I just wanted to post up an initial review of my new tires.

So far, so AWESOME!

Alright, so a couple weeks ago I was madly searching for a tire for the R60. Living in Chicago, I was fast growing tired of the ride on the Duelers, not to mention I was not a fan of their cold-weather chops. I don't even know why the dealer ordered a car with these tires. On a clean, dry but very cold road they simply have no grip!

Anyway, went into a local Discount Tire out in the Western 'burbs the day of a snow storm and all they had in stock in the aforementioned size were the Pilots (I knew this ahead of time before I went to the store, never go to a tire store without knowing what they have and what you need!)

I talked them down a bit on price, and they offered me a decent trade price on the Duelers. ~$800 out-the-door, not exactly cheap but so worth it.

The tire itself is breaking in nicely. That evening, I drove home the 25 miles back to Chicago in a good snow, and they definitely proved their worth. I don't think I would've made it home on the Duelers that day. Since then, the weather has been remarkably warm for the season and I've discovered that these Michelins have A) Fantastic grip, B) Fantastic ride (while in comparison tests on tirerack.com they were the stiffest, on an R60 coming from runflats they feel like pillows) C) Great looks. Oh, and they're much much quieter than the howling Duelers.

Cornering has improved, I'm sure in large part due to the extra rubber on the road and the fact the tire has a better compound for cold temps. The car just sticks like my old WRX did. There's far less torque steer (I'm guessing again due to the wider contact patches) as well. Most intriguingly, acceleration is a lot smoother, even without sport mode. Runflats are heavier generally due to the beefy sidewalls, so I think the reduced corner weight per tire has given the Mini far more appropriate responses. In rain, slush, and snow they have proved to be capable all-season tires. Would I expect to get through more than 2 inches on these? Of course not. Seeing how I live and drive in a city of 3.5 million people, I don't expect them to take me to the wilds of Wisconsin in deepest winter. Maybe next year I'll get a set of proper snows on 16s. Nevertheless, for getting around in inclement winter weather they are good.

I have yet to complete 500 miles on these tires, and I've read they will get a lot better by 1000 miles. Of course by 12000 I could have some noise come into play, but I'm loving how quiet they are right now.

While Michelin's Pilot Sport A/S tire is an older design, tests show it offers better feedback than the Continental DWS. For a sporty little spud like the R60, it fits the bill quiet nicely. That it looks the business is only icing on an already fine cake.

 

I hope they are good, I just replaced mine with these. Had a blowout in the run flats, they won't fix them, and didn't feel like replacing 4 of them at 250 each