I have a 2012 Clubman Non-S and am looking for the recommendations for all season tires. The Continental tires the manufacturer puts on them have got to go. I am looking for a smooth ride and long life, and OH, I live in Minnesota, so I deal with snow as well. Thanks for the input all.

 

The ContiProContact is a decade plus old design Continental sells cheap to German car manufacturers and overcharges the public for replacements. Name should be Continental CashCow. You didn't provide diameter or runflat info, so:

205/50-16 or 205/45-17 Continental Extreme Contact DWS 06.
195/60-15 or 195/55-16 or 205/45-17 Bridgestone Driveguard runflat.
195/60-15 Michelin Primacy MXV4.
195/60-15 Michelin Premier AS.

Check out the tire tests, consumer reviews, and specs including treadwear warranty at tirerack.com.

 

What is your suspension? Stock?
What is your wheel size? 15" or 16"?
What are your road conditions like?
What type of driving do you do for your commute? Mostly urban and some highway or the opposite?
Do you have winter tires to change to?
What is your budget for tires mounted and balanced?

If you don't have dedicated winter tires then you need an All Season that does a decent enough job in the snow. You'd also do better with narrow tires if driving in moderate snow.

Your budget may rule out some of the more expensive tires such as some of the Michelins.

You are not limited to the stock MINI tire sizes for a given wheel diameter, as mentioned you have various alternate sizes, some like 195/60-15 give more options and tire selection.

In general if you want a very smooth ride and good tread wear life then Grand Touring All Season tires are the category to search in-

For 175/65-15 the selection is very limited-
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/survey...earDiameter=17

Alternatively 185/65-15 could be used-
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/survey...earDiameter=17

 

I have stock suspension. My current tires are Continental Contact 175/65 R15 84H Run Flat. I want a smoother ride and longer last treat. Price is not really the issue here. The car has on 20K miles on it and the tires are not holding up. Thanks all for your assisstance

 

+1 for Michelins (or BFGoodrich - Michelin owns BFG) if you can afford them. Love their tires.

 

Of the 36 models of Continentals with the word "Contact" in the name, your car was very likely fitted with ContiPremiumContact 2 summer tires or ContiProContact all season tires. Neither is a runflat if the size is 175/65-15. You should have a space saver spare under your rear floorboard accessible from inside the car.

 

Michelin Priemer AS would be the ultimate ride comfort. I'd do 185/65R15 for the most sidewall.

I am driving a Premier tire right now on my personal car. They are pretty amazing.

 

Michelin Premier AS 1+

 

Continental True Contact - http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires....omCompare1=yes


cheap, rebate going on, and just look at the reviews tire rack gave it

 

T speed rating (118 mph).

 

what's wrong with that?

 

Hold my beer. Watch this.

 

 

If you live in an area with any sort of decent snow get dedicated winter wheels and tires. Blizzak ws80

 

I currently have Driveguard's that I got from 4 wheel online. I'm happy with these tires so far. Less noise and soft over bumpy roads, though can't comment yet about their grip and handling in the snow.

 

see
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tirete....jsp?techid=35
http://www.ntb.com/tires/Tire-Speed-Rating-Education.j

Each tire is made with a letter for speed rating and it is printed on the tire sidewall.

Each car comes with OEM tires that are rated appropriately for the use of the car.

A base Cooper comes with H speed rated tires while the Cooper S comes with V or better rated tires (W and Y are fine).

Speed ratings are not what speed you drive on the street at but rather a reflection of the maximum capacity of the tire used on the street and how it handles heat generated by (sustained) higher speeds.

Tire shops will want to use tires that are OEM in size, load rating and speed rating. You can also use tires that exceed load and speed ratings but should avoid the use of lesser rated tires.

The MINI is a very capable car and will use it's tires to give you the maximum performance your tires are capable of delivering. Don't skimp on tires.

 

there will be zero difference between two tires w/ different speed ratings if you drive the speed limit.

:: for a tire that is designed for normal use, obviously. probably the best thing you can do is actually read the description of speed ratings in the link you provided

 

"...if you drive the speed limit."

Want to be responsible for someone who doesn't? Maybe the next owner of the car? Maybe at a track event?

 

lol - I am not going to buy a specific tire in case possibly the next owner is going to be stupid with the car, and for T rating go 118mph. In this hypothetical scenario, it is the car buyers duty to know what kind of tires are on the used car he buys. In fact I will probably a beat old set of tires to swap on the wheels I sell my car with. lol. and regardless, no it doesn't impact me and by your logic shame on the tire manufacturer for daring to make a tire that can't go 150mph+.

OP asked for all weather tires plus dealing with MN weather. Not track, not on the autobahn. If you are reaching T rated speeds in normal driving (first of all, good luck getting there at a decent rate in a non-s) in the USA you should probably be in jail. If you are looking for tires to use on the track, obviously there is a completely different set of recommendations, and yes, I would not recommend these tires. OP - if you are going to be driving 118mph+, I cannot recommend the tires that I did.

However, if you are going to be driving normal speeds, this is a great tire that is actually half decent in the snow and will wear long and ride comfortably. Read the speed rating information minihune posted above for more information on how the speed rating of a tire does (or does not) impact you.

 

It's not you I'm concerned about. It's the unknown people reading this thread. Just be responsible and point out that it doesn't match the car's capabilities when you recommend it.

I suspect the percentage of young people who "see what she'll do" on public roads might surprise you. Perhaps the percentage who don't know tires have speed ratings would also surprise. Let's be careful out there, you might be coming the other way.

"Safety Problems Associated With Tires

There is no direct evidence in NHTSA's crash data files that points to defective or sub-standard tires as the cause of a particular crash. The closest data element is "flat tire or blowout". Even in these cases, crash investigators do not record what caused the tire failure. Tire failures, especially blowouts, are typically associated with rollover crashes.

It is possible that a combination of lesser quality tires (lesser quality being defined here as designs that do not adequately dissipate heat, which causes the tire to rapidly build-up heat which ultimately causes the tire failure) being operated in an under-inflated state and/or an overloaded state could account for many of the tire failures, since both under-inflation and overloading increase heat build-up in the tire. Severe under-inflation coupled with an emergency steering maneuver could cause the tire to "de-bead," i.e., separate from the rim, which could "trip" the vehicle and cause it to roll over."

NHTSA

Oh, it is also advisable to not have an injury accident with underrated tires on your car unless you have a large legal budget. Lawyers generally don't really care if you were actually at fault or not. In their world, jurors define reality.

Now let me see if I can get off of this soap box without straining my back any further.

 

fair enough

note, you should not go above 118mph with this tire - IMO you should stay away from triple digit speeds in general. if you do, this is one of the best bang for buck tires out right now on the market with rebate. here's tire rack's review - http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tests/...y.jsp?ttid=189

again, do not go above 100mph.

 

One thing I have noticed based on our testing, is that lower speed rated tires do not react as quickly or precisely to cornering and steering inputs, as higher speed rated counterparts.

On my personal vehicle I run a tire that is 1 speed rating below my stock tires, but still within manufacture's requirements. It's been my personal experience lower speed rated tires will detract from the handling characteristics and go kart like feel. If your not driving in a spirited manor, you may not ever notice the difference, other than a smoother ride.

 

thanks for a more "official" answer! I figure also lower speed ratings are correlated with more 'standard' tires, vs higher speed ratings with 'high performance' and 'ultra high performance' etc. more handling, more speed, which makes sense.


I'm not in the camp that I need the highest performance tires for my daily all-seasons - just take me to work and back and from site to site. I've got summers (RE71Rs coming soon) for the other stuff!

 

I put Michelin Premier AS tires on my 2013 Clubby S. I have been very pleased with the way they handle. Great day to day riding. Very good in the rain!
I run a dedicated snow tire in winter. The blizzaks in snow are great. They were a recommedation by Alex at Tire Rack 3 years ago. Bought tires and rims- well worth the investment if you are driving in snow.