When arguments fail resort to name calling? Nice. Wrong crowd indeed.

If you are going to create a thread on a public forum seeking opinions, then you should be prepared to get them. Sorry that no one is backing you here, perhaps there is a good reason for that.

 

If you read my post you would have noticed I gave that excuse on your behalf (Config not being up when you ordered) since I didn't know when you ordered! And in that case the MA should have informed you. Secondly, I noticed you are ignoring that it isn't a MINI Unique thing, just keep banging the "Bad MINI Drum".

Listen! You just want to be pissed and are going to justify it anyway you can to be pissed. But you are really doing yourself an injustice as I can tell you MINI is one of the best Manufacuters to buy a car from and their network which I have dealt with is much better than the network of dealerships of Porsche/Audi/Volvo. My buying experience of a 30k MINI was
100x better than buying my 115k Porsche Panamera, where both the dealership and Porscheusa could have cared less about a loyal lifetime customer!

So, I hope you can let go of this grudge and blame before it ruins the MINI experience and the great driving car you just bought, because I can tell you from experience that there is NO other car for the MONEY that will give you the FUN that a MINI will

I hope someone told you that RunFlats can only be driven for about 50miles max at a moderate speed allowing you to get the flat fixed ASAP! If not, I can see you blaming MINI.

I suggest since you are new to MINI, read every manual/warranty booklet 2x!

IMHO, it was the dealership's fault not informing a new customer to MINI and they are trying to do right! NOT MINIs! So just let it go and enjoy your MINI and try to enjoy this site as it is invaluable!

 

I'm hoping for a good name calling....but...the OP is way off base. This is not MINI's problem, hell, it's not even the dealer's problem. He ordered a car without researching it all the way through, and now wants his cake and to eat it too. I'm glad I'm not his dealer.

 

Until this thread popped up I had no idea so many other cars don't come with spares if they have runflats.

 

LOL! That's good, heh heh heh heh!



Some of the Porsche's don't even come with run-flats. The wife's Boxster has no spare... and summer tires, but there is a sticker in the rear trunk on where to call (I'm sure that'll be fast service!).

 

Not necessarily. Every cold weather package I've seen is heated seats, headlight washers, and maybe heated mirrors. All of these are things that can be of use in temps where summer tires are still a viable option.

If my car was to come with one set of tires I'd MUCH rather they be summers since if I'm going to buy a second set I'd rather come out of pocket for the less expensive tires. If Mini, or anyone, gave you a discount for going with all-seasons in the same size then that would be fantastic, but in my experience it's always been a better option, financially, to have the car delivered with the more expensive tires and buy the winters on my own.

 

Lindsey, as John said above, any performance car will NEVER come with run-flats, regardless if it comes with a spare or not. It's a performance thing. Run-flats suck all kinds of *** and ride like wagon wheels because of the ultra-stiff sidewalls needed to keep the tire upright after a loss of pressure.

My M3 had no spare, just a compressor and some tire goo to try and seal the puncture, and I'd have it no other way. Something I REALLY don't understand is an RFT winter tires. Good winter tires have soft sidewalls and RFTs need stiff sidewalls.

I, for one, will NEVER run an RFT tire for summer or winter use. If I live in an area that drops below 40 during the winter I will run winters. It's just safer.

 

Sounds like an apt description of someone I used to date. Long time ago.

I, for one, refuse to take this thread seriously any longer. Off topic is now officially open.

 

I may have missed a post but let me add something. The dealer has the option of changing the tire configuration when he orders the car. I can't speak for Countryman's but my 2011 MCSC came with the Sport package and all season tires. That's because my Madison, WI dealer specifies all season tires on every MINI he orders for his dealership. They all are also ordered with the cold weather package.

So if your dealer failed to order all seasons in New England, is it his fault or MINIs?

 

Porsches don't use RF and they come with NO spare. In my 2006 911 and even my new 2010 Panamera. There is a subwoofer where the spare could have been!

So bad that before I took my 911 on a cross country trip I taught myself how to Plug a tire! So in effect I could pullover and find the leak and plug it!

Ridiculous! Lots of Pcar owners don't like it! Horror stories abound!

Even RFs are not the fix, cars in this country need Spares! Middle of Nevada between Elko and Wendover and you rip the sidewall of a RF compromising its sidewall integrity, with road garbage. You can't make it 50 miles. It is going to take quite some time to get a RF replacement sent to you!!!

I like my 08 Clubman. RFs and a spare! I was bullet proof

 

We cant expect MINI to make contingency for each and every situation. Had this purchase been consumated in July you would be looking for winter tires in October on your own correct ?

The fact that they stepped up here at all is testiment to their dedication in providing the best customer service possible.

As drivers and consumers we need to step up and take responsibility - ask questions !

 

Sorry - Buying a new car shouldn't be a friggin' shell game. I am happy with my dealer's solution. Their action substantiates that Mini dropped the ball here.

 

No, it really doesn't.

 

I guess if you keep telling yourself that it will become true. Sigh.

 

Back on main topic,
I am learning some things in this thread. Living in North Metro Atlanta it has been my understanding that summer or sport tires (not sure if there is a difference?) are pretty much good all year. Still it does get below 40, which leads me to wonder exactly how the sport tires respond differently in temperatures below 40? I also wonder if this is a temporary issue until the tires warm up due to friction from the road?

I noticed with one set of bargain tires, I put on an old truck, a sort of flat area appeared when it was left parked outside in especially cold weather. We get below 40 fairly often in the winter. I am guessing our black asphalt roads are typically considerably warmer than the air temperature once the sun hits them, evidenced by the fact that the small amounts of snow we get here frequently have a very short lifespan on our roads.

The subject is of particular interest since we just had an actual snow storm, snow measuring 6-8". The weather stayed mostly below freezing for about a week, very rare. Almost no one here has snow or winter tires. People tend to disregard winter threat until it happens then the whole population fights over the dozen or so sets of tire chains available in our area. I know tire chains are bad for tires, but the idea here is they will be used for maybe one trip one day. I wonder how other denizens of the south deal with our uniquely warm winters?

Also I do not understand all the code for systems to handle flat or damaged tires now that spares are not being included. I have carried tire plugging devices and cans of "Flat Fixer". The last flat I had, however, was more of a blow out. No patch kit would have repaired that tire, good thing I had an actual spare. Do people who get major damage to a tire just have to find a new tire somewhere before they can continue their journey?

 

Good question. I'm sure someone here can answer. We have had runflats on our MCS the four and a half years we have owned it and honestly had no idea runflats weren't supposed to be much good under 40 degrees. We have used the mini in the snow and it seems to have done fine with runflats. Although we usually take the suv when possible if there is snow. It's not like the runflats feel like bald tires in the snow or cold temps, at least to me, but then again the runflats are all we know on our MCS. Still, I will probably buy all seasons for our CM once it comes in.

 

Runflats on MINI's come in both summer and all season flavors, you can pick which type when you're ordering your car. Apparently the summer tire RF only on the sport package Countryman is an exception. Summer tires, whether RF's or regular, don't turn into stone when it gets below 40 degrees...but...they're designed to come up to operating temperature at a higher temp than that so they will not be optimal. If you're really careful in your driving, it doesn't get below 40 that often where you live, and RARELY snows or ices, you can "probably" get by with summer tires. But they will still be potentially sketchy as they're simply not designed to warm up at those temps.

 

In temps below 40 degrees summer tires become hard. Because they get hard they don't grip. Think hockey pucks on ice. You can eventually heat them up but you will never have the kind of traction in cold temps that you'll have on all-seasons or winter tires. Also, because they get hard, summer tires will develop flat-spots in colder temps. There have been MANY people on M3post that have totaled their cars trying to drive on summer tires, even at 40 degrees.

Chains don't hurt tires, but they can jack up your wheels and if you drive they can break and wreak all kinds of havoc.

 

From my experiences, true sport tires are dry-only (no rain). Whereas, summer tires can handle wet road conditions. It really all comes down to the tread design.

 

I think you're mixing up "sport" and "R-Compound". There really is no "sport" category.

This is GREAT information about different tire types and their limitations:
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/types/tiretype.jsp

And some info about RFTs:
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tirete....jsp?techid=56

 

The way I read the Tirerack info. every tire is a compromise, which makes sense.

I wonder then how many people have at least two sets of tires for their MINI. Seems like a cold weather and warm weather set would make good sense. The two sets of tires should both get maximum mileage since they are both driven under the conditions they are designed for. The only reason I can see not to do this is the initial investment, although, long term the investment might even be less. The wife told me she sold a set of used MINI tires so fast it made her head spin. She did not think her experience was atypical, which I would think means there is no great risk in this strategy.

I wonder what a tire dealer would charge if I wanted to change tires instead of rotate them at a rotation date....

 

When I lived in CA I always ran UHP Summer or UHPAS. Usually UHPAS because I wanted extended life. It wasn't until I moved to Germany that the benefits of winter tires really became clear to me. Unless I live in a place where it doesn't get below 40 much during the winter, I will ALWAYS run dedicated winters even if I'm running all-seasons the rest of the ye

 

I wouldn't recommend that. Repeated mounting/dismounting will tear down the beads on the tires and you can easily end up with a set of tires that's unusable but that still has a lot of tread left.

I'd go with a complete set of wheels/tires and call it a day. Then you can make the swap in your garage.

 

Heak , some cars come without spares or runflats. The 2011 Mustang comes with a airpump and a can of fix a flat. The 2011 Camaros come without a spare. (Avaliable as an option)

 

Not directly related to the original post - but am I reading correctly that if you choose All Season tires on one of the 17" wheel options on the Countryman that the tires are not runflats?

That would be very good news to me as I hate runflats and would gladly take a set of normal all seasons over runflat summers. I just assumed that all of the tires from MINI were runflats and you had no options otherwise.