So i bought my R53 03' last year with Nankang NS2's on it and they are shot.... broken belt on the side of the front left side wall, screw in the middle of the rear left and a plug in the rear right... haha.

So... i'm looking for a tire that's still aggressive and I can drive hard... but will also get me thru light snow and maybe 30,000 miles if possible.

What do you guys recommend? I've been looking at the Kuhmho 4x, and Continental DW.... i'm sure there is more tho. Thanks everyone in advance! Really stoked to stick some new shoes on the mini! I'm going go go with a 215/45/17 to give it a little more cushion then the previous 205's.

 

Cooper zeon rs-3a is another possibility....

 

+1 for the coopers. The other tire I'd recommend and have used is the Continental DWS (DW is a summer tire, DWS is their all-season). Sweet tire and has lasted 15k miles now with 5/16 tread left (with very hard driving) and excellent grip in dry and wet.

 

If you can, I personally would run designated tires for the seasons. use 15's or 16's for winters and keep the 17's for Spring and Summer. Also, the shorter sidewalls on a 17" doesn't work well in the snow.

 

ya know that's actually a really good Idea... what do you like tossing on for the crappy seasons then?

 

Up here in BC, I've gone thru many winter tires. My suggestion, you don't need the best winter tires on the market. Even a good house brand, but it must have good siping. You can probably find a good used set on this forum or CL. Spend the big bucks on the performance tires. By doing this way, you'll get many more seasons out of the tires.

 

good deal ma man. What's a nice summer/wet tire that won't rob me then?
hankook v12 look nice for cheap but... what else?

 

Highly reccomend the Yokohama AD08!

 

Those AD08's are $$$$$ tho. Like... 180 a piece? haha. I'd like to get them shipped to me for around 500-550$, because it's still going to cost me about 180-200$ to have them put on.

Conti DW's are looking pretty good with the wear over the HanKook V12's.. I can still use them as a summer/spring tire, then switch up to winter 16's for fall/winter.

HMMMMMMMMM.

 

Don't be so quick to go cheap on tires. They are your only connection with the road. Mod the car all you want, but it is the tires that get everything done.

I run Nokian Hakkapeliittas in the winter and they are fantastic. Never any worries about getting to where I want to or getting back home. I use some take-off 15" rims from an R50 MC with 185/65R15 tires. Narrow tires work better in the winter driving conditions. These tires are available plain or studded. Check state regulations to be sure studs are legal and when you can use them.

In the summer you can't go wrong with the Continental DW.

 

I highly recommend Nitto Motivo. I have put about 4000 miles on them so far and they have been great!

 

The tire you're looking for doesn't exist...yet...But iIf you must run in snow, get a second set of snow tires/wheels...then set your sights on Hankook Ventus Rs-3 (215/45-17) for the summer...anything else is a compromise for both seasons...

 

Well I'm leaning now towards the idea of a summer/spring tire and then switching them out in mid fall. Those rs-3's.... how do they compare to the Conti DW? I don't need a race tire (roads suck here and are always dusty... I'm just a daily aggressive driver >=)

 

Road suck everywhere...if you are an aggressive driver, get the Rs-3...that's what I'm using...and I wouldn't even consider myself an aggressive driver

 

So... what kind of tread life? Get me past a season?

 

140 wear...roughly two summers if you don't track...Dragon and daily hard cornering np...

 

I don't track... but I would be running these roughly 8 months out of the year...which equates for me ROUGHLY 11k miles..... so that's a new set of 600$+ (w/mount balance align) every year. I guess that's what's making this complicated...

 

That's the price of admission if you like driving quickly...there's no way around that...I've been doing this for the last 9 years of owning my Mini so you're not alone...

 

I'm running Nankang ns2's and they're pretty damn soft. I guess I wonder if it's a noticeable difference between something like the hankook (what about the v12?) and the DW. Just seems pretty $ for tires every year.......and I still have to buy snow tires/wheels. *sigh. Nobody else is chiming in on this. Hahaha.

 

+1
Tires are a relatively inexpensive part of having fun with your MINI.
You have to pay to play.

 

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...4&prx_t=871138

 

Nitto Motivo's! Curious what these guys here have to say about it. MSFITOY, just wanted to say... watched that vid of you taking off in a parking lot to show exhaust sound? Dude..... if there is a silver R53, that I wish mine looked like... whew. You win sir. Haha.
I could spend hours looking thru those photo's on your profile. I need to PM you about what to do in order of importance to my mini

 

I got 21,000 out of the Contis. Normal commuting and 7000 miles of interstate driving. Just replaced them with Nitto Motivos. I would be ecstatic to get 30,000 out of these.