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Re: Pothole queen tire thread

-hh
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SubjectRe: Pothole queen tire thread
From-hh
Date02/28/2014 15:55 (02/28/2014 06:55)
Message-ID<6a8c60d9-a203-412c-b434-f6fcd7877a04@googlegroups.com>
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Newsgroupscomp.sys.mac.advocacy
FollowsLloyd E Parsons
FollowupsLloyd E Parsons (20m) > -hh
Lloyd Parsons wrote:

Lloyd E Parsons
A popular size these days seems to be 235/45R18, saw it on lots of cars while I was looking and is what is on the Verano. But they sure don't cost $600 apiece!! :)

The 'Run Flat' technology adds a lot to the expense.

For example, a random suitable tire pick from Tire Rack...

<http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=Michelin&tireModel=Latitude+Tour+HP+ZP&partnum=55HR9LTHPXLZPV2>

...is a 255/50R19 runflat for BMW. FYI, I chose a 19" because that's what I'm seeing around as well as in my tire-kicking. A smaller rim is often still available, but the larger is a default and "free" upgrade ... which means most consumers will probably opt for them.

Okay, so Tire Rack says that this tire's MSRP is $335, plus their shipping charge to my zip code is +$98.60, so you're looking at $433 just to get it to your doorstep. Now you need to take it down to your local garage for old tire dismount & disposal, new tire mount & balance, sales tax, etc. Locally, we have a State ~$10 disposal fee on old tires and its easily $50 for mount/balance of a new, so with 7% sales tax, the tab is already at $527.

Setting aside any surcharges to cut the old tire off the rim or any rim damage, considering just one last factor which is that the modern cars have tire pressure monitoring electronics often inside the rim, if the blowout took out this black box, they cost usually around another $75 or so per corner, which would put our running total up to $600.

Even at those somewhat lower prices, it is fucking ridiculous for something less than a full blown racer for tires and rims.

That it is. I've found the high cost to have been surprising,but fortunately, they've not been my bill to pay. More cynically, I also see them as "surprise" expenses that the OEM did not lose the initial new car sales for, but it is making for more and more unhappy customers. The owner of the tire garage that I've been using for years has told me that he's been watching his customers get ticked off enough such that they've been getting rid of their BMWs and buying other brands which do not have runflat tires.

The story is that it is to help with fuel mileage as the rim material is lighter than the tire material.

Which kind of makes sense, since the rubber of runflats is significantly heavier than non-runflats. BMW's elimination of the spare tire didn't really save 75lbs, because the runflats added back roughly 15 extra pounds (of unsprung weight, no less) to each corner. A very poor decision to make from an Engineering perspective.

-hh

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Lloyd E Parsons (20m) > -hh