[londonlad]

Am flirting with the CLA.
I saw the car in a local dealership yesterday and loved the look. It would work for me (second car is a wagon) but I cant determine if the standard 250 comes with regular tires or run flats. Is there a spare of any description?

 

[kenbefound]

comes with run flats, no place to put a spare.

 

[londonlad]

Thanks Kenbefound.

Am I just getting too old? I really can't get my head around this "run flat no spare" movement. Last puncture I had (admittedly 10 years ago) was in the wilds of Maine on a public holiday.

 

[kenbefound]

You're welcome. I think you can drive at least 50 miles on run flats. From what I've learned they do not suffer from blowouts. You could carry a portable air compressor in your car if that brings you some peace of mind. Probably what I'll do. I've been in some pretty rural parts of NE myself. At 52 I am ok with it. Seems to be where all new cars are going.

 

[Sue Esponte]

It's a change like any other but I prefer the idea of runflats to regular tires with a "fix-a-flat" kit; which is what they're doing with the CLA45. Just keep in mind that you can generally drive up to 100 miles on runflats without any air. Also, you can plug them just you like would plug a regular tire. I've posted pictures of a blowout my cousin had with runflats on her rental car in other threads. She was able to safely stop her car from 75mph without any tread left on the rims without damaging herself, anyone else, the rim or the car. The rim showed no signs of curb rash even. If her car had been riding on regular tires she would have destroyed the rim at a minimum.

The only arguable downsides to runflats are cost and some people complain that the ride is harder than with a regular tire. A fix-a-flat kit gets you none of the benefits of runflats and all of the downsides of a regular tire without a spare. PLUS, you get the added benefit of ruining your tire (so that you can't plug it) and your rim (the goo you spray into your tire also coats/destroys the rim).

-Eric

 

[Rbanda]

Actually you can fit a donut spare on the car, someone in this forum found the part number form Mercedes and the tire from Goodyear. It has been a while since read about it but it is here. I can't get around the idea of no spare so I plan to get the donut once I get ride of the run flats and buy real tires. Run flats ride bad and are heavy and expensive but it is the wave of the future to save weight on cars.


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