There was a Tesla with electro-luminescent paint on a show that could be lit up in flashing patterns like a cuddlefish. If mechanically adept, a decent air compressor and tire plug kit would allow the switching to lighter, standard tires for fuel savings.
But then the car wouldn't have run-flat tires. I understand the need for lower gasoline use, but when it's at the expense of safety, maybe it's not such a good idea.
That would be cool. Hahaha! Yeah, right. Big if, that one. I am not mechanically adept. I agree. Particularly here - there are a lot of pretty crap roads out in the bush, so I'd really rather have run-flats and sacrifice a bit of weight.
Kitty's sacrifices with respect to weight are a matter of record here Field repair of tyres* is not simply a matter of adeptation. Sidewall cuts are fatal. Main-tread puncture repairs are feasible, but are nails and screws really how Aussie Outback eats tyres*?
I am indeed built rather more for comfort than for speed. I lost a Prius tyre to rocks when travelling home from Canberra once. I had to avoid the motorway because of a severe hailstorm (which was writing off cars on the motorway), and instead took a road East to the coast and then North to Sydney. Google Maps and I will have to agree to disagree over what constitutes a "road" and what constitutes "some rocks in a line between some fields". Other than the tyre, the Prius coped surprisingly well on the sort of road you'd usually think could be covered by a LandCruiser and nothing less. The biggest problem for tyres in the Outback is drop bears. They drop out of trees and bite through tyres. They are a menace.
Glad that drop bears have joined our discussion. Amazing though that some people question their existence. A most horrible death...
Run flat tires are great for 10,000 miles then they are a gimmick, they don't roll when flat, they mush, and they give fewer mpg's their whole life, and they cost more, had some on a X1, they weren't a joke, there was nothing funny about how awful they were.
Some info: What happens when a run-flat tire goes flat - Roadshow Pros and Cons of Run-Flats and Self-Sealing Tires Swapping to regular tires isn't just fuel savings, but also cost savings, and ride improvement. Thus why I wouldn't swap them out without a way to repair and reinflate, or even getting a spare tire You should probably throw some patches in with the plug kit in case of sidewall damage. Won't help with severe sidewall damage, but then a run-flat tire might not either.
Thanks for that. It was very interesting. I suspect that when these tyres are worn out, I might replace them with normal tyres and one of those gunky temporary repair kits. I will have to look into the pros and cons of them. Obviously for now, any fuel saving would be more than outweighed by the cost of four new tyres. Surely the weight of a spare wheel and tyre would be more than the additional weight of run-flats over normal tyres? And there's nowhere to put the spare. Australian Ford Falcon LPG taxis have a spare tyre in the boot. That means there is nowhere to put your luggage when you get one to the airport. It is stupid. Thank goodness they're being gradually replaced with Priuses, HyCams and London Taxis.
One of the articles mention that. Though the spare is heavier, it isn't unsprung weight. Changes to tire and wheel weights have a bigger effect to efficiency, handling, and ride because they are unsprung and spinning weight changes.
