Currently I have the stock RFs 205/55R17’s on my 2012 Countryman S. They are really noisy and I had seen that many people run 225/50R17’s with no problems. Does anyone recommend specific brands to run? Also when mounting my back wheels are cambered, do I need to go somewhere special to have them mounted/balanced? Are all mini’s cambered normally and has anyone uncambered there’s? Does this affect ride quality or handling? Thank you everyone for your help.

 

Can get much quieter and much better
performing tires if you’re willing to
change to non run flat tires.
For summer performance tires go with
Michelin Pilot Sport 4S or Continental
ExtremeContact Sport.
For performance all seasons go with
Michelin Pilot Sport A/S 3+, Continental
ExtremeContact DWS06, or Yokohama
Advan Sport A/S.

TireRack.com is very good for researching
and buying tires

For mounting, any decent tire shop
should do.

Can reduce negative camber a little
with the eccentric bolts on the lower
rear control arms, or more with
adjustable control arms if you want to.
Don’t really need to unless you lower
the car, which I don’t actually recommend.
Lowering gives you even more negative
camber, and also reduces suspension
travel which is already limited to begin
with.
If you do change the camber, you will
also have to the-adjust the rear toe.

 

I wasn’t really interested in reducing the camber I just didn’t know if people did or not. Am I good to run summer tires year round with me living in Florida. We never get ice or snow on the roads just lots of rain in the summer. Thank you for your help

 

Summer tires should be fine for
the whole year anywhere in FL,
unless you travel several states
north in the middle of winter.
Both the M PS4S and C ECSport
tires are fantastic in the rain, BTW.
I had the Contis on my R50 and
have the Michelins on my R55.

 

Are the Contis good? I don’t think I can afford the $200 a piece Michelin’s

 

The Conti ECS are very good, better than
the vast majority of tires in their
category, but the Michelins PS4S are
definitely the best in that Max
performance class.

 

Ok thank you for all your help and Information I truly appreciate the help.

 

So I checked my current tires and they’re BridgeStone Dueler H/P’s. They seem really expensive so are they a good tire? They are RFT so is that why they’re so much. Can I still expect a noticeable difference with switching to non RFT as far as ride quality.

 

Yes, definitely.
If, however, you feel you NEED
runflats, the Pirelli Cinturato P7 Run
Flat summer tire in 225/50/17 would
be much better than the BS Duelers
you have now.

 

Ok and again thank you for all your help. I don’t feel that I need the RF’s as I’m going to college soon and will be staying relatively close to my job, school, etc. do you recommend any repair kits or portable air compressors in case I do get a flat?

 

I have a dynaplug, a manual pump,
a jack, and a breaker bar/socket in
each of our cars (and a compact
spare since one fits the well in my
clubman).

http://www.dynaplug.com/

 

I would install the Bridgestone Drive-Guards long before i put on another set of Pirelli P7's....

 

The BS Driveguards are actually pretty
good for a grand touring all season
run flat tire.

 

I’m not really interested in run flats I think I’d rather do the kit. It seems like you can get better tires for less money by just going with normal tires.

 

Yep.