Bald tyres.

[-Bezza-]

Easy. If your tyres are legal you pass the MOT. So you're talking about the difference between 3.0mm tread and 2.9mm.

By the way, last year I replaced the 2 front tyres on my doblo and they were in a similar condition to the photo although we regularly check the tread. Our garage guy explained that it was a common problem caused by slight underinflation with some types of low profile tyres. Not cheap ones either. Apparently the ones we use have more steel under the tread which badly affects them if they're underinflated.

A Fiat Doblo on low-profile tyres! What kind of person are you!? :unsure:

I found out / was told quite recently that the pressure gauges on those tyre pumps at petrol stations are typically way out of whack on account of them being used so frequently and serviced so infrequently. If you set the pressure at a certain figure, all 4 tyres will almost certainly be at completely different pressures and not just slightly out.

 

[Dutto]

Apparently the ones we use have more steel under the tread which badly affects them if they're underinflated.

That's nice to know. Thanks!

 

[Gunge]

On a tenuously related note, the missus' 14 year old Picasso, which I maintain meticulously, has just passed its MOT with no advisories and 136K under its wheels. Yay!

 

[Graz]

Inexcusable at the best of times but when it's on the outside of the tyre it's easy enough to see. My BMW has a habit of wearing more quickly on the inside edge which is a bit of a pain but I do check them carefully now if they're looking to be getting low elsewhere on the tread and it's actually having two new front tyres tomorrow for that reason. That said the car has run flat tyres and I did have one blow out on me on the motorway with very little drama other than a pop followed about 10 seconds later by a warning from the tyre monitor that something was awry. Limped into work and back home again (on the lanes not the motorway) on the flat tyre before sorting its replacement a few days later. Very good safety feature that should be finding its way to other manufacturers but I guess the cost can be prohibitive.

 

[Chippy_Tea]

I am not a fan of run flat tyres and prefer a full size spare and a can of tyre weld to fix a puncture if changing the tyre would be dangerous (motorway etc), i have used tyre weld in the past and it works great.

They do not say in the "Cons" below that run flats cannot be repaired.







Pros:

• You can drive on a flat tire: The primary benefit of a run-flat tire is that it allows you to keep driving about 100 miles after all the air has gone. This means that a person doesn't have to get out of the car in the cold, or the rain, or onto a busy highway or on the street in a sketchy part of town. Drivers will usually have to reduce speed to about 50 mph to get the maximum range. The owner's manual will have exact figures for each tire/vehicle application.
• Better stability after a blowout: Because this tire can support the vehicle without air, a sudden deflation results in less weight transfer and tread destabilization. Steering and handling will remain near normal.
• Lower vehicle weight: With the spare and tire repair tools eliminated, vehicle weight should theoretically go down. But it's not as much as you might expect, since run-flat tires weigh more than regular tires, due to the added sidewall reinforcement.

Cons:

• No spare: Vehicles equipped with run-flat tires carry no spare, which means they don't have the jack or tools either. In fact, eliminating the spare and reallocating that space to some other purpose (styling, third-row seat, interior room, etc.) is a big reason why carmakers offer run-flats.
• Reduced tread wear: A recent study by J.D. Power found that people were replacing their run-flat tires an average of 6,000 miles sooner than owners using standard tires. Opinions differ on why this is, but one theory is that tiremakers put a soft tread compound on a run-flat tire to counter the hard ride. A side effect of the softer compound is a shorter tread life.
• Blowouts are still possible: If a driver fails to heed or notice the run-flat warning and drives beyond the zero-pressure range or above the speed limitation, the tire can begin to disintegrate, with the same destabilizing effects. Additionally, if the puncture occurred on the sidewall or if the tire hits a large object, the driver would have to call a tow truck. The J.D. Power study found that "customers with vehicles equipped with run-flat tires are nearly twice as likely as those with vehicles equipped with standard tires to have to replace a tire due to a flat or blowout."
• Hard to tell if it is low on air: A side effect of the stiffer construction is that the sidewalls do not bulge if the air pressure is low. This means that it is critical to have a tire-pressure monitoring system and check your tire pressure frequently.
• Harsher ride: The stiff sidewalls that make a run-flat work also result in a harder ride. If the vehicle came with run-flat tires from the factory, the automaker usually tunes the suspension to offset the harsher ride.
• Cost: Run-flat tires are more expensive to replace.

https://www.edmunds.com/driving-tips/run-flat-tires-a-primer.html

 

[marshbrewer]

I had run flats on my last but A3 in S-Line trim (so stupid rubber band ultra low profile tyres). Two things I will never entertain again, for the sake of my back!

BANG! CRASH! BANG! BANG!

and that was just reversing out of my drive..... :smile6: