So I recently decided that I am going to keep my '11 S a little while longer. It had the JCW Challenge spokes on it with 215/17 Conti DWS.

I needed new tires and since I decided that I am going to keep the MINI a little longer, I figured, let's get some new wheels to go with those tires!

I've been eying the Enkei CompE wheels for quite some time. I like the looks and they cost about as much as the Rota's, plus I could get them mounted and balanced and just have them shipped to my house and I could install without the hassle of going to a shop to mount tires.

In comes the Tire Rack and Alex. It was a painless easy process to order the wheels. They took about 4 days to get to my house and I put them on late last night. They sent me chrome bolts which I thought was weird since the wheels are gun metal, so I sent Alex an email asking how much to have some black bolts sent to me. He sent out a set of black bolts to me for FREE! Folks, that's why you use the Tire Rack. They have done stuff like that for me in the past, including sending me hub rings when I lose one or break one.

Anyway, so I went with a Kumho PA31 in 205/16 and I immediately noticed a difference in the ride. I no longer feel every single pebble and bump in the road. My car is lowered so it's never going to be a cushy ride, but wow, what an amazing difference. The steering no longer feels extremely "twitchy", it's like the new tires added a layer of insulation to the steering. For me, this is a good thing since I have to re-learn how to drive my car every week (I rent cars on a weekly basis for work. I travel every week 3 - 5 days a week). So that means I drive sponge mobiles, big yachts, SUVs, you name it. So when I get in my MINI it takes some time to adjust to the go kart feel. Frankly, this is one of the reasons I was thinking about getting something else. Sometimes, I just want to relax, but the MINI never let me do that. I can now.

Anyway, I'll share pictures later when I get home. I installed the wheels last night, did a quick test drive, then early this morning went to the airport. I have about 40 miles on the combo and so far I love it.

Thanks again to Alex @ The TireRack for the great experience!

 

Good to hear you like the PA31.

tirerack test results are good for this High Performance All Season-
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tests/...y.jsp?ttid=179
and survey results-
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/survey...wws=N&showcm=N

Comes in 195/55-16, 205/50-16 and 205/55-16 for $73 to $75 each.

 

Hmm - didn't have that tire in my Tire Rack "cart of possibilities." Guess I'll add that and consider.

Thanks for the insights!