Keep on rolling: don't let a puncture stop you this winter

Many new cars come as standard with no spare wheel to save space and weight. In its place, cars are being fitted with post-puncture sealant kits. British Touring Car Championship driver Fiona Leggate demonstrates one of these fantastic devices - the ContiComfortKit sealant kit - which can help keep you safe and mobile even if the worst happens and one of your tyres picks up a puncture...

Car Tyre Sealant Kit Top Tips

• Make sure you know what system your car uses: spare wheel, space saver or sealant kit
• If you have a sealant kit - such as the ContiComfortKit - you should familiarise yourself with how to use it
• First, locate the puncture on the wheel
• If it's in the tread, connect the pipe of the ContiComfortKit sealant kit to the valve on the tyre
• Next, connect the power lead to the cigarette lighter socket in your car
• Rotate the orange case 90 deg. so that the sealant bottle is standing upright and you hear a "click"
• Finally, turn the compressor on to pump up the tyre - the puncture is sealed by filling the damaged tyre with a mixture of air and sealant
• If the tyre doesn't inflate at the start, you should drive back and forth for 10 metres cautiously and then try inflating again. It might take a while for the sealant to disperse inside the tyre, so be patient
• Once inflated, you must drive for at least two miles below 50mph then stop and re-check the pressure
• You can then continue for a maximum of 125 miles at no more than 50mph. The ContiComfortKit is only a temporary measure so that's plenty of time to get to a tyre retailer to have tyre repaired or replaced
• Unfortunately, if the puncture is on the sidewall of the tyre, then you'll need to call a breakdown service

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