LMAO, good one!

 

Sure did! All those years of college beer pong....my aim is impeccable. Lol

 

What you're referring to sounds like a performance tire, which would still be better in both dry and damp, and wet conditions as far as handling is concerned. That being said, depending on the tread pattern it could hydroplane easier yes, but that is not specific to all performance tires. No matter how you slice it an all season tire is a going to have less grip overall but is a better all rounder. Sort of like a run of the mill econo car it's efficient it's cheap it lasts it performs enough to get you there, but do you really want one? Not really.

Here's a great link that explains different types of tires in a nutshell. There's a lot of misconceptions about summer or regular tires out there.

http://www.popularmechanics.com/_mob...summer-9647443

You may still disagree with me, but that's my 2 cents. Or 5 cents now that we no longer have pennies up here in Canada.

Cheers

 

Absolutely never have I seen a review of a summer or performance tire where they said not these don't perform well in the wet. Quite the opposite. I don't believe in all seasons never had a set I liked I've had cheap ones I've had expensive ones and I've had really expensive ones and none were as good as summers in wet or dry

 

Got some cupholder GoBadges in the mail. I love them! Fast and awesome product packaging.

http://www.gobadges.com/MINI-COOPER-...-unionjack.htm

 

^ I've always liked those! I found a place where you can print/or have a photo place print out templates of these logos (the regular Union Jack... the Black Jack...checkered pattern etc). Then you just cut them out and laminate them and they are good to go. They dont say MINI COOPER on them but still. End Rant... looks awesome though.

 

check out tirerack.com and call or email alex
[FONT=Verdana][SIZE=1]Tire Rack
7101 Vorden Parkway
South Bend, IN 46628
O: 888 428 8355 ext. 294
O: 574 287 2345 ext. 294
F: 574 236 7707
[/SIZE][SIZE=1]Alex@tirerack.com[/SIZE]
[/FONT]
they break summer tires into subgroups
Extreme Performance Summer
Max Performance Summer
Ultra High Performance Summer
High Performance Summer
Grand Touring Summer

the extreme performance group gives up wet performance for more dry performance ... these tires are really street legal track tires IMO

but talking with Alex, the best wet tires are found in the next 2 groups,

max performance summers and ultra high performance summers

the top group of all-season tires is
Ultra High Performance All Season

per Alex, this group of the best performance all-seasons will have less dry and less wet traction than the same named group of summer tires, which is the 3rd group of summer tires

any of the summer tires are terrible once the temperature gets below the 25F-40F range while any of the all-seasons will continue to work in lower temps

once you get to snow and ice, the same thing happens, only in reverse

while the all-seasons will work in snow and ice, they cannot compete with a winter tire

i personally have ultra high performance summers that my car was delivered with (pirelli p7 summers) and studless ice and snow tires for winter

the summers are excellent in the rain, even downpours and standing water

when the oem summers wear out, they will be replaced with the next group up, max performance summers (michelin pilot super sports)

i wrote a $35,000 check for my cms all4 (before mods), i am not going to cheap-out on tires and use an all-season tire that is a compromise in all modes of tire performance

a set of winters can be had for as little as $800, admittedly without tpms senders, i spent about $1500 for mine, $400 tires, $200 TPMS, $900 for mini oem alloys

scott

 

Horses for courses... any summer tire is going to get hard come cold weather, which is anything below about 40-45 degrees. For some folks, one of the higher-performance all-seasons are a better "compromise" than a summer. All tires are compromises, and many won't / can't change their tires if the weather forecast calls for a chilly evening. All-seasons, as a whole, also last longer - meaning better rain evacuation over the long haul. The performance difference between a dedicated summer road-capable (OTQG 300+) tire and a performance all-season of similar UTQG is certainly detectable, but fairly small.

Now, WINTER tires are a different story. FIRM believer in winter tires for anyone who routinely drives when temps are below 35, or who sees snow several times per winter. Winter tires are better in cold conditions than all-seasons, grip FAR better in snow and crud, and I've measured ~30% better grip in testing conditions (closed course, pro driver, etc.) between winters and all-seasons - even NEW all-seasons.

...this from a guy with over a dozen snow tires, a set of UHP summers, and a bunch'a performance all-seasons... I ran summers for many years, and recently chose the Conti dws all-season instead in a cost-no-object decision: Yes, they are slightly less precise than the summers, but the reduction in noise, increased wear, and cold weather capability make up for that in the realm of "safety" - since "safety" isn't just "grip".

IMHO, YMMV, etc. LOTS of info on the TireRack site, orask - while we all have opinions and experience, keep an open mind and decide!

 

Snow tires are good for more than just snow.

I've found that a set of Blizzak's can out perform just about anything but dedicated drag slicks on the strip. :D

Really when you think about it: your snow tire category uses the softest rubber compounds, has a very siped tread with a good contact patch, plus a soft and squishy sidewall that likes low tire pressures. Everything that makes a good drag slick minus the fact that slicks have no tread blocks.

When I was dragging my Honda down the 1/8th mile out side of Fort Campbell every friday night, I saw my times go from the mid 10's to low 9's just because the track was so slick that snows where all that had enough instant grip to not just go up in smoke. Did I really care that I was using snow tires when it was 100 degrees? NOPE, I just knew I was winning.

 

Sent Benni's tail light rings to Orangecrush to have him color match them. Pretty stoked!

 

Despite a 20 hour road trip in a Suburban that ended this morning, I hopped in the MINI to get our mail. Love going from the height of a Suburban to feeling like I'm sitting on the ground.

And what was waiting for me at the Post Office? nm torque arm inserts. Should be getting that and the new water pump installed this weekend.

 

You'll love the inserts!

 

Got her a car wash today! She looks mighty fresh

 

Joined about 100 other MINI owners at Cypress Mountain just outside of Vancouver BC for some skiing, a MINI party, and a look at the GP and JCW Paceman along with other MINI stuff.

 

Changed her oil last night for after the break-in period.

 

Not my car, but I installed NM springs, H Sport rear bar, and H sport camber arms on a friends car. In about 3.5 hrs...lol I'm getting pretty good at this.

All for doughnuts and a couple of cokes.

 

I took my car to a local muffler shop and had them cut out the 2nd cat and resonator on my 2012 MCS... Now the exhaust is catless downpipe straight back to the stock muffler and tailpipes. Sounds rowdy!

 

In the cool of the morning (45F), prior to attending the Sunday-Go-To-Meeting, I waxed Sömmerdämmerung. Washed it yesterday afternoon.

 

Looks like FUN!!

 

All looks good except for the wheels...get some Black/Gun Metal Machined Face wheels on that MINI...then you'll be STYLIN'!!

 

Swapped out my chrome grill and plastidipped my scoop up front. Then upgraded my sound system inside. Figure all that should add about 10 bhp ; ).
Pretty happy with how it all came out.

 

Looks cool with the hood scoop now! How's the sound system? I want to add an amplifier eventually.

 

Thanks. I had put on the new grill and hated it until i painted the scoop. Made a big difference.
System Sounds great. Not too much but just enough. my biggest concern was doing it on the cheap while getting good sound and making it look clean in the boot. All I did was swap out the head unit and run it to a 500 watt alpine ($150 at crutchfield) and a JL sub (100 crutchfield). Not too bad if u know how to run some wires and on a budget.
Btw I highly recommend crutchfield. Service was excellent and they include the wire harness and mounting bracket for the mini when you buy the deck from them.

 

break in oil change last weekend. Craven speed dip stick and stubby Antenna today.

 

Installed a new +2% crank pulley


And a new front crank seal while I was there, it was leaking a little.


Nik