I have 2700 miles on my roadster which is my daily driver. I live in southeastern Virginia and the ride on the Continental Run Flats has been punishing, especially on the interstate. The strange thing is my wife has Run Flats on her BMW 128i and the ride is pretty good. I love the roadster so I want to fix this. I ordered the Michelin Pilot Sport A/S 3 195/55R from Tire Rack. They have not come in yet. I also ordered the Jack Pad Adapter from Burger Motor Sports so we can jack the car up without damage. I would appreciate any advice before I mount these. Do you think this will do the trick? I could not find a post with my exact car, roadster or coupe, that switched out the run flats. I have searched all over and can't find much good to say about Run Flats. Thanks in advance.

 

By all reports that is a superb choice. Let us know how you like them.

 

I'm also interested in these tires. Please let me know how they are. I'm curious how they will be in the snow.

 

just replaced the RF's with some A/S 3's . . . really liking them so far (only been a week. . .) I went with 215/45/17 on stock rims and NM springs. . . no issues nice fit

Also put the same on a 06 R53 JCW . . . it had slight rubbing on the drivers rear - resolved with 5mm spacer

 

I got so upset about the ride issue I stopped driving the car. It is parked - and may get a final ride to Car Max for a turn in. So, the new tires have not been mounted. I should have been more careful before buying this but who would have thought on rough surfaces it rode like the Flintstones car. What a dumb mistake.

 

Non runflats will utterly transform the car. There are many, many testimonials on this forum.

 

Really? Seems a bit extreme to consider handing over a brand new $30K vehicle at its trade-in value (whatever the make and model) just because you don't like the ride of the tires.

 

I switched from the stock 19s wheels with performance tires to stock 17s wheels with all season tires. WOW! What a huge difference riding with the 17s on. It is much smoother and do not feel every bump in the road with more rubber. Both are run flats.

 

I have run that exact tire for 35,000 miles now. Has performed well. Is just now getting down to around 4/32" and they are becoming a bit of a handful in the rain. I intend to replace them with the same tire in the very near future. Based on the performance at 4/32"... I don't want to experience them all the way down to the legal limit.
Hope this is helpful to you.

 

The ride of runflats is directly related to the surface of the roads one is running on. I have a set of ContiProContacts that are just fine on local roads despite having the sport suspension. However, when I go up in the mountains where the roads are affected by snow and freezing temperatures the ride is intolerable to the point of inducing pain in my kidneys and teeth while travelling at the speed limit. I never imagined any tire could be that bad under those conditions but they are.

 

Realize it's not all tires too. The Roadster body is probably more rigid and the suspension's in most 2nd gen MINI's suck. They're rather harsh and unforgiving. Aftermarket coilover systems are probably the best way to go. I've had 2 sets of Megans and they were harsh as hell everywhere I went, until I switched to Ohlins and it has made my MINI an entirely new animal. It's such a smoother ride everywhere I go and that's what I think you may need....

Sorry to see you already giving up on the Roadster.

 

Well you motivated me to put the Michelins on today. This made a significant improvement. The harshness and extreme impacts are gone. It is hard to say how much better it is because it is so different. If I were graphing it I would say the peaks of the impacts have been lowered and the shape less sharp and more rounded. I drove on the rough local roads for 25 miles and it is much less fatiguing to drive now. Long term, we will see but my initial impression is this will work. Thanks to all who commented and helped.

 

Let the fun begin.