I was informed by the dealer when my 2006 r53 went in for service on the cooling system it was time for new tires. I was originally going to go with the PSS Michelins but I just wanted to see how everyone liked those and what people thought was a good ALL SEASON tire for summer and winter on stock 17 s heavies!? Thanks!

 

Steffen - Hope you can get the coolant thing fixed.

On the 17" I would get a 205/45/17 Hankook V12 , good tire, nice price and does not get loud. They are a dedicated summer tire, and then get a set of steelies / winter tires ( pirelli winter carvers ) for the snow. When you have a dedicated set of winter steelies and / tires it will run like the tank in the snow.

Good luck on whatever you choose , that's my picks.

 

Having a dedicated winter/summer setup is nice and makes for better performance in either situation, but if you are unable to swing two sets of wheels & tires I would recommend the Continental DWS'. We put near all of our customers who are just looking for a good all season into them and they are extremely pleased with the ride, traction, and low road noise.

I ran them on my car for one of the worst Michigan winters I've seen in awhile and made it to work everyday, on time and passing 4x4s.

Nick
Detroit Tuned

 

Thanks ECS they are still working on it! Fingers Crossed.

As far as the tires go I am actually looking for All Season, if I lived in a world where money was no issue I would get both but right now its all seasons for me! Thanks for the suggestions though. We will see what happens.

Detroit, I have actually heard a lot of good stuff about the DWS would you suggest those over the Michelin PSS?? And why? I believe you I just wanted to see what you thought as to why they are better. Thanks!

 

You are welcome.

Yes, you may want a Michelin all season / Pilot sports or Premier a/s, the 17" in all seasons. They will not be anything near snow tire performance in 17" , also because they are 205 and snow needs a narrower tire. It will work in a pinch, might be able to get the iSSE snow socks and put them in the back for when it snows for emergency.

http://www.ecstuning.com/Mini-2006-Cooper-R53-S-Coupe-L4_1.6L_W11B16A/Wheels/Snow_Chains/




Thats another options with all seasons and no snow tires.

 

Separate summer and winters are great if you have a place to put them, and MUST GET SOMEPLACE in the winter...but as a student, if you can just wait a few hours...better overall..let's face it...if you could not find a split lower radiator hose to change, I wonder if you will be jacking up your car too swap tires...
Just trying to be practical...
I would save the $$$, get OK tires, especially since the head-gasket MIGHT be questionable....the saved $$ might be important...

 

We recently put Michelin Pilot Sports on our R50 and have been extremely happy with that selection. I realize it is a different tire than the 17's but just my .02 about the style.

Al

 

HAHA that made me laugh , of course I know how to take wheels off of my car, I pretty much did all my own repairs and mods for the last 2 years of ownership. The only reason I couldn't do them in CO was because it was Sunday, I knew no one in the area, and I had my girlfriend with me. I think the head gasket is fine the car starts right up with no smoke or engine lights. But thanks for your opinion on what I can and can't do in my garage.

Thanks for the advice I was leaning towards them and really like the look, warranty, rating, and price. Have you went through any snow with them at all?

 

Ok..I remember back in school, making tables with my spare tires....were...er..less than ideal!! I just remember saying "student" and thinking dorm or small apartment..lets face it having a garage as a student, wow!!

 

Haha I am more of a unconventional student than most I was military for 4 years, and now an engineering student at KSU. So I am 27 years old, have my own house and garage. Not quite the dorm living student you meant

 

I love my Continental DWSs. Everything Nick said above is true.

My daughter has a SUV she is trying to sell. The SUV rode like crap. Went to Sam's club and got the cheapest firestone that would fit. Something like $ 72.00 each. They are great !!!! Rides like a new car. (I can get the model number if you want, but I don't have it handy.)

 

I currently have Continental DWS on my '03 s. Tread life is great and for my mostly 500 mile a week interstate drive they do very well. However, at 20,000 miles they became extremely noisy. I was hoping the noise would subside but now at 32,000 they are so noisy I'm considering changing to the new Bridgestone run flats. But, I'm cheap so looks like another year until those new tires. Sounds like a semi.

 

Food for thought the Conti DWS changed earlier this year.

I have Hankook Evo2 **** ball tires with 10k on them I would not recommend them, they're total rubbish.

 

Yes. Did they slightly change the name? I was told the newer version is not noisy. Bought mine in Jan. '14. Thx for reminder on that.

 

++ on the DWS - been running them for the last 4 years. Great all season traction and extremely good tread wear. I bought mine at Discount Tire - when I went in for my last rotation, the tech was amazed that there was as much tread left with over 50K miles on them.

 

how anyone get 50K out of a tire on a MINI amazes me.

 

yea, I was always lucky to get 30k maybe 40k out of the 205's , my 175's 15 did last the longest on conti's for about 45K

 

Tire reviews by end users are so off the wall subjective that it is almost useless. Different air pressure and maintenance combined with different road conditions and driving styles make it hard to go by the recommendations. I've had highly rated tires last 15K and poorly rate tires go 30K.

50K on tires, yeah sounds like riding on the fairway at the US Open for most of the time.

 

Sounds like my claim is being disputed (good natured, I hope), so: Daily driver - had brand new Michelin RF Pilots on when I bought her (52K on the clock) - they didn't last 15K. Put the DWS on the winter of '10 and drove round trip to work and lots of "let's go for a drive" miles - at least 50K on them and can still see the "D" and the "W" plainly. Oklahoma roads - definitely not the fairway... Regardless, I'm really pleased with the traction, performance and wear on these - so much so that we put them on my sons JCW and my wife's Mazda 3.

 

Michelin makes more than a dozen different tires with the words "Pilot" and "Sport" in the name. http://www.tirerack.com/tires/michelin-tires.jsp

Michelin Pilot Sport A/S 3 for all-season handling. And, yes, there is a trade off in snow handling. Just as there is a trade off in dry handling for better snow traction. There are two versions of the Continental ExtremeContact DWS at the moment. Alex (of TireRack) says the 06 has improved dry handling. The original DWS has soft sidewalls with excellent ride and surprising snow capability. But the slow turnin turns off "gokart handling" fans.

 

Hmmm seems like I have alot to think about here then. Thanks all for the help. So if I were to go with the PSS I want the A/S 3 for the all season?

 

Continental ExtremeContact DWS for the win!

I've used them for the longest time. I have 171K miles and I just put on my third set.

 

Yes, I got discount tire to match tirerack rebate etc and got for $115 each, $520 out the door.

 

I ran the Hankooks & LOVED them. Bought them as buy 3, get 1 free, plus a $50 gift card & a coupon for future usage. It sweetened the deal but the tires were GREAT.


ISAMIN

 

I am still concerned about the wear and warranty. I just got tires for my girls toyota and they had a 60k wear warranty on them. The PSS only have a 30k, thats half the life? Are they really that good and worth the money??