UK tyre organisation warns against retro fitting self supporting run-flat (SST) tyres

London -- the UK Tyre Industry Council has issued guidance aimed at preventing the fitment of run-flat tyres to cars lacking a tyre pressure monitoring system. The full text of the TIC statement reads as follows:

The fitment of SST run-flat tyres to cars not originally designed to accept these advanced types of tyre, and not equipped with a pressure monitoring system, is not recommended by the tyre industry's foremost safety body, the Tyre Industry Council.

A car's suspension is specifically tuned for SST run-flat tyres for maximum safety, performance, handling and ride quality. SST Run-flat tyres must only be fitted in conjunction with a tyre pressure monitoring system to ensure that a tyre deflation is communicated to the driver at the earliest possible moment. Failure to do so could result in a tyre being run in a deflated condition for longer than the recommended period and the driver left in ignorance of a tyre's condition.

Retrofitting of SST run-flat tyres may also compromise the ride characteristics of the vehicle to which they have been fitted because few older vehicles have been designed with run-flat fitment in mind.

An example pointed out to the TIC recently involved the fitment of a set of run-flat tyres to a ten year old vehicle not fitted with a tyre pressure monitoring system. The car suffered a puncture and the driver was unaware of the deflated tyre, which was run in this state for some time, and the car failed its MOT because of damage to the tyre.

All major tyre manufacturers producing SST run-flat tyres, along with all major tyre retailers, recommend against fitting run-flat tyres to vehicles not originally designed with this type of tyre in mind.

Self supporting run-flat tyres must never be mixed with standard tyres on any vehicle.