Tyres

After a recent tyre change I noticed a vibration from the front and rear of my 2006 Falcon XR6 Turbo. I complained of improper balancing to the fitters, who rebalanced the tyres without making any improvement. The blame has been attributed to the alloy wheels being slightly out of round, but I feel this cannot be the case. I have never had an accident with the car, neither have I curbed the wheels. I have checked the car thoroughly with the Ford dealer where the car is serviced and they have blamed the tyres. The tyre dealer says there is nothing wrong with the tyres after having them checked visually.
 

While my Mercedes C200 is a very nice car, I am not happy that it doesn’t have a spare wheel of any sort. Is it possible to fit any Bridgestone tyres to the run-flat rims, and carry a steel spare in the floor?

What are the benefits of using low-profile tyres on larger alloy rims? I can understand that alloy rims can result in lower total rolling mass, and therefore - in theory - providing a better result for the suspension by decreasing the outboard mass. But is there really a benefit of using the very low-profile tyres, as is frequently done on top-of-the-range models of many cars? It seems to me these tyres are likely to be more expensive to buy and replace, more susceptible to damage in harsh situations, and with the associated higher tyre pressure, giving a firmer ride. So, is it purely cosmetic, or are there some other real benefits?

I live in the country and have now had two flat tyres in six months on my 2010 BMW 535i with run-flat tyres. The tyres split due to potholes, so there was no way I could continue driving. I had no spare tyre, no jack, and I was stuck miles from the support network. Useless. Is there a space-saver type wheel/tyre and jacking device available for this car?

I'm another owner to have experienced poor wear from the Kumho tyres on my Kia Rio. They maxed out at 35,000km so I recently replaced them with Yokohama Blue Earth AE01 tyres and the car is better than new.

I own a 2012 Kia Rio sedan that has just been serviced at 23,693km and I've been told that I require new tyres all around. When I contacted Kia I was told that the tyres should be rotated at every service. This was done. Kia also referred to the usual causes of tyre wear: tyre pressure, driving style etc. My tyre centre told me that the tyres supplied with the car from the factory were low grade. I would like to hear your opinion as to steps, if any, I can take through Kia motors.

Do you have comments to make about run-flat tyres? It seems that increasingly car manufacturers are dispensing with spare tyres, offering, at best, "space saver" tyres, or, more commonly, nothing other than a tube of sealant. We undertake longish trips quite often, and as we are both elderly, feel uneasy about the prospect of being stranded in the event of a puncture in some remote area. A friend, who's BMW suffered a flat in country Victoria, was forced to stay overnight because the nearest garage did not stock replacements.

I've noticed a few readers questioning noisy tires. My 2011 Mitsubishi Pajero has Cooper AT/3 tyres which drive us mad with whining on certain road surfaces. I've been told that the Bridgestone AT 967 is less noisy and I'd much prefer to stay with a all-terrain tyre since we do some stretches of unsealed roads.

I have a query regarding the standard tyres for the VW Golf Comfortline 90 TSI. I bought one last week which was fitted with Hankook 205x55 R16 tyres, but later I found out that some Golfs identical to mine are fitted with Michelin or Dunlop tyres. Can you clarify: is this a random thing or was I short-changed?

Re road noise from Bridgestone Potenza RE050 low-profile tyres. I've endured these thumping things on my Volkswagen Jetta from day one — for 35,000km — and look forward to ditching them. The deafening noise on bitumen, especially at low speed, has been constant, regardless of rotations and alignments. Earplugs have only given some relief.