Run Flat....

[Philip Foglar]

Are the Hankook runflats much better than the Continentals ? I've got the standard 16's, 205 Conti's on my 320i and I find that road noise is relatively high at speed. Even at lower speeds, I can hear the road...and I think the run flats are to blame. Now I don't know if the Continentals are particularly bad run flats, but if the Hankooks are much better for noise and aren't much more than conventional tires then perhaps I should just get those rather than investing in a mobility kit which will take much 99.8% of my boot space (the other .2% is the sub cabinet).

When I bought the car it had Continental Contact Sports 2 RFTs all round - the rear pair looked new with the date stamp showing late 2009 manufacture. The front pair both have date stamp going back to mid 2005 although they still had a fair amount of tread left. But they were particularly noisy and tramlined badly! The Hankooks are quiet and perform very nicely as far as I am concerned - comfortable and seem to grip well (haven't had them in the wet yet though), and importantly, they don't seem to tramline. The Contis on the rear are still quiet and otherwise fine, but I will be replacing them with the Hankooks all going well...

 

[Olorin]

Thanks for the feedback ! Then I think I'll see if I can get a quote on the Hankooks. Although my brother tells me that if I decide to go for 225's for the rears that it will be noisier (all things being equal) vs the 205's I've got now.

I think 225's give a much sportier look on the road and I imagine I should have a bit more grip too ? Thanks again for your feedback.

 

[Olorin]

Gave Tiger a call and the rep told me that the Hankook runflats (not sure what model) 205/16 costs R1200 per tire. Only R50 more than the Continentals (again, not sure of the mode). Can that be right ? Because I asked him and he said that normal tires were only R200 less expensive in a similar size. That's very inexpensive. And I hear I thought that runflats cost R3k per tire.

So the general consensus is that the Hankooks are not bad ? Does that go for the entry-level stuff as well ?

 

[Philip Foglar]

Maybe in that size they are more reasonably priced. Could be that on the smaller tyres they aren't bumping up the profit margin as much since maybe there isn't as much demand compared to the 17" and in particular 18" sizes. Definitely worth the shopping around. Regarding the noise of 225s compared to the 205s - shouldn't be that much different while the grip will be better of course, and the look.

I think Hankook has come a long way over the years and is giving the big names a run for their money - I would think this reflects across their product range...

 

[Olorin]

Thanks for your advice ! If I were to go for the 225's it would be 16's, but for the fronts, what would I need to go for ? I think they are 195's for the fronts right now. Can I leave it at 195's or should I go 205's ? Any advice would be appreciated.

 

[Philip Foglar]

I think the matching sizes front and rear would be:

205/55 R 16
225/50 R 16

Which wheels are they going to be fitted on? What about just going 225/50 R 16 front and rear? The advantage then is that you can at least still rotate front to back every so often.

 

[Olorin]

I'm not sure what wheels I've got. It's just standard wheels I guess. Not much help, I know. So going 225's all around with 16's will work ? My main concern here is price and obviously I don't want to go up to 17's as that would require new rims altogether. Although the idea of rotating the tires every 10k or so to prolong the life of the tires sounds like a very good idea.

 

[Philip Foglar]

Check this site to see which wheel style you have - it also shows the various offsets and other info.
http://felgenkatalog.auto-treff.com/

That's one of the things that I reckon I would battle to get use to if I had a narrow/wide wheel and tyre set up, not being able to rotate. Also for rotating and balancing even 5000 km is a good (actually better) interval. Just out of interest, keep an eye on the Gum if you are thinking of upping to 17" - often find used OEM sets that are otherwise fine and for decent money...

 

[Olorin]

Thanks again for helping !

 

[Philip Foglar]

You're welcome!

 

[herr bmw]

was at tiger wheel and tyre,menlyn today,they could only quote me on michelin,225/40/18 front,255/35/18rear. R20988.70
told me thats all they had,asked about hankook,told me hankook dont have run flats,is this true?

then went to hi q dastek,quoted me R14219.80 for the same michelins.still havent bought as im not really in a hurry and am looking around first