By now many of you are wondering about the newest Treadwear 200 tires out by several companies.

Tirerack had a shootout including the new Bridgestone RE-71R, Kumho V720 and BFG Rival S.

While the results are still pending as of early July, expect that one of the best will be the RE-71R in dry or wet conditions.

Stay tuned for more and once you've tried out a new tire, post your impressions.

Sizing for the MINI could be a problem that does't make choices as easy.

RE-71R
205/50-15 $120.72, 21 lbs, 23.1" tire diam.
205/45-16 $159.49, 19 lbs, 23.2" tire diam., XL load rated
205/50-16 $123.72, 21 lbs, 24.1" tire diam.
225/50-16 $133.41, 24 lbs, 24.9" tire diam.
205/45-17 $162.88, 21 lbs, 24.3" tire diam., XL load rated
215/45-17 $136.11, 22 lbs, 24.7" tire diam., XL load rated
245/40-17 $176.24, 23 lbs, 24.7" tire diam.
215/40-18 $180.66, 22 lbs, 24.8" tire diam., XL load rated

XL load rated tires have a stiffer sidewall and can take higher loads.

 

OK, the tirerack test results are in for the latest batch of Extreme Summer tires with treadwear 200.

see
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tests/...y.jsp?ttid=202
and with comparison vs older Extreme Summer tires vs R-S3
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tests/...y.jsp?ttid=197

Quote:
The Bridgestone Potenza RE-71R stood out, with quick outright speed and impressive traction in all directions - cornering, braking and especially accelerating. It also delivered amazing precision and exceptional communication to the driver.

As predicted the RE-71R is the tire of choice but alas does not come in as wide a range of tires for all possible cars.
BFG Rival S or Kumho V720 (also good in wet) are second choice, older Extreme Summer tires from Dunlop ZII Star Spec (another good wet tire) and Hankook R-S3 come in next.

If you need double duty for street use and daily driving then best ride and noise comfort choices are Rival S and Hankook R-S3 version 2.

Expect these tires to be loud when street driven, most did OK in the wet tests with the Kumho V720 being the most wet friendly.

Read the owner reviews-
Some report that tire wear can be fast if not enough front negative camber is used.

 

I just pulled the trigger on a set of the Kuhmo V720s (215/45-17 on 17x7 Enkei RPF1s)...

I intend to use them for HPDEs in addition to autoX, so the wear rates of the RE71R had me worried (don't want to destroy in one weekend on the track). The V720s probably wear fast too, but hopefully not as bad, I figured it's worth a shot going against the grain of all RE71Rs.

 

Let us know how you like them, they are supposed to be good in dry OR wet.

Wear on any track tire can depend on how your drive (if you tend to be hard on tires) and what your suspension setup is.

Without enough negative camber you can't expect tires to wear evenly. Usually you don't see a tire wear and cord in many places, but rather on one side enough to need to replace the tire.

Otherwise you can try Toyo R888 or Nitto NT01 for track duty.

 

Thanks, minihune, for all of this info. I will definitely be using it next year. I've seen a lot of people here at Cal Club using the RE71-Rs in every type of class, so they must be good!

I ran the original RE71s back in the day (1999/2000) on my '86 Carrera w/ the POC and they were quite a good tire. It had soft sidewalls, though, but it still gripped well in the corners..

 

I had the old RE71s on my previous car as well. I had that car for 21 years (1982 - 2003)
and they were the best summer tires I ever ran on it.

 

Last weekend we had very wet conditions and those cars on Bridgestone RE71R tires were very fast and did the best by a wide margin.

 

Any updates from MINIs on the RE-71R

Just ordered a set of 205/45-17 on 17x7" rims for autocross.

 

Only used for one event, the RE71R seemed good. Hardly a peep from them.