Am I correct in thinking...

[Mikeyplum]

...that runflat tyres can be replaced with ordinary, non runflat tyres without impeding safety or any other bumf?

The reason I ask is that a colleague has just rung a garage to get a quote on replacing two front tyres on a Mini Cooper S, of which, currently has runflats. My colleague specified that he no longer wishes runflats, just some run of the mill black circles to get him from A to B. The garage flat out refused to replace the runflats with ordinary tyres and categorically specified that the Tyre Pressure Warning Light, that is currently on because of a suspected puncture, would not go off unless replaced with runflats.

Said garage then proceeded to quote him £350 to replace the front tyres.

I reckon they are telling a few porkies.

[StottyZr]

I replaced my runflats with Falken 452's. Runflats were £260, Falkens £130. There is no noticable change in grip at all and the Falkens have worn a lot better than the Runflats.

The garage is making things up . Although make sure you friend gets XL rated tyrewalls, these are stiffer and will act more like the runflats.

[jon-]

They are. The only problem going to non runflat tyres is the lack of spare.

I can understand why a garage wouldn't want to change just 2 tyres to non-runflats, but at the end of the day many people do just this.

[kambites]

Perfectly safe to do and I can't imagine a design of pressure sensor that wouldn't work with normal tyres, although I don't actually know how the sensors work.

[StottyZr]

kambites said:

Perfectly safe to do and I can't imagine a design of pressure sensor that wouldn't work with normal tyres, although I don't actually know how the sensors work.

I'm also unsure so I didn't want to comment directly on the sensor comment from the garage. But my pressure sensors exactly the same (I know this as I recently drove over a large nail )

[Mikeyplum]

Thanks for the comments guys!

StottyZr said:

kambites said:

Perfectly safe to do and I can't imagine a design of pressure sensor that wouldn't work with normal tyres, although I don't actually know how the sensors work.

I'm also unsure so I didn't want to comment directly on the sensor comment from the garage. But my pressure sensors exactly the same (I know this as I recently drove over a large nail )

I have done a little reading and the Pressure Indicator utilizes the ABS sensor and measures the speed in which the wheel turns. From this, it determines the rolling circumference of the wheel. If the pressure is low, it will have a smaller rolling circumference which sets off the indicator.