Pirelli Seal Inside tyres any good ?

[olderman1]

My car came with Pirelli Scorpion Verde Seal Inside tyres fitted as standard, which I've only just realised are all season tyres.

The car also came with what I assume is the standard puncture repair kit i.e. can of gunk and a small air pump.

My question is; do these tyres self seal as Pirelli claim, and if so, why is there a repair kit in the boot , or should I spend even more money on a space saver spare ?????

Anyone have experience of these tyres ??

[Gizmo]

As long as tyres can do this I will carry a spare! 

[Ootohere]

I have Continental ContiSeal tyres and they seal and depending on what punctured them and where they need a puncture repair carried out by someone that knows how to do a repair.

[Kenny R]

1 hour ago, olderman1 said:

My car came with Pirelli Scorpion Verde Seal Inside tyres fitted as standard, which I've only just realised are all season tyres.

 

Are you sure yours are all seasons?  Scorpion Verde tyres can be all season, winter,or summer varieties but those normally fitted to Kodiaq’s, including mine are of the summer type.

[olderman1]

31 minutes ago, Kenny R said:

Are you sure yours are all seasons?  Scorpion Verde tyres can be all season, winter,or summer varieties but those normally fitted to Kodiaq’s, including mine are of the summer type.

Well that's a good question. I was told that they were but I can't currently check cos it's hissing down and getting dark outside.

How does one tell which variety they are, is it stamped on them or is there a symbol to denote which is which ??

 

Whichever variety they are, the question still remains- will they work as described if punctured or should I get a space saver ?

 

P.S. Just found both versions online and you're right Kenny, I do have the summer tyres. I was given misinformation !!

Edited 6 November, 2018 by olderman1
Addition

[olderman1]

1 hour ago, Gizmo said:

As long as tyres can do this I will carry a spare! 

 

 

Good point!!

[Guest]

5 hours ago, Gizmo said:

As long as tyres can do this I will carry a spare! 

I wasn't aware Škoda offered optional Split (from) Rims. 

[silver1011]

6 hours ago, olderman1 said:

My question is; do these tyres self seal as Pirelli claim, and if so, why is there a repair kit in the boot , or should I spend even more money on a space saver spare ?????

 

See here...

 

 

Pirelli's Seal Inside technology isn't infallible, it protects against debris up to 4mm in diameter and only in the tread. Anything larger, or penetrations on the outer edges of the tyre or sidewall will still puncture the tyre.

 

https://www.pirelli.com/global/en-ww/road/the-tyre-with-a-mechanic-inside

 

There is no substitute for a spare wheel. The best £105 I've spent (factory option). 

 

Edited 6 November, 2018 by silver1011

[Yogi-Bear]

13 hours ago, silver1011 said:

There is no substitute for a spare wheel. The best £105 I've spent (factory option).

 

If you never end up using it, you could argue it is the worst £105 you'll ever spend.

 

It's a personal risk decision - if you do lots of mileage in the middle of nowhere, hours from home, then it's probably a very good idea. If you mainly do small journeys around town and close to home, then a puncture isn't the end of the world.

[xman]

20 hours ago, Gizmo said:

As long as tyres can do this I will carry a spare! 

 

You surely must have ridden several miles with it flat for that to happen?

[silver1011]

37 minutes ago, WiggosSideburns said:

It's a personal risk decision - if you do lots of mileage in the middle of nowhere, hours from home, then it's probably a very good idea. If you mainly do small journeys around town and close to home, then a puncture isn't the end of the world.

 

Agreed, which is why even if I did short journey's I'd spec it.

 

Unless you're prepared to drive on a flat tyre, risk ruining the tyre by using the foam or sit around waiting for the AA, then the ability to fit a temporary spare wheel at the roadside is £105 well spent in my opinion.

 

It's insurance, either you'll need it or you won't. I've had cause to use use the spare wheel twice in my driving career, once half way into my 60 mile commute, the other on my driveway.

 

Being able to put the defective wheel or tyre in the boot within 20 minutes of the failure, and then to carry on your day as normal is money well spent.

[Yogi-Bear]

2 minutes ago, silver1011 said:

Unless you're prepared to drive on a flat tyre, risk ruining the tyre by using the foam or sit around waiting for the AA, then the ability to fit a temporary spare wheel at the roadside is £105 well spent in my opinion.

 

You're missing the other option - run-flats.

 

I know they divide opinion, but having had them on another car, I like them. The one time I had a puncture, it meant I could finish my journey (slowly) and get to a garage rather than have to do anything at the roadside.

 

The other thing about a spare wheel is that it is a PITA to get at if you have a full boot...

[silver1011]

True, there are a few BMW owners at work who have rated them in the past.

 

I'm not aware of any current Skoda models with runflats though.

 

On the Kodiaq it would be a proper pain to access the spare wheel if the rear two seats were occupied. I'd still take that option though, if the only others were as above.

 

Each to their own. Given some of the costs and effort involved in retrofitting a spare wheel only serves to make the £105 option even more attractive to me.

 

There is the space it takes up in the boot too, I'd imagine a good chunk of underfloor storage potential is lost.

[olderman1]

Thanks for the replies folks. So many options, all of which had been going through my mind before I asked the original question.

Mr Sideburns, I don't get your comment about run flats, surely the seal inside tyres are meant to do a similar thing i.e. allow you to get home with no hassle, which is why I asked the question as to whether they are capable of doing the job they were designed to do. As yet, no one seems to have had any personal experience of how they perform after being pierced.

One thing I won't be doing is using the supplied sealing gunk, but then I shouldn't have to if the seal inside works. I assume it's supplied as standard regardless of what tyres are fitted from new.

I'm pretty well sold on the space saver idea, but as outlined above, I do have reservations. Locally it would be fine, but sods law dictates that a puncture will occur when I'm towing a caravan and I've got a 16' canoe on the car roof, so I can't open the boot which will be full of the necessary associated canoeing and caravanning kit .

 

I did find an deal on the web that offers a full size steel wheel and tyre for £140 delivered, which I found more appealing than a space saver, until I measured how much space (read height) it would take up.

 

If I go the space saver route, does anyone know were I can get the polystyrene cradle that holds the wheel and raises the boot floor level at a realistic price ? I know Caffyns do the complete kit, but that's silly money.

I know I can make my own framework from wood as someone else here did, but it would be nice to have the proper kit.

[Gizmo]

9 hours ago, xman said:

You surely must have ridden several miles with it flat for that to happen?

 

The TPMS Light came on a few miles before I stopped (on the M25 about 2am returning from our holiday... full boot and 4 adults)

 

I didn’t pay too much attention to the TPMS light as the o/s/r tyre had been giving warnings for a while (I did physically check the tyre before we drove off though) 

 

So ultimately it was my fault the tyre was wrecked, the cut in the tyre had scrapped it anyway. 

 

The weird thing is though the car didn’t handle and differently with the flat tyre, very low profile tyres probably had a lot to do with that. 

Edited 7 November, 2018 by Gizmo

[Yogi-Bear]

1 hour ago, olderman1 said:

Mr Sideburns, I don't get your comment about run flats, surely the seal inside tyres are meant to do a similar thing i.e. allow you to get home with no hassle, which is why I asked the question as to whether they are capable of doing the job they were designed to do. As yet, no one seems to have had any personal experience of how they perform after being pierced.

 

Yes, but run-flats and seal-inside tyres are completely different beasts (as I understand it - feel free to correct me if I'm wrong). Run-flats have strengthened sidewalls. Seal-insides have gunk that deal a puncture from the inside... think normal tyre with gunk already inside, as opposed to having to put the gunk in when you get a puncture.

 

As for 'do they work?'... the only experience I've had is with self-sealing tyres on a mountain bike. They add a bit of weight because you've got gunk in each wheel, but they've worked for me. Whether or not that translates to working on a car, I have no idea. Sorry!

[silver1011]

Briskoda aren't keen on external links to competitor forums.

 

{Link removed}

 

Some negative feedback on Pirelli's Seal Inside tyres fitted to the Kodiaq...

 

"So tyre technology is so great that I now need to spend almost £200 on a new tyre that should be repairable. How is that progress! My Kodiaq has the Pirelli Scorpian Verde which are “seal inside”. So having got a nail through in the inside 3/4 of the width of the tyre I thought should be repairable for the usual £25. Having borrowed a jack and removed the wheel, yes I have a 5 seater and couldn’t spec a spare wheel; Skoda why not???, off I went the get the tyre place to get repaired having borrowed a car to transport it in. I then find out because of the seal inside lining it can’t be patched!!!! I love new things that are SUPPOSED to be progress. Rant over!!!!"

 

"I've just had exactly the same issue with a Scorpion Verde. Local fitted said no repair, new tyre needed...
NOT TRUE!
I found a piece on Pirelli's website saying they could be repaired. Ymthr sealant layer needs to be scraped away revealing the normal carcass underneath and then a standard repair is carried out. You loose the puncture protection in that small area, but hey ho, it's already punctured!
I found www.hometyre.co.uk who were willing and able to repair. Cost me £54 instead of the usual £30-40 due to the extra labour involved but better than £200.
I can't find the Pirelli link right now but I can try and dig it out later..."

 

Edited 7 November, 2018 by john999boy
Circumventing Forum Rules

[MrTrilby]

Seal inside tyres rely on the sealant plugging the hole and preventing the tyre going flat. If it doesn’t manage that (say the hole is too big), or it doesn’t seal it quickly enough, the tyre goes flat and you’re stuck. With a run flat tyre, the hole isn’t sealed, the tyre goes flat, but you can still drive on it.

 

The big advantage to run flats over a spare is that you don’t have to stop to change the wheel. Remember that with a space saver spare, once you’ve emptied everything out of the boot to get it out, and changed the wheel, you’ve then got to find space in the car to store the full size wheel you’ve just taken off. And 19” wheels are both massive and heavy.  Which is perhaps another advantage - whilst I’m ok to lift 19” wheels on and off the car, I’m not so sure my wife would be ok. Particularly since the wheels on a Skoda don’t seem to have a particularly secure way of locating the wheel on the hub until you’ve put the bolts in properly.

 

The downside to space savers is that they do reduce ride quality. It’s been a while since I last had a car with them so they may have improved this.

[silver1011]

The idea of any spare wheel is to get you to the nearest place of safety, home or a tyre fitter. I don't therefore think ride comfort is high on their priority list, they're not meant for anything other than temporary use.

 

Unloading a full boot to access the spare wheel would indeed be inconvenient, but less inconvenient than being stranded at the road side.

 

The punctured wheel will fit in the same hole that the spare came out of, the rolling radius is all but identical. Sure it'll sit and inch or two higher so you'll need to find a new home for the removable boot floor, but unless the boot is absolutely full to capacity it's unlikely your not going to get everything back in.

 

My wife wouldn't attempt to change a wheel by herself either, but given the fact she doesn't travel long distances without me, then either me or another family member wouldn't be far away. Having everything already in the car to make a repair is reassuring for me.

[MrTrilby]

1 minute ago, silver1011 said:

The idea of any spare wheel is to get you to the nearest place of safety, home or a tyre fitter. I don't therefore think ride comfort is high on their priority list, they're not meant for anything other than temporary use.

 

 

I was comparing run flats with seal inside as OlderMan was asking what the difference was between them. I meant that runflats never used to be as comfortable as conventional tyres, and given they’re fitted to the car all the time, ride comfort is definitely a priority. 

 

Taking everything out of the boot when it’s dark, raining, and you have a dog in the boot is definitely inconvenient - no need to do that at all if you have runflats. You just keep driving and get the puncture fixed sometime that week when it’s convenient.

 

 

Whilst you may be lucky to be travelling with an empty car so can fit the full size punctured wheel in the boot once you’ve removed it, there’s no need to with a runflat. You just keep driving. I’ve had two punctures over the last couple of years. One time I was lucky that the rear seats were unoccupied (but boot full with dog), so the wheel could go on the back seat. The other time I had passengers and a full boot, but a bit of creative squishing of everyone allowed me to fit it in the boot. 

 

I’d much rather have runflats, but Skoda don’t offer them, so I’ll live with a space saver spare. Like you say, much better than discovering the “seal inside” didn’t work and you’re completely stranded by the roadside, waiting for the AA to get to you.

 

[silver1011]

Sorry, didn't realise you were comparing runflats.

 

I too have heard a compromise with runflats is an overly firm ride.

[olderman1]

This is going off topic a little now.

To be clear; I know how a run flat works, they've been around a long time now and my question was never about them, and I certainly won't be swapping my current tyres for run flats.

My question concerned seal inside tyres and I also know how they are supposed to work, but what I really want to know is - do they actually work in practice, does anyone have first hand experience ??

[silver1011]

Yes, see my earlier post with quotes from a different forum further up this page ^

 

You'll have to go find it yourself though.

[olderman1]

8 minutes ago, silver1011 said:

Yes, see my earlier post with quotes from a different forum further up this page ^

 

You'll have to go find it yourself though.

Thankyou. I see the quotes above, but unless I've missed it, I can't see any mention of whether the tyre performed as it was supposed to and got the car home or to a tyre fitter without deflating.

[AGFalco]

If you get a puncture in a seal inside type tyre and it works you wont notice anything.

But you still have something inside the tyre which can develop in to a problem later.

 

The seal inside type tyre wont stop side wall and big hole tyre punctures.

Some places don't know if the can/ how to repair the punctured tyre.

They are also more expensive than the same tyre without the seal inside type.

 

Thanks AG Falco