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Ron - I was just trying to keep things as simple as possible for RVT. Not that I am implying that RVT is simple . You are right however casing construction also plays a big part - which I forgot to include. Those Pirellis seem like the biz - I would get them as well!!

OT but... When I learnt to drive, defensive driving courses were all about being behind the wheel and gaining practical knowledge. Has this changed?

I'm just winding you up MS BM . May be we should start calling you Murray. Hint: Think about a certain Sky commentator and his brilliant quotes

Did you really just say that???

haha - you are probably right!! man I am a noob sometimes. It was too early in the morning and I hadn't had my coffee

wheres the dragon?? compulsory or banned

+1 for these guys, they are awesome

haha - we are all biased in the trade!! I would look for a tyre with the highest Load Index, as generally speaking the higher the load index the stronger the sidewalls are. For example the Goodyear Eagle F1 in a 225/55/17 has a 101XL load index where as the Bridgestone RE001 has a 97 load index. Another option is to look for an SUV type tyre, obviously not as performance oriented but I would say less likely to get punctures. Something like the Wrangler F1 may be an option for you. There are plenty of good brands in the market and we do not deal with all of them - Yokohama for example. The mousse is a way of allowing you to reinflate the tyre and get to your nearest tyre store, but obviously nothing beats carrying a spare. I would investigate a spare through Audi, over the life of the vehicle you will probably recoup the costs by buying normal tyres. You might be able to find one through a wrecker? As I mentioned earlier your is the first All Road that I have come across with run flats, all others have had a spare and a little compressor. I have just spoken to the guys at Audi up here and the run flats are indeed a factory option. They don't sell then here because of the lack of availability, but they can get a spare for you. I didn't ask for a price tho as I wasn't sitting down cheers Jono

fair enough I was actually being serious when I was asking if anybody had actually gone and looked at i. Ps I agree with you Glenn, could be a great basis for a race car.

Yours would be the first All Road I have come across that uses Run Flat tyres. Was it a factory option? If you decide to go to normal tyres can you order a spare through Audi? Personally I would look at getting a good set of normal tyres with a nice stiff sidewall casing and put a couple of cans of mousse in the boot. Try and find a tyre with the highest load rating you can. With either tyre if you get a puncture, chances are you will have to replace it anyway as the sidewall damage will mean that the tyre is no longer usable. Run Flats especially, can be quite difficult to tell when you do actually have a puncture. The big bonus is of course that normal tyres are substantially cheaper and much more readily available. Have you thought about what will happen if you do stuff a tyre that you have imported yourself? How will you replace it? What about the time it will take to get a tyre from the USA? cheers

Has anyone on here actually gone and looked at the car? Why is is that Kiwi's are all so quick to "poo poo" stuff?? Maybe it failed the warrant because it needs a cert? Who knows?

What size tyres are you looking for? Pricing changes monthly with tyres depending on the brand and what is on special.

No 235/55/17's available either. It is much closer in size than a 225/50/17 to your OE size. The trouble is NZ is such a small market and most of the major tyre companies only bring in tyres that they know they wil sell plenty of. Just on a side note - I thought that the All-Road had a self inflating spare like Porsche do?

Ron here is the difference for the tyres that should be on your car compared to what you have on the car Specification Diameter Circumference Revolutions Speedometer Odometer Difference 225/55-432 679mm 2134mm 469/km 100km/h 15000km N/A 225/50-432 657mm 2063mm 485/km 103km/h 15514km -3.3% as you can see it is over 3% difference, so technically you should be failed on your WOF. Personally I think your best option will be to get the correct size tyre and get a couple of cans of mousse. At that least that way you will be able to reinflate the tyre and get to your nearest tyre store. cheers Jono

I was actually going to mention that but it did slip my mind. The 225/55 is definitely the way to go, your current tyres are actually 5% smaller than OE so will be racking up the km's quite a bit quicker. Let me check tomorrow and see what is available, cheers.

you certainly do, it must be all that extra 'technological stuff' in the tyre It dosn't help that Dunlop have put up all their pricing as well

pm sent

It really is a struggle to get a 9.5" on the rear of a standard E46, especially if you have a sedan. The absolute 100% correct tyre size is to use a 255/30/19, but this can be a very difficult tyre to try and find. Some people will stretch a 235/35/19 onto the rear to give you just a little bit more guard clearance. If you have your heart set on a 19x9.5 you really need to look for rim with at least a +45 offset so that it sits under the guards, and even then you may have to roll the rear guards slightly. E46's also have a double skinned guard which makes it that much harder to roll the rears.

Those prices are actually really cheap if it includes fitting and balancing, gst etc. I can only assume you are comparing normal tyre pricing to the runflats.. Runflats are always a lot more expensive.

You can 'normal' tyres on run flat rims although it is preferential to use run flat tyres. However some people do not like the ride given by runflat tyres so prefer to use a 'normal' tyre. Run flat rims are constructed differently to normal tubeless rims. They have a deeper and stronger bead. From memory most BMW's do not have the sensor in the rim but rather in the hub. What size are you currently running? Let me know and I will price up some options for you cheers.

In my experience cracked rims are generally due to running under inflated tyres on the wheels. Italian made rims also tend to be made of a 'softer' alloy than the Asian made rims as well and so are more prone to buckling. Sometimes replica rims can be stronger than genuine factory wheels. We just took off a set of 19" RS6 wheels that had cracked in the spoke on an Audi and replaced them with our replicas. When you put the wheels side by side there was extra material in the spoke wall on the replica that made it a lot stronger. Unfortunately when buying 2nd hand it really is a case of buyer beware, and as has been mentioned make sure you check them out before you purchase them. Somtimes it actually works out cheaper in the long run to buy new wheels.

All I have to say is that colour is HAWT!!!!

quite possibly but if your phone isn't in your hand (which would be the BIGGEST Giveaway) and instead in your manbag, then you have no worries

the olny iproamtnt tihng is taht the frsit and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae

Suggest next time you actually think things through before you post maybe the phone in your hand??