Filed under: Aftermarket, Safety
Bridgestone 3G RFT Tires - Click above for high-res image gallery
The BMW enters the massive skidpad at more than 100 mph and begins a sweeping right turn along a soldiered row of orange cones. On cue, a pneumatic device attached to the hub of the spinning left rear wheel instantaneously rips its air valve clean out. Abruptly unsettled by the simulated tire "blow-out," and the collapse of the tire, the family wagon plunges into a long and flat uncontrolled spin knocking the hapless cones skyward in its wake. The BMW finally comes to a rest off course, facing 180-degrees from its original direction of travel.
Melodramatic in execution, the tire demonstration was repeated again moments later. This time the BMW was fitted with a set of Bridgestone's new third-generation run-flat tires. The high-speed blow-out again unsettled the car, but riding on sustained tire sidewalls it remained controllable as it tracked within the cordoned lane of orange cones and gently came to a stop.
The demonstration was powerful. Without a doubt, run-flat tires do work. Unfortunately, we've never met a set that didn't ride rough, weigh a literal ton, or cost us an arm and a leg at the register. We typically avoid them at all costs. Determined to make a change, Bridgestone invited us to Italy to try out its latest iteration of run-flats, promising to alter the way we think about the technology. What is this new tire? Why is it different from its predecessors? And, most importantly, how does it ride? Find those answers and more after the jump...
Photos Copyright (C)2009 Michael Harley / Weblogs, Inc.Continue reading Reviewed: Bridgestone 3G RFT Tires take the shock out of run-flats
Reviewed: Bridgestone 3G RFT Tires take the shock out of run-flats originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 06 Jul 2009 11:56:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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06-07-2009, 07:10 PM
