They seem to be very highly rated no matter where you read about them.

 

I had a long post typed out in response to your other thread about ride quality and it got eaten by the Interwebs.

I have the Michelin Pilot Super Sports on my ride and love them. I don't have a lot of experience with other tires, but its hard to imagine much better in a performance tire. The best thing about them is grip; I can take corners and turns much faster than I could with the 18" run flats, which is a function of both their width (245 vs. 225) and the quality of the tires.They are quieter than the Pirelli run flats as well.

Even though I moved to a larger wheel, the ride quality is much improved; the little bumps that separate the lanes no longer make the entire car shake and hitting a lip in the road during a high speed turn no longer threatens to tear the wheel out of my hands.

I imagine the differences would be even more pronounced if I had gone to an 18" wheel with the additional sidewall. I actually think that an 18 x 8.5 lightweight wheel (like the one someone just posted in my thread) with Michelin PSS in 245/40/18 would be an AWESOME setup. Note that the sidewall height in 245/40/18 is the EXACT same as 225/45/18, except you are getting a lot more width.

I believe the Michelin PSS in 245/40/18 are 23 lbs., and the 18 x 8.5" wheel in the my thread is ~19-20 lbs. in the +45 offset. Compared to stock 18" wheels and run flats, that's a savings of probably >10 lbs. per corner, or >40 lbs. of unsprung weight over all, with a helluva lot more ride quality and grip, and you still get to keep the taller sidewall of an 18" wheel. Could be a great option.

 

Just installed a set of Pilot Sport A/S tires today - 225 50 17. Runflats are waiting in the garage for a buyer. Love the Michelins! Every aspect of driving is improved, including braking.

 

I have about 6000miles on my super sports now and they are hands down the best tires I have had on my mini. I moved to them after a set of Goodyear f1 gs-d3's. I drive an 05S, not a CM, but the tires get an A+! You will not be disappointed.

 

I have about 1-1/2 year on them and 21k on mile .... still a lot of meat left. do about 1 to 2 weekend canyon runs per month. 2 track day.(Sonoma Raceway) ...excellent grip.... I have alway recommend it since a year ago..
but this is on a JCW clubman.

 

Finally wore out the Conti run flats and am getting Michelin Pilot Super Sports installed on Thursday. Can't wait to feel the difference!

 

Excellent, please let us know what you think once you are able to check them out.

 

Wow. What a difference in the ride. Makes me think the run flats where made of old hockey pucks or something. I don't feel every crack in the road so much anymore.
Have not had a chance to see how they handle on the corners yet but the weekend is coming!

 

These tires live up to the hype, just put some on my Mercedes C63 last month and I love them, great ride quality improvement and ultra grip while still keeping good tire wear. I plan on getting them for my countryman once we get it in a few months.

 

Don't think I've seen even one negative comment on these anywhere...

 

'nuff said.

 

Shoof, excellent move, can't wait to see photos on your car and hear your impressions!

 

I am waiting for my CM to arrive in the next day or 2. Have been reading all the negatives and it makes me wonder, as I live 165 miles from the dealer. I guess I need to ask a few questions before I hand then the check.
Not that it is a complaint, but I am buying the CM 4 wheel drive for our sometimes extreme weather here on Lake Superior ( Marquette, Mi ).I can not understand why an all wheel drive car does not come with winter tires, when many of the customers live in snow country. my driveway is steep. I had to use 4 x 4 on my FJ Toyota the get to my house most of the winter, with snow tires. All seasons would not cut it ever up here. I plan on putting on a new set of Nokia's in a week or so. It seems to me that BMW should have a dealer option or a factory option for folks living in the north country, but they do not.There are many places where you are not allowed to use all season in winter. All of Canada is one, so are some of the Mountain western States.It may be too late for me to complain, however I wonder how others have tackeled this issue, and how are they in deep snow .

 

^

Seriously?

 

Best bet is to buy a second set of rims. Expensive I know. Tirerack has some 17" Sport Edition models price at $100 or so. May want to buy 4 sensors with them or the warning light stays on all winter. Good news is the CM4 is great in the snow. I bought non run flat Michelin XIce 2 tires that are great in the snow AND quieter than my 18" tires that came on my MINI.

 

Thanks for the positive reply ! I need to think about extra wheels. A lot of folks up here run their Finish Nokia's year around. I had them on my FJ and also my JD tractor I use to plow snow among other things. Those were not cheap, about 6,000.00 for 460 x 24 set of four. Not good in mud but great on ice and snow.

 

Darstar, are there any passenger cars or crossovers that offer winter tires as a factory option? I don't think I've ever heard of that, at least in the U.S. Not sure what's typical in Marquette, but in northern New England most people run all season tires year round, although a significant % switch to winter tires for the cold months. But most that run winter tires take them off as soon as they aren't needed because the want to keep as much tread depth as possible for the following winter, given that tread depth is important for snow use.

I would assume manufacturers tend not to offer the option on cars and crossovers simply because there's just not enough overall demand.

 

Sorry, but I can give you many examples that make your statement full of holes. It's late, so I will only say this: First the early winter tires were made of soft rubber and wore out quicker. Not so any more. Nokia's tire division now encourage year around use . Now, that may not be the case for V rated high speed tires, but that's not in question here with a All wheel drive Mini. The other thing many states require winter tires on mountain roads, and there is all of Canada? The science here is still at play, so, most states say chains or M &S tires. I know as I was confronted with a very large snow fall in June going into Yellowstone east Portal. Only cars with said marking on their tires were going through, or chains on a 150,000 Mercedes which would never happen. From experience up here I know the real difference , it's big., like nite and day different. I do not know how Mini handles this in Canada, other than when the law came , there was a shortage of tires all across North America. I think it was about 4 years ago. In closing, for now, I think Jeep offers this option, maybe Land Rover also, not sure. It just seems like a waste to change tires on a new car when I get home with it, maybe I will wait till November, but that can be risky both in weather and availability from our local Chevrolet dealer that supplies all the Nokia's winter tires to city, county, state patrol on and off road vehicles. ... Tell me more, but now I must get some sleep !

 

This thing I have for winter tires goes back about five years when I first moved to the UP. Marquette is one of the snowiest places in the world. A common winter ( if we will ever have one again ) 300 inches is not uncommon. We get dumped on from "lake effect" snow off the big lake, it can be impressive and dangerous if you are not prepared
I think there has been a common misinformation regarding all season tires. Its a long time ago now, but still there are many people who think just because they have radials, that they will take the place of real M & S / winter tires... I see it this way, winter tires are not new ether, but whenever an opportunity arrives you can bet the tire and wheel folks will be first at the trough. Canada is the best example. First it was Quebec that required winter tires during the winter months, than the whole Country got on board , now it has become a standard thing., which IS a good thing to fight the old wife's tails about all season tires, anywhere that has ice and snow in at lest average amounts qualify
Now there is another fly in the ointment, " all wheel drive". Most of the more expensive cars have this as a standard thing. I know my brother in law , in Chicago , used to always gave winter tires mounted on separate rims that his trusted BMW dealer would change out, and store for him, every summer.. Today, things have changed, the dealer told him there is no need for change out winter tires anymore because his 7 series was All wheel drive. He came to me with the old tires and rims to find a buyer. I put them on Ebay for him, but, that was a worthless venture. there was no market anymore. For a seasoned Chicago suburban driver, he is probably right in what his dealer told him, for the local conditions, which were always plowed before he left his driveway in lake Forest every morning.
Up here in the wilds, things are different, most likely the same out west and in higher elevations in the east also. All season tires are no match for M & S tires or special developed state of the art Winter skins like Nokian puts out. It would seem to me that everyone would want the best if there is any chance of ice and snow, except maybe Key West, where I do not think it has ever snowed, but I do recall some winters when I saw a freeze, but , for only a few hours as a front went through.
In my case, I am hoping the CM All4 will get up my steep driveway, at lest, after I have plowed down the hill, as snow plowers p/u trucks are worthless plowing up hill. ( My JD Tractor sits in a warm garage, waiting,all year.....) So , yes I will replace the standard skins soon. Its my assumptions that were wrong I am sure, but , still I am hoping the CM will do as well as the FJ in winter, and a lot more fun in all seasons.

 

Darstar, I probably agree with everything you've said, except for your comment that my last post is "full of holes".

I AM a proponant of winter tires. I think the Pirelli Scorpions we have for our X5 are terrific, and I'm planning to buy the new Michelin Xice Xi3's in 225/50/18 for our CMSA4, particularly because of our frequent trips to northern New England.

If you bothered to actually read my post before jumping all over it, you would have understood that I was merely asking if there were any cars or crossovers that offer winter tires from the factory. There very well might be, but as I said, I'm not aware of any.

You mentioned Jeep, and I do know that Jeep does not offer winter tires as a factory option in the U.S. on it's crossover product, the Compass, even as part of the "off road package" as we considered the Compass before ordering our CM. I do know they offer them on the Wrangler, but that's not a crossover.

After shopping for winter tires for our CM, I'm aware of what Nokian is saying about running their winter tires year round. But again, all I said was that most Northern New Englanders don't use winter tires, and few of those who do leave them on all year. If you don't think that statement is correct, feel free to check it out for yourself...beautiful area this time of year.

In any event, the point is that if you have to be one of the few here that choose to make derogatory remarks about someone else's post, at least give them the courtesy of reading and understanding what the post said before attacking it.

 

Sorry, I can,t see where I should have made that first statement ether .I just got my CM4 yesterday, guess I have been over defensive because , well..I come from another Forum ( City-Data) and this subject has deawm much talk. I had never used winter tires before 4 years ago when I moved here w/ my FJ. The difference the second winter getting up my drive way was remarkable. so, I guess I over sell them. At the same time I am confused as what to do myself now with the CM4 replacing the FJ.

 

Apology accepted

Us winter tire fans needs to stick together. At least you have a good excuse living in the UP. When other members saw some guy from New Jersey posting about winter tires in July, you'll note that no one responded. Everyone else assumed I must be very strange, and they wanted to steer clear of me

 

I plan for sure to replace my stock run flats with Nokia's.By late Sept. Question I have if anyone has any thoughts is , should I use the Org tires in summer or replace with an other taller sidewall tire ? Second thought, can I gain any height by going to 235 17 in stead of the 205 that comes with the car May be a 225 x 17 ? Not sure what fits and or has anyone done this and will it mess up some of the electronics , spedo, etc . ?

 

Logically speaking, unless you live in a climate where there is snow all year round, I find it pointless for a manufacturer to offer winter tires on a car from the factory, as well as running winter tires on a ar all year round if you don't have snow all year round.

To answer your question, your best option if you want to replace the oem run flat with a different and wider tire on the stock wheel would be to put a 225/50/17 tire on it. That will get you the closest possible overall diameter to the stock size to keep the factory parameters such as speedometer readings the same. I'm not a fan of excessive tire bulge, I find that it will negatively affect aggressive handling. 245/45 would also work, but I wouldn't go 245 on a 7" wheel because of the bulge that I don't like.

If you're planning on changing tires for the changing seasons, I think you're better off picking up a cheap set of wheels to run the winter tires on, and then changing back to stock wheels when the weather permits. Im pretty sure thats what the general concensus would prefer to do. Do you really want to constantly be remounting and rebalancing the wheels every time you want to change the tires?

 

Shoof, I've never heard of "tire bulge" (although what you are saying makes sense). Do you mean using a rim narrower than the range specified by the tire manufacturer? Or do you mean using a rim narrower than the "measuring rim width"?