Self-sealing tires have been on the market for quite a while already, and they have both fans and critics. The fans of such models are chiefly the users of these tires, while the critics are those who get the lovely job of repairing them. There are still people out there who, discovering the mysterious substance inside the tire, are clueless about what they are supposed to do with it…
The idea is simple and effective enough. On the inside, the tire is covered with a viscous sealant layer that instantly repairs punctures up to 5mm wide.
Special attention must be paid to storing these tires. Due to the fact that the sealant is very sticky, dust and dirt easily stick to it. If you store such tires off-rim, you must have them covered.
And not with plastic bags!
Repair
In spite of the tire’s capability to independently repair punctures up to 5mm wide, you must still assess the damage, as well as the quality of sealing. The tire still provides for classical repair that includes pre-cleaning, and stretching the sealant back to its original place after the tire is fixed.
Not all the people in the tire industry welcome this technology.
The reason for that is that the technology is out there but no one is saying how to service this type of tires. And this is a serious shortcoming for all of the manufacturers who make such tires.
We can name at least two major manufacturers that contradict each other on the issue of repairing tires, in which this technology is used. These are Michelin and Continental.
As we can see in the Continental manual, it is recommended to buff off the area where the repair is required, and after plugging the standard mushroom in the tire, you need to stretch the surrounding sealant substance over the mushroom plug.
Michelin recommends doing exactly the opposite: «Never mind the sealant, just insert the mushroom plug over the sealant layer.»
At the same time, there are plenty of unhappy tire repair specialists out there who cannot insert the mushroom plug in either case…
The very idea is, of course, seriously cool. However, considering the information vacuum that the tire makers have plunged us into, purchasing the tires with the magic «SEAL» in their name, be prepared to explain the people at your tire service how exactly you think they should repair these tires.
Who makes ’em
This technology is, after all, extremely interesting, and recently it has become widespread not only among the major tire makers but also among the Korean and even Chinese brands. Their proprietary technologies are getting similar names: Kumho self-seal and Hankook sealguard
Available sizes
Below we have gathered a list of major tire manufacturers who offer such tires in 2020.
We would like to specifically mention the tires from Continental, whose offer includes three tire models that feature both ContiSilent and Contiseal technologies. Quiet and safe.
Diametr | Size | Name brand |
---|---|---|
15 | 195/65R15 | Continental ContiEcoContact 5 |
185/60R15 | Michelin Primacy 4 | |
16 | 205/60R16 | Continental ContiPremiumContact 2 |
205/55R16 | Continental ContiEcoContact 5 | |
215/60R16 | Continental ContiPremiumContact 2 | |
215/60R16 | Continental EcoContact 6 | |
17 | 205/50R17 | Continental ContiEcoContact 5 |
215/55R17 | Continental ContiEcoContact 5 | |
215/55R17 | Continental ContiPremiumContact 5 | |
215/55R17 | Continental EcoContact 6 | |
215/65R17 | Continental AllSeasonContact | |
225/50R17 | Continental ContiPremiumContact 2 | |
225/55R17 | Continental ContiEcoContact 5 | |
225/55R17 | Continental ContiPremiumContact 5 | |
235/45R17 | Continental ContiSportContact 5 | |
225/55R17 | Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric 3 | |
215/55R17 | Goodyear Vector 4Seasons Gen-2 | |
235/45R17 | Pirelli Cinturato P7 | |
215/55R17 | Pirelli Cinturato P7 | |
215/55R17 | Pirelli New Cinturato P7 | |
215/65R17 | Pirelli Scorpion Verde All-season | |
215/50R17 | Michelin Primacy 3 | |
215/55R17 | Michelin Primacy 4 | |
18 | 225/45R18 | Continental ContiSportContact 3 |
225/45R18 | Continental ContiSportContact 5 | |
235/40R18 | Continental ContiSportContact 5 | |
235/40R18 | Continental SportContact 6 | |
235/45R18 | Continental ContiSportContact 5 | |
235/45R18 | Continental EcoContact 6 | |
235/55R18 | Continental EcoContact 6 | |
235/55R18 | Continental ContiSportContact 5 | |
235/55R18 | Continental AllSeasonContact | |
235/60R18 | Continental ContiPremiumContact 6 | |
245/45R18 | Continental ContiSportContact 5 | |
245/45R18 | Continental ContiEcoContact 5 | |
245/45R18 | Continental AllSeasonContact | |
245/45R18 | Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric 3 | |
235/40R18 | Pirelli Cinturato P7 | |
245/45R18 | Pirelli New Cinturato P7 | |
235/45R18 | Pirelli New Cinturato P7 | |
235/45R18 | Pirelli Cinturato P7 | |
225/45R18 | Pirelli Cinturato P7 | |
235/55R18 | Pirelli Scorpion Verde | |
235/55R18 | Michelin Latitude Sport 3 | |
19 | 235/35R19 | Continental ContiSportContact 3 |
255/45R19 | Continental ContiSportContact 5 | |
255/50R19 | Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric 5 | |
215/50R19 | Goodyear Efficientgrip Perfomance | |
245/40R19 | Pirelli P-Zero Luxury Saloon | |
235/40R19 | Pirelli Cinturato P7 | |
255/45R19 | Pirelli Scorpion Verde | |
235/50R19 | Pirelli Scorpion Verde | |
20 | 235/45R20 | Continental ContiSportContact 5 |
255/40R20 | Continental ContiSportContact 5 | |
255/45R20 | Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric 3 | |
235/45R20 | Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric 5 SUV | |
215/45R20 | Goodyear Efficientgrip Perfomance | |
245/35R20 | Pirelli P-Zero Luxury Saloon | |
255/40R20 | Pirelli Scorpion Verde | |
235/45R20 | Pirelli Scorpion Verde | |
21 | 255/40R21 | Continental ContiSportContact 5 |
255/50R21 | Continental ContiSportContact 5 (ContiSilent) | |
285/35R21 | Continental ContiSportContact 5 | |
285/45R21 | Continental ContiSportContact 5 | |
285/35R21 | Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric 5 | |
255/40R21 | Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric 5 | |
22 | 255/40R22 | Continental ContiPremiumContact 6 (ContiSilent) |
255/45R22 | Continental ContiSportContact 5 (ContiSilent) | |
285/40R22 | Continental ContiSportContact 5 |
Hope you found this article useful.