Hi everyone,

Great forum you have here!

My brother recently picked up a sweet MINI - an '05 convertible S. What an awesome car! In fact, for xmas he gave me a coupon for the wife and I to take the MINI for an evening and he will keep the kiddies with him ... so I'll need some good tires to really put it through its paces.... errrr... he could be reading this - good tires for saftey

So he wants to ditch the run-flats and get some nice new tires. We do live in NH but the car will never see a winter. His car has 17" wheels.

What do you guys think the best tires are for a good compromise between great handling and a comfortable ride? I'd really appreciate any suggestions.

Also, he'll be doing the brakes. For pads and rotors should he be looking to the aftermarket or stick with OEM parts?

Thanks in advance for any replies.
Jay

 

For the compromise in a non runflat, Michelin Pilot sport AS+, or Bridgestone Re960's are top picks.

Are we looking for more brake power or lower dust?

Alex

 

I love my Continental DWS Extremes. 215/45/17!!!!

 

Thank you both for the replies!

As far as his requirements regarding new brakes, we really don't know . He's had the car only a short time and has barely driven it yet... he's waiting for spring. He bought the car knowing it needed new brakes. I'd say lower dust would be a big deal as long as the brakes work well... I know my bro, he won't drive the car really hard so crazy stopping power won't be a must.

 

+1

 

I run Bridgestone Potenza Grids high-performance-all-season tires. These tires perform well on diverse road conditions, ride well, handle well and are not too noisy IMO. http://bit.ly/d5qTZw

 

I have the Michelin Pilot Exalto's, 205/45ZR/17.
Excellant tires.
Grip is perfect.

 

I did the same and replaced them with TOYO Proxes 4. They are good all season and very sticky, soft and quiet but with good road feel. Not many have them but those that do will thumbs up.

 

I had a set of Proxies 4's on an older car of mine. Gripped okay, wore too quick though. T1R's are gripper and wore about the same for me.

 

Thank you all for the replies! Please keep them coming. I know I'll get a lot of different answers but at least I'll have a list to go by when continuing my research.

Thanks again, you folks are awesome

 

For brakes, I normally use Carbotech pads. The CT 1521 bobcats are good street pads I heard Centrix premium is a decent rotor. But I have not tried those myself.

If you do not have snow or colder weather, I like the Dunlop z1 star specs. I have continentals dws which are decent.

 

In the Fall of '10 my Mini got a new set of wheels and Proxies 4. So far they seem O.K.. they are lots quieter than the Eagle run flats. Although I have not driven the MINI much since the new rubber being put on the ride was much better. I'm hoping for the road salt to wash off soon so the grip test can start.

 

jdsMni

I installed a set of Continental Extreme Contact DW 215/45/17 on my 2010 MINI Hardtop. They are really quite and the car seems to handle really well.
I took off a set of Run Flats 205/45/17.
I know they will not last as long as some of the other high mileage tires but at least I will enjoy the ride and the handling.

I noticed that hattenzoom was running the same tire but a DWS one.
Hope this will help!!

 

The absolute BEST solution, but possibly just a BIT more expensive is to first, ditch the all-seasons, they're a compromise from the start. They try to do too many things at once, while not doing anything as well as a dedicated seasonal tire. Its what Tire Rack recommends.

Because you live in NH, you're MUCH better off running strictly winter tires on steel rims for the winter, then swapping them over to pure performance summer tires. I live in CT, and thats my strategy, and its worked perfectly.
Your brother's car will performa like an all-wheel drive car in the winter, and handle like sports car in the summer.

For brands, BF Goodrich makes a great summer tire, and their winter Blizzaks are among the best.

 

I blew out two tires on a trip last summer and had to settle for a pair of TOYO Proxes 4's. Noisy, vague grip, and one of them turned out to have a defect which caused the car to drift off in one direction when I loosened my grip on the wheel. I always had to keep some pressure on the wheel to keep it running straight. When I got home, I returned them (Les Schwab) and put what I originally had on there which were/are Hankook Ventus V12 Evo's. Immediately the car tracked straight and true again and I had the great road feel back again. The Evo's were the second highest rated sport tire in a 2009 Car and Driver tire test. Way above Yokohama S Drives and other tires. If they've got the size you want, I wouldn't hesitate on getting the Evo's. And they're really excellent in the rain as well, even though they're technically summer tires. I highly recommend them. (And there are others here that are running them as well.)