Hey, I know this topic has been beat to death, but I feel the need to insert my two cents.


I confess, I'm a serial MCS owner. The first one was an R53. Loved it. But it had the sport suspension and 17-inch wheels; I found that ultimately I could not live with it. Sold it.


Current ride is an R55 Clubman, which I ordered from the factory, which is what you pretty much have to do these days, I guess, to get the car you want with a manual trans.


It came with the Bridgestone RFTs on 16-inch wheels. The ride was not as bad as that of my first car, but it still was pretty stinkin' bad.


Two weeks ago I bit the bullet and bought a set of Michelin Pilot Sport AS3s. Man, what an incredible difference. The ride is much more compliant and the steering is lighter and crisper. Though I do not drive like a crazy person since I am in my dotage, grip seems way up.


These are not RFTs. So I also bought a spare kit (I will not name the vendor since the service left much to be desired), which fits in the space in the back of the car just fine. And for insurance, I also bought an inflation kit that consists of Slime and a compressor. I'm pretty much set, I figure.


So here's my testimony: Decent tires have the potential of transforming these cars.


Over and out.

 

I agree 100%. I just switched from 17's with 205/45 RFT's to 16's with 195/55 non-RFT.

My testimony: It was like getting a new mattress after sleeping on an old one for 7 years. Butter.

 

News worth repeating! My first R53 had run flats. I switched over to a set of yokohama envigors and it was like a different car. All for the better.

My current 2012 MCS has Conti run flats and when they are worn to the point of needing to be replaced I will switch to Michelin AS3s too.

Conventional tires do transform the performance and ride of these cars.

 

When you switch from RF to non RF .... huge differences in ride.