Bought an 06 Cooper S coupe. 6speed a couple of months ago.
Great car. 147k on the clock and runs like a champ. Two main concerns.
1- the clutch feels a little stiff. Is this normal?

2- the run flat tire that are on it suck in wet weather.
Is it ok to run non-RFTs on it?

Thanks for any input.

 

Welcome, I'm not sure about the clutch since I never owned a R53. Yes, you can run non-run flats if you like. A lot of members on here prefer non-run flats due to noise.

 

Welcome fellow VA Mini owner

 

Welcome the forum! What part of VA are you in? I'm from southwest VA!

Perfectly fine to swap out those run flats, just know that you have no spare tire, so could potentially cause a little trouble if anything happened. When we owned our R53 I put a bottle of tire slime and small air pump in the boot in case of an emergency in the hopes that it could at least get me off the road to a safe place or to a shop even. In other cases having roadside assistance can help ease some of the worry.

As for the clutch, our factory clutch was a little heavy in comparison to say a civic, but not that bad. My wife and I both like a heavier clutch, so was never an issue.

 

Yes, get some dedicated performance tires on your MINI, and then something for winter, or a good ultra performance all season tire. Consumers Reports has that nicely spelled out for us.
Welcome to MINIs! They are fun at several levels, including these forums.

 

Welcome aboard. Where are your required pics? LMAO Good luck and remember to WAVE.

 

Welcome to NAM and congrats on your new MINI. Everyone has a different opinion regarding run flat tires. Considering that the vehicle does not have a compartment where a spare tire can be housed, and this can leave your in a bit of a predicament if you get a flat, the run flats are a bit of an insurance policy. Knowing that if you had a flat tire, you'd still be able to drive the vehicle to get a repair or replacement is comforting.

 

Thanks for the input guys. I will have pics up soon.

 

Ok trying to get pictures up from the iPad is a no go. Took some good ones today and am unable to upload them from here. I guess I have to email them to myself and do it from my laptop.

 

pics posted! yea! damn it!

 

https://mail.google.com/mail/?ui=2&i...line&safe=1&zw

 

You link is no good but your signature picture is nice. Thx for sharing.

 

This link. lol

 

Very nice.