About to ditch the Dunlop RF tires that came with the car. Any suggestions on a non RF replacement?

 

I did a lot of research and ended up buying the Continental Extreme Contact DWS (215/45/17). They're in my garage waiting for my car to arrive in a couple of weeks. If you haven't already, check out tirerack.com. You can spend all night reading reviews because there are A LOT. Great service, good prices (and no sales tax which pretty much pays for the shipping, at least if you live in a high sales tax state like CA) and VERY fast delivery.

 

I have Dunlop Star Specs. No experience with anything else. I really like them. They stick very well.

 

I've had 2 sets of Star Specs on my 90 Miata. Love those things.

 

I would have to know what is important to you in a tire and how you will use your MINI.

Both tires mentioned above are great tires for their purpose, but if you try take Star Specs out in the cold you'd have big trouble.

 

Roxy loves her new shoes! Michelin Pilot Sport All-Season Plus 215/45-17

 

I'm in NJ so ideally I need a tire that will perform great in all seasons with a long tread life.

 

No tire performs great in all seasons. All-Season tires perform OK in all seasons. If you want great performance you should switch between summer and winter tires.

I rode along with a friend at an Autocross running on the Conti DWS tires. They weren't terribly impressive, but again, all-seasons.

 

The Conti DWS is getting a lot of great reviews. I love them on the wife's IS350.

 

I have the Continental Extreme Contact DWS too. Quiet, much more supple over bumps. Lose a little in cornering, but damn good overall compromise tire.

 

Dunlop Star Specs

 

Most all season tires give up some in cornering and steering response. That is why I would not put on the DWS tires, even when they were less expensive that the Michelins. They are not as good as their comparative summer tire but they are very close.

You have to determine what is most important to you and appropriately pick the compromise package of your selected all season tire. I am extremely happy with my choice.

 

Hankook V12's in the summer, and Dunlop Winter Sports in the winter seem to work out ok for my needs.

 

i have conti DWS for around town on my stock rims (i was surprised how well they worked in the snow last year) and i'm picking up some 17x7.5 rims for autocross / track days. was going to wrap them with 225/45/17 hankoon ventus r-s3.