Low profile tyres, high puncture rate

CreepingDeath

Hi,

I bought a second hand 2.0 litre Celica in June, with low profile tyres.
I've had 3 punctures so far.

Granted, one of them was a slow puncture due to a bad remount of the tyre on the wheel. ( leaking around the rims )

Anyone else have high puncture rates on low profile tyres ?
Tis getting a bit annoying at this stage.

cheers

mickdw

245/40/18 and no puncture problems and previous car had 225/45/18 without problem also. I wouldnt go any lower than that on country roads and even with those, I need to be wary of potholes.

Scottie99

Yea my wife had problems with low profile tyres. She had a double blow out on a Meath road while 8 month pregnant at 10pm:mad: I sold the car, never again will I(she) get low profile tyres.

Meath Roads:mad::mad::mad::mad::mad:

Berty

Have 245/45/R17 and only had a puncture last week.

I put it down to the fact the tyres were bald so had less resistance.

The only issue I have is the ride is fairly rough instead of the smooth ride on the 15"s I had before with a tyre wall of 65.

niceirishfella

Yep, Low pros here in this country are a waste of time.
The give a poor ride, shake the be-jazus out of the car and are prone to punctures. I've had them in the past and just avoid them now - maybe i'm getting old!

kluivert

***/45/*** is minimum requirement in Ireland.

Anything lower than this, your going to have trouble unless you drive really slow over lumps and bumps.

Celica I thought had 15/16 inch alloys as standard.

CreepingDeath

kluivert wrote: »

Celica I thought had 15/16 inch alloys as standard.

True, but when I bought it in June it had non-factory 215/45/17 alloys.

And the feckers from a certain second hand dealership on the Naas Road said they put on new tyres, but must've thrown in any old spare tyre.

The spare didn't fit. The Celica has a 5 bolt pattern, the spare tyre had a 4 bolt pattern. :mad:

Only found out yesterday, Christmas day when I had the punctured one off and tried fitting the spare.
Thank God for the AA, they towed it to a garage this morning and fixed the puncture. Will be paying the dealer a visit soon.

crosstownk

Low profile tyre tend to suffer from impact punctures more so than higher profile tyres. Hit a kerb or a stone and the tyre gets 'pinched' between the rim and the offending object.

Renault shipped 17 inch 45s with the Laguna II Supersport a few years ago and eventually down graded to 55s and a smaller alloy due to the volume of tyre damage.

Bandara

I've got 255/35/18s and drive a lot of country milage without any punctures at all in the past 18 months.

Matt Simis

kluivert wrote: »

***/45/*** is minimum requirement in Ireland.

Anything lower than this, your going to have trouble unless you drive really slow over lumps and bumps.

That doesnt really make sense when you consider the first 3 stars are the width which the "45" is a percent of. For instance 225/45/17 have the same sidewall as 255/40/17. Wider wheels matched with wider tyres also allow a lower profile without compromising ride and safety.
http://www.miata.net/garage/tirecalc.html

Ive had 255/35/20" and did have some issues on "Meath roads", but that was in part due to the car being too heavy for the load rating on the tyres. Ive changed to heavy load, high speed 275/35/20's and got a vastly improved ride and handling, zero punctures or issues driving daily on awful roads.

Saying that, if peoples image of "low profile" is a Golf with 19" (235/30/19) rims then, yeah, thats retarded for Ireland.

L-M

Matt Simis wrote: »

That doesnt really make sense when you consider the first 3 stars are the width which the "45" is a percent of. For instance 225/45/17 have the same sidewall as 255/40/17. Wider wheels matched with wider tyres also allow a lower profile without compromising ride and safety.
http://www.miata.net/garage/tirecalc.html

Ive had 255/35/20" and did have some issues on "Meath roads", but that was in part due to the car being too heavy for the load rating on the tyres. Ive changed to heavy load, high speed 275/35/20's and got a vastly improved ride and handling, zero punctures or issues driving daily on awful roads.

Saying that, if peoples image of "low profile" is a Golf with 19" (235/30/19) rims then, yeah, thats retarded for Ireland.

Completely off topic,but what a might car you have sir. My god:o

Quazzie

I have the same tyres on my lexus, and I get a puncture about once every three months. It always seems to be in the walls of the tyre so they need to be replaced. I think its because I buy cheap tyres (€100) but I have the car a year and a half now and have already gone through 8 tyres

Matt Simis

Limerick-man wrote: »

Completely off topic,but what a might car you have sir. My god:o

Thanks!
To think it only costs as much as a little 2.0 litre Golf GTI (albeit 2008 model), half the car in many ways.. :P

L-M

Matt Simis wrote: »

Thanks!
To think it only costs as much as a little 2.0 litre Golf GTI (albeit 2008 model), half the car in many ways.. :P

I think i've just spotted you on Vag drivers, unless there's more of ye:p

damoz

crosstownk wrote: »

Low profile tyre tend to suffer from impact punctures more so than higher profile tyres. Hit a kerb or a stone and the tyre gets 'pinched' between the rim and the offending object.

Renault shipped 17 inch 45s with the Laguna II Supersport a few years ago and eventually down graded to 55s and a smaller alloy due to the volume of tyre damage.

Sorry to resurrect this thread - but i hit a pot hole in a Laguna II SuperSport at the weekend. Caused pretty major damage to the alloy - and got a puncture (damn Meath roads ! ).

Anyhow - does anyone know where i could get an OEM Renault 17 inch alloy for same.

netwhizkid

Isn't there also a problem with speed bumps? I had a lift with a friend recently to the garage to collect my own car after servicing and his Golf was running on low profiles and it was an incredibly uncomfortable ride. They are ok on that special car who take out for a "scorch" on the weekends but otherwise they seem totally unpractical imo.

Anan1

They're good if you spend your time pootling around admiring your wheels in the reflection from shop windows.

Matt Simis

netwhizkid wrote: »

Isn't there also a problem with speed bumps? I had a lift with a friend recently to the garage to collect my own car after servicing and his Golf was running on low profiles and it was an incredibly uncomfortable ride. They are ok on that special car who take out for a "scorch" on the weekends but otherwise they seem totally unpractical imo.

Incorrect.
This is because your friend has the wrong load rated or simply way too low profile tyres on. Again, only us Oirish have such black and white views on tyres, there is no defined "low profile" size. Getting the correct tyre but lower profile, within reason, should not seriously impact ride. There seems to be some sort of mental problem with Golf owners trying to put on 19"ers, thats never going to work correctly. I had 18" on my S4 and allroad and 20" on the Phaeton, all with ride parameters, but I tend to nerd it up (ie research things) before doing them. Given the difference in chassis size between a Golf and Phaeton, logically the Golf should have considerably smaller wheels (ie not 1" between them). The 20" wheel with low profile tyres on the Phaeton has about 20mm more sidewall height than an average 19" on the Golf, to say nothing for the width difference (about 50mm), all the while having large alloy area (20 vs 19 would usually entail less sidewall and more "metal")..
http://www.miata.net/garage/tirecalc.html

Also, good suspension vs crap suspension becomes rapidly apparent the less sidewall you have.

Anan1 wrote: »

They're good if you spend your time pootling around admiring your wheels in the reflection from shop windows.

Woah there horsey, what car enthusiast doesnt do that?! :cool:

Anan1

Matt Simis wrote: »

Woah there horsey, what car enthusiast doesnt do that?! :cool:

I don't. I like driving, I couldn't care less what my car looks like from the outside.

Matt Simis

Anan1 wrote: »

I don't. I like driving, I couldn't care less what my car looks like from the outside.

Really? I just like what my cars look like! Im always smirking at them.

Anan1

Matt Simis wrote: »

Really? I just like what my cars look like!

Most people do, in fairness. Actually it's not quite true that I don't care what my cars look like, I do favour anonymity. When you're doing something illegal, no attention is good attention.

Matt Simis

Anan1 wrote: »

Most people do, in fairness. Actually it's not quite true that I don't care what my cars look like, I do favour anonymity. When you're doing something illegal, no attention is good attention.

Lol, teasing us with tidbits of your nightlife like that, Im now picturing you doing ram-raids and gun running. :pac:

pburns

It's not just potholes and increased liklihood of punctures. Actually if you're careful that shouldn't be too much of a problem. The lower profile and loss of absorbtion means you'll be slower and less stable over averagish/bad country roads.

I have 17''ers but would be very reluctant to go beyond that. A regularish poster who once argued the superiority of the snazzy 18'' over standard 17'' on a Golf GTI reinforced my perception of him as more of a poser than keen driver!

I do love the look of big wheels though...

Matt Simis

pburns wrote: »

It's not just potholes and increased liklihood of punctures. Actually if you're careful that shouldn't be too much of a problem. The lower profile and loss of absorbtion means you'll be slower and less stable over averagish/bad country roads.

Maybe, I found the move from 235 17" to 255 18" dramatically reduced wheel hop on the allroad. It became more composed and better handling. Alloys were slightly wider too.

I have 17''ers but would be very reluctant to go beyond that.

Yeah, +1" is the best all round fit. More than that you get into show over go.

leeroybrown

My current car is 225/45/17. My previous car was the same. For me that tyre aspect is pretty much the ideal for the poor roads I find myself on. While 18's would look even better on my car the risk of a damaged wheel on some of the roads I drive on wouldn't be worth it.

.Longshanks.

225/35/18's on mine for almost 16 months now - no issues

L-M

Longshanks100 wrote: »

225/35/18's on mine for almost 16 months now - no issues

18's on the Corsa OPC? Jaysus!

CJhaughey

I fitted 265/75-16s and haven't had a problem:D