I'm still surprised that now we're 5 - 6 years into F-type production, & no tire manufacturers makes Run-Flat tires that'll fit my R.

With 3 flat tires over the years on crappy Houston roads, luckily both my C5 & C7 Corvettes had Run-Flat tires for me to limp back to the dealer & Discount Tire for replacement under tire warranty, instead to stuck on the side of the road or trying to fix/inflate myself.
Thinking about putting the spare RF Michelin PSS, although one size smaller, 285 instead of 295...

Please, Please, Please, Do not hijack the thread to espouse your hatred of Run-Flat tires or how horrible you think their performance is.

 

Damn your last sentence! You're absolutely right about Houston roads.

 

If you live in a war zone, perhaps buy a lifted truck with mud tires?

 

Without denigrating run-flats, the typical high performance enthusiast will shy away from them, leaving a relatively small market size that barely accommodates far more popular car models than the F-Type. Given the limited number of F-Types sold, the small percentage of potential run-flat buyers just wouldn’t support putting them into production.

 

What about a donut tire to allow just enough mobility to avoid getting stranded? Just a thought.

 

That is why I gave up the cargo space, to have the spare tire.

 

Most brands have abandoned run-flats as they are. Now there is a pretty big effort to bring to market airless tires which, if they work, should address the core problem of the flat in the first place. The tires look a little strange and mounting gets a ton easier as the wheel and tire are one unit (at least in some designs). Here is a video of the Michelin effort. Give it a couple of years and this should become an option.

 

My convertible F-type won't hold a compact space, just barely enough for 2 repair/inflate kits.

That Michelin airless tire looks promising....

 

Damnit, I was getting revved up to to hijack this thread - I think we are SOL with convertibles regarding a space-saver spare though unfortunately. I just use the mobility fix-a-flat kit for my BMW and may purchase a second one for this car as well.

 

You should already have one on the left hand side of your luggage compartment.

 

The airless tire functionality may be nice, but I wouldn't want those ugly things on a sports car.

 

You know that's a cutaway shot of the tire to show how the internals work, & final version is regular looking tire, right?

 

Are you sure about that? My understanding is that Uptis is an evolution of the "tweel"; which looks much the same.

 

What about the roads in the US!?

 

Clearly, the tire companies are working on appearance and I wouldn't take the prototypes as final for the airless tires. But they will likely be open for heat dissipation as the constant flexing will generate a lot of heat. But here are some better looking prototypes.

 

Better looking perhaps, but still not something I would voluntarily put on any of my cars. It does not look like the things would function properly with cosmetic sidewalls. If they would, I suspect one of the companies would be showing them as the cosmetic improvement would go a long way in boosting consumer acceptance and future sales.

 

Looks like there are some good nesting spots for insects and rodents if your car sits too long. Will rocks and pebbles get in there? Maybe I'm not seeing the dimensionality of the images correctly?

 

You know tires originally were solid rubber. It continues to amaze me how locked in we are to what we are used to and how aggressively we fight change. I expect though, the first cars to get these will be designed for them. As to the rocks and stuff, this kind of tire is already in use for off-road and they seem to be doing ok. https://www.powersportsuperstore.com...313&CADEVICE=c

Here is a review: https://www.thedrive.com/news/20958/...l-airless-tire

 

These Michelin Tweels looks promising. They'll need to fully cover them for use in cars..

 

I consider myself pretty open to change but am pretty strongly opposed to ugly; especially since these seem to require ditching traditional rims as well.