Hello all. My past vehicle was a Toyota Tacoma and I had a set of BFG g-Force T/A KDW NTs (the ones with the flame looking tread design) http://www.bfgoodrichtires.com/specs...-a-kdw/22.html.

These were some fantastic tires... amazing wet traction and I got quite attached to them. Thinking about putting a set on my new MCS (which I'm just about to order) and I'm wondering if any other MINI owners out there have any experience with them.

If not I'm happy to pioneer!

 

i have not had any experience with these tires in wet weather(i live in so cal)but for canyon driving they are awesome!My buddy also has them on his wrx sti

 

They get real load in a short amount of miles.

I have the BFG's, Nitto Neo Gen, Kuhmo MX and now Toyo Proxis t1R.

The Toyo's are my favorite. Great grip with a surprisingly smooth ride for the performance.

Longboard

 

Yes, it's true, they weren't the quietest tires. I guess I don't mind road noise as much (plus I'll be Dynamating my MINI mercilessly).

Wet traction was fantastic and I was very happy with the treadwear as well... I got 40K miles out of the set on my truck (of course I wasn't subjecting them to anything like what I've got planned for my MINI) I'd still be very content if I can get 30K out of them.

 

I have some of the KDWs with more the traditional looking tread design. Still great in the wet. Under autocrossing they have done great, dont think I would expect anymore grip from a street tire (although those new potenza pole positions are supposed to be great). I've mentioned it in another thread, but I managed to beat an R53 with slicks in autocross under the KDWs, so they must be spectacular. I only got 1k miles but so far they have been great.

 

I have them and love them. Great grip in dry or wet, and noise is not an issue.

 

I had these on my 02 Cooper and loved them until they wore about a third of the way and then they got REALLY NOISY! The only way I'd recommend them is if you really don't care about noise level.

 

Tire noise would be the least of my concerns with my car .

I only had 2 of them on my front wheels (Temporary tires until I could get new rims) and I thought they were pretty good. No rain experiance although the whole design of the KDW2's is based on increasing wet traction, so i'd imagine they're pretty good .

 

I'm on my second summer with these and love them. Mine too get louder and louder as time goes on. But they are indeed a sticky tire. Unfortunately, as fall heads to winter, I watch the weather reports so I can get those off and the winter set on. The KDW's are NOT for snow, ice, slush, etc. I guess that's not a problem in So Cal.

 

how does the noise compare to the dunlop runflats, like the SP Sport 01 DSST?

 

The KDW's are much noisier as they wear, but they totally outclass the runflats in performance. If you have a loud exhaust or stereo, you probably won't notice the noise as much as I did.

 

There ya'go. Milltek here and I love loud droving fast music.

I couldn't compare the sound to runflats. It's been so long since I ditched the Euphorias.

 

I'm onto my 2nd set of BFW KDW2's & love em'. The first time around I went with 215/45/17's & with my H-Sport springs had an occasional rub issue. Last week, I changed rims to SSR's + 215/40/17's & have no rub issues whatsoever. I do feel every single imperfection in the road, but that's a-ok by me. Tire noise is the least of my problems due to my Comptech/Magnaflow/Borla Race exhaust system.
What I look for in a tire is something that's good enough in the hills, performs well in rain & perfect for driving around town all-in-one. In my opinion, I think these tires do the job. Only piece of advice is go with the 40 series if your car has a "drop" on it.

 

Anyone able to compare these to the Goodyear F1 GS-D3 from personal experience?

 

I have an 05 MCSC and had the KDW2's. Before those I had the Dunlop runflats that came with my MINI. Now I have the Dunlop DZ101 and have realized just how much I loved my KDWs. They handled awesome in wet and gripped well. I let another MINI owner drive mine with the KDWs and he noticed how responsive they were which does take some getting used to if you're not used to that kind of tire.

I got the DZ's b/c of the comments on tirerack from other autocrossers, which is what I'm wanting to get into, about how well they handle in autocross. They handle well in the curves but I feel as if I'm drifting around the curves. They are awful in the rain. I skid around curves, not even going that fast. Yikes! that makes me nervous. I'll be glad to get rid of these and will either go back to KDW2s or something with the same kind of rating.

Noise level on the KDWs for me was a nonissue. I went from a pick-up truck to the MINI. I have the cabrio so I have noise anyway. Keep them rotated every 3000 (don't wait till 5000) and you shouldn't have a problem with noise until they get a lot of miles on them.

 

BF Goodrich makes more than one "KDW" tire

In Ultra High Performance Summer tires

BF Goodrich g-Force T/A KDW

does not come in any 15" sizes
In 16" comes in
205/55-16 $124
215/50-16 $120
225/50-16 $126
In 17" smallest is
235/45-17

and
BF Goodrich g-Force KDW 2

Comes in much better sizes for the MINI
and is known to provide very good dry and wet traction/handling but can wear fast and is noisy. Aggressive show car tread pattern is popular.

 

I have the BFG KDW2's, love them, much better ride than the RF's, and seem to be very sticky. Noise is not an issue as the mods I have done cancel it out .

 

Goodyear D3 brings about 15-20% more dry grip and is quieter, but keep the goodyears rotated front to back regularly.

Alex

 

Alex, is that true for the KDW's and the KDW2's?

 

Cool cause those are the tires I'm gonna get.

 

I currently have a set of Goodyear D3's in 215/45-17. They are fine for the street but poor on the track. Mine were manufactured in China and squeel horribly around every tight corner. I have a friend with the same tire made in Germany. his stick alot better. We are both going to switch to a tire with more grip for the track. Just my two cents.....

 

KDW2 moreso because its large tread blocks need to wear evenly to keep silent

KDW has a less agressive tread, it too will benefit from regular rotation - but not as noisy if its not rotated.

Alex

 

I have the Goodyear F1s now (215/40ZR-17 Goodyear Eagle F1 GS-D3). They replaced the KDW2 in a slightly different size (205/45ZR-17 BFGoodrich g-Force T/A KDW 2) so it is hard to do a direct comparison.

The Goodyears are quieter for sure. I had hoped they would wear better (I have stopped autocrossing on my street tires) but I can honestly say both have been good. Did a cross country run and Minis on the Dragon this past spring on the BFG and did well at the rainy day mostly Mini AutoX event there (STX).

I will likely go back to the BFGs next spring when I pull my snow tires off.