A Guide to Run Flat Car Tyres: How to Keep Motoring After a Punctured Tyre

Run flat tyres are a relatively new innovation that allows you to keep motoring even if one or more of your tyres develops a puncture. However whilst they do prevent the inconvenience of being stranded at the side of the road they do still have their limits, which need to be followed in order to continue your journey safely.

Run flat tyres normally have a significantly reinforced sidewall, which is thicker and stronger than that of a conventional tyre. This means that even if air pressure is lost from the tyre due to a puncture, the sidewall still has significant rigidity to allow the tyre to maintain its shape and stay in full contact with the road.

Because these strengthened tyres are so good at controlling the effects of a puncture, a driver may not even be aware that they have a problem. Therefore an onboard monitoring system will be fitted as standard to alert the driver to any loss of tyre pressure, and so you must only fit this type of tyres to a vehicle that has a tyre pressure monitoring system.

Once a puncture has occurred you can still continue motoring but you must adjust your driving style accordingly. Limit your maximum speed to just 50 mph and travel no more than 50 miles from the point that the puncture was first identified. You should therefore arrange to have the tyre replaced as soon as possible after the event.

Because of the technology involved and the demands placed upon them a run flat tyre cannot be repaired after it has been damaged by a puncture. When fitting a replacement you must make sure that the same brand of tyre is fitted across an axel and must not mix them with standard tyres, except in an extreme emergency.

There is no doubt that having run flat tyres fitted will prevent a driver from being stuck at the side of the road because of a puncture. It will also prevent a driver's worse nightmare of losing control of their vehicle at high speed because of a tyre blow. Puncture resistant tyres form part of a growing range of passive vehicle safety systems, which also includes stability control, anti-lock brakes and adaptive headlight bulbs.

Run flat tyres do however still have some drawbacks. The stiffened sidewall means that they give a much harsher ride than normal tyres, which can affect driver and passenger comfort. In addition, because they cannot be repaired they can work out overall more expensive than standard tyres, and if you cannot find a dealer that stocks a correct replacement you could be in for a lengthy wait whilst they order it in for you.