Lexus Runflats

[DuFFmAn]

Just come back from two different high street tyre places.. One being Kwik Fit and the other being Autocentre (Big green building)

Anyway, I'm not a big fan of runflat tyres... The rides abit harsh and tyres are quite noisy.

Went to Autocentre first who advised me that I will need to tell the insurance company if I replace the existing OEM runflats with standard tyres? Apparently it can invalidate the insurance? Anyone else come across this before? I generally don't mind telling the insurance but I'm pretty sure they'll slap me with a £30 admin charge for telling them!!

Then shot off to KwikFit, and they say that the car should have the runflats replaced with runflats as the suspension is set up for these tyres... I followed this with - If the tyre is the exact same size, exact same shape and can equally carry 800kg plus at each wheel, in what way would the suspension be set up differently??? I got a blank response to this...

Anyway, I thought I would ask the experts here... Is it okay to replace my tyres with non-runflats? Will it invalidate my insurance? Will it ruin the setup, ride and handling of the vehicle?

The car is a GS450h and came as standard with the horrid runflats...

Any thoughts and opinions appreciated...

Regards

 

[andy_k]

the sidewalls of runflats are much heavier/rigid than standard tyres so the suspension would become softer, maybe ride a little lower - as for stability, I'm not sure.

Yes, it probably would be classed as a mod by your insurance company as you are altering the setup of the car - whether or not they would charge you is another matter

 

[hawk20]

It's always worth checking with the insurance company beforehand rather than hearing later that you are uninsured because you did not tell them.

But I don't think they will charge you anything for changing the tyres.