the 17" wheels than the 18". Even in the OEM 225/60/17 size there were suitable tyres from Bridgestone and Yokohama. However, because I had a personal preference for Pirellis, I made the decison to actually move to a non-standard tyre size with the 235/60/17s because the Scorpion Zeros were available. I would have preferred Scorption STRs but at the time they were not available in Australia (they are now). Other options in this tyre size are from Bridgestone, Yokohama and Kumho. So there is a much greater variety available - and they are all proper SUV tyres - not road-biased performance tyres. Its my understanding things are much more difficult for 18" tyres.

Note that this tyre size I'm using is actually oversize - 714mm OD vs 702mm OD for the reference tyre. Because its still within the +/-15mm allowed for in State laws (its +15/-26mm in QLD), its still legal. The only thing I have to watch out for is that my speedo reads about 2% low.

On the issue of runflats vs conventional - it really is a situation of you looking at your own situation and working out what is best for yourself and your family. My major objection to runflats is that with the amount of country driving we do, there is just no support for either the repair or replacment of runflats outside of the State capitals. Admittedly, the option of having a runflat as a spare overcomes that issue. It would also have the advantage of you only needing to load it into your car when you go on a trip. In my situation with conventional tyres and a full size spare, I have to carry the spare around with me the whole time. For me, that not an issue - but it may be for others.

Likewise, ride comfort on runflats is a very subjective issue. No doubt there are many people on this forum to whom the ride comfort is not a problem. However in our case we found during the test drives that ride comfort was simply not acceptable for what is a luxury vehicle. But we loved the car so much - especially the 30d engine - that we were not going to let the issue of the runflats deter us from getting the X3. The end result - on 17" conventional tyres - is a car with better ride comfort than our previous ride (a MY05 Volvo XC70) and still miles ahead on handling and performance.

I hope some of this helps you with what you want to do. Again I think the key issue here is what solution is best for your own situation.

Tony
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