A couple weeks ago I upgraded my suspension with the H&R Touring Cup Kit. I immediately had a 4 wheel alignment done at the local MINI dealership. While the upgrade was fairly significant, I still felt like something was missing. Ride quality and control certainly improved quite a bit. However there was still a little vagueness to the steering on center and a bit of body roll on initial turn-in. Pretty minor stuff for sure but I'm very particular when it comes to ride and handling. I figured the stock 205/50/16 Continental Extreme Contact DWS's had to go. They were only about 50% worn. My suspicions were correct!

Before you say "you upgraded to a smaller aspect ratio tire. Of course you saw an improvement!", keep in mind tire width is the same and the aspect ratio was reduced by only 5%.

While the Conti's are known for excellent ride quality, quiet ride and decent stick, they're pretty soft. And not in a good way. I ordered a set of 17x7 Sparco Tarmacs with 205/45/17 Michelin Pilot Sport A/S 3's from Tire Rack.

These tires are simply fantastic. There is absolutely no "mush". Initial turn-in is razor sharp and these things grip VERY well. High speed stability is very confidence inspiring. The DWS's would feel squirmy and nonlinear at high speeds (relatively speaking, they're still a good tire). Even better than the Extreme Contact DW summer tires I had on the MCS before. Temperatures have been in the 20's-40's here in Rhode Island, I can only imagine how much grip they'll have when the temperatures really warm up. Ride quality is excellent. I'd say they ride just as well as the DWS's which had an even taller and softer sidewall. Think about that for a second….!

We are expecting a Nor'Easter here this week, curious to see how they'll do. I know for a fact they won't do as well as the DWS's in this regard, as they were very good for an all season tire in the snow. But I'll take the performance trade-off any day.