I have a 2005 Mini Cooper Convertible with Pirelli 175/65 r 15 84H tires on it right now. They're 11 years old and I finally need to replace them. Unfortunately, Pirelli doesn't make them in this size in the states anymore.

I drive a manual and am in a lot of heavy traffic. I live in LA, so I'm constantly dodging in and out, speeding up/downshifting, quick braking, etc. There's always construction going on in this city. I want something that has good performance and handling, not just run of the mill.

The weather is pretty much just non-stop summer out here. It almost never rains because we've been in a drought for so long. It rains maybe 5 days a year. Not much humidity out here either.

Does anyone have a recommendation? Thanks.

Here's a photo, not sure what rims I have. I chose white rims when I bought it, but don't remember the specs.

 

not intending to be unkind to: first post person

but there are probably 1000 and perhaps 10,000 threads about tires on this site

I'd point you to 'tirerack.com' for easily finding an OE replacement tire .... which your local tire store could do also

 

Yeah, I've read through a lot of those posts. I've read through tirerack.com reviews. I find people saying a lot of different things for cars that aren't the same as mine, or driving conditions that are different than mine.

I love my Mini, I love my Pirelli's and I'm just trying to get advice from someone else who actually drives my same car.

 

I forgot to add that I only have 46K miles on my car. So the odds are the tires will dry out before I wear them out. I don't really want to invest another $1,000 on Pirelli's. I was hoping to find a tire that handles cornering and aggressive driving like my Pirelli's, but that I'll change out sooner than 11 years. Yeah, I know that was way too long to keep them. Hahahah, I just loved the way they handled.

Someone recommended Falken ziex or falken azenis, but I saw reviews saying they didn't even last 10k miles. Anyone using Falken's? Pro's or con's of them?

 

That size tire has a very limited performance category if at all.

Go on tire rack, filter for the highest performance summer tires, read reviews there.

Pick out 2 of the top tires from that site. Search each tire specifically here. Make decision.

 

That's what I was afraid of. There are very few tires for this size. Is it worth buying a new set of 16" rims? I plan on keeping my car for as long as I possibly can. I'm just not sure it's worth spending another $1k on rims in addition to the tires as well.

 

On 15" wheels you can run 195/55-15, 195/60-15, 185/60-15 or 185/65-15 tires. On Tire Rack 195/60-15 offers the most choices.

 

195/60R15 - Kumho LX Platinum or Goodyear Sport All-season are your two best handling options.

 

Based on your stated criteria I would recommend the 175/65-13 Kumho PA31.
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires....omCompare1=yes

If you hadn't mentioned long-lasting I would have recommended the Continental
Contipremiumcontact 2 in the same size.

 

My wife and I both drive R50's (2002 and 2003) which are essentially the same as your car. With a base MINI you have to be concerned about unspring weight, which means the weight of the tires and wheels combined. When less horsepower is used to turn the wheel and tire (meaning they are lighter) more of the car's horsepower is used to move the vehicle which results in better performance.

Smaller (narrower) tires (175 as opposed to 195 or even larger sizes such as 215) are naturally lighter and therefore require less horsepower to turn (to get the car moving) and result in better performance. With more weight per square inch on a narrower tire traction and cornering is improved if the tire is made of soft enough rubber to allow for this. These cars shipped with this tire and there is a reason for this- all aspects of the handling are best with this narrower tire. Plus the narrower tire looks better, IMHO.

We run the Contintenal ContiProContact tires on both of our cars and LOVE THEM! We've had our cars for quite a while and won't run anything else. For normal street driving and the pseudo-hillclimb even we used to organize for MINIs (google "Maryhill Loops Road) these tires are extremely grippy. Not an issue for L.A. drivers, but they also have great wet traction and these narrow tires cut through the snow very well. I grew up in North Dakota and a MINI with these tires is the best car I have ever driven in the snow.

Previous poster was correct; the only downside is the tendency to wear somewhat quickly but if your tires are going to dry-rot before they wear out it probably won't matter to you. I get ours at Discount Tire (America's Tire to you) and they are right around $600 for four out the door.

Val