my 07 r56 needs new tires. takes 205/45 17". I don't track the car and these florida roads are pretty straight unfortunately. from what I've gathered, summer tires last about 20k miles, and all seasons last about 50k? do all season tires have the same handling quality that summer tires have without the grip? I don't think I need lots of grip, but I would like good handling.

right now the car has continental extremecontact dw tuned 215/45 which is from the previous owner.

 

Your numbers are probably a good estimate for summer tire vs all season longevity, there's a lot of factors that play into tread life but in general, max performance or better summer tires don't last past 30k and all seasons can be rated much higher.

In my mind grip and handling are synonymous, if you don't have a lot of grip you can't handle well. The DW's are pretty good tires, the successor is the extremecontact sport. I'm looking at those for my next set and i think they're about 120 per tire, not too bad, plus a 30k mile treadlife warranty. I say you will be happier with summer tires vs all seasons.

 

You can use either 205/45-17 or 215/45-17, both work.

For Ultra High Performance All Season tires (blend of longer tread life and good handling in dry or wet)

https://www.tirerack.com/tires/surve...=true&filter=y

Slightly larger selection of tires in 215/45-17
https://www.tirerack.com/tires/surve...=true&filter=y

Max Performance Summer tires will wear faster but give better dry and wet handling. Good if you plan to do any driving school or performance driving events.

Yet another class of tires that might work for you are Grand Touring All Season tires- blend of good tire wear with very good ride comfort and good handling but not as sharp as Ultra HP All Season tires.
https://www.tirerack.com/tires/surve...=true&filter=y

Tire selection is more limited in 205/45-17 for Grand Touring AS tires

 

The MINI wears front tires very fast so rotating tires is important. If you don't rotate front to rear every 4000 miles expect that front tires will need to be replaced twice as often as the rears. Some wear will depend on how you drive and how well you keep the air pressures up.

 

Roger that...and with R55 Clubman models, due to longer wheelbase it's the rear tires which develope irregularities including some cupping...Rotation on a Clubbie is even more important. Seen many folks come in during MINI's extended oil change intervals leaving with TWO New Tires as well...

Change Oil every 5K miles, rotate tires. It's cheap money in comparison.

 

I had summers and switched to all seasons. I wanted more tread life and a little more traction for when it gets cold. Initially, the new tires are like glue - the old ones had reached their limit - and I didn't feel like replacing them every 20-30k. I had BFGoodrich Comp2 summers and now have BFGoodrich Comp2 A/S.

My buddy has a WRX and also runs the Comp2 A/S.

 

notice any differences between the two? like handling? if I can get double the mileage from all seasons without sacrificing handling I think it would be worth loosing some grip.

any thoughts on the Yokohama ADVAN Sport A/S? very close to the price of the comp2

 

imo, I think the A/S handles better but from everything I've read, the summers should have better handling as they are supposed to be grippier.

 

Handling: the ease with which a car goes where you want it to. Michelin Pilot Sport A/S-3 have more grip than one should sensibly exploit on a public road. They handle great and are priced accordingly. Other good handling longer lasting so called All Season options are Continental ExtremeContact DWS 06, BFG comp-2 A/S, and General G-Max AS 05.

Maximum grip is not a good thing on a softly sprung and damped suspension. The "handling" can put you up on two wheels and maybe on your roof. It happens instantly with no warning when the suspension hits the bump stops.

I'm currently running on and enjoying OEM 195/65-15 Bridgestone Ecopias on my VW Golf Sportwagen. My Hankook RS-3's and Pilot Sport A/S-3's are too much tire for the stock suspension.

 

In Florida it's a no-brainer. A summer tire will perform better in every condition you're likely to come across, other than the odd ice storm the northern part of the state gets every decade or so. Yes, the all-seasons will last longer. A longer-lasting, less-fun tire on a car like this doesn't interest me.

 

I have waffled back and forth, I'm currently running the ContiProContact SSRs on all three of mine currently, I totally recommend them (they are Run Flats and All Season) and they ride really nice they are quite, and they are super grippy (track proven).


They are so much better then the early versions of the Run Flats.


I must also tell you I do not work for nor do I receive any compensation for making this recommendation, I share with you my opinion and impression of what I consider a great product.


Motor On!

 

That would be the explanation for all the inverted cars I see everyday.

If you hit a road imperfection hard enough to compress your suspension to the bump stop in a corner, your car is going to slide, no matter what tires it has. On the street, there's no such thing as "too much grip", and you're more likely to run into trouble by overdriving non-performance tires, as the softer sidewalls and lower traction blunt steering, brake, and throttle input.

 

If I lived in Florida I'd rock stickies all year long. Why buy anything else if you don't need to?

 

I would go with summer tires if you enjoy their grip. I have a set of summer and winter tires, and compared to all season tires I've used on my last car I'm much happier with the season dedicated pair.

 

I ended up going with the all season BFG comp-2 A/S. they feel good. handling feels a little squishy I think just cause my old tires were almost bald. the car seems to turn shaper, like same amount of steering input but car wants to turn more.

 

That'll be a good compromise between an traditional all-season tire and a summer performance tire.

 

Tire choices are all about compromise between various tire classes:

Summer tires tend to wear faster, ride firmer, handle and perform better and are for warm weather not below 40 degrees. Brands vary with price and quality, even name brands have their duds. Cheap brands are cheap, good for a budget but don't expect that much.

Max Summer tires offer high levels of handling and performance in dry conditions and sometimes in wet but they wear faster, can be noisy and firm riding but some models and brands are better like Michelin Pilot 4S and some Continental models. For those that drive MINIs aggressively this is a good choice. Can be used for autocross or some track or driving school.

Extreme Summer tires wear the fastest but give excellent dry grip. They tend to be more firm riding and noisy but are excellent for very high performance driving. They can be street driven but will last less than 12 months. Depending on the model some are not as good in wet.

All Season tires vary with levels of performance from Ultra High Performance which act more like Summer Performance tires but still wear better although they do ride firmer. They are good for dry or wet and are a good match for MINIs.

For All Seasons that offer better ride quality and treadlife look for Grand Touring, you loose some crispness in handling and performance for more comfort and lower noise with very good treadlife. Depending on the tire size they can still offer good responsiveness with 45 series sidewalls.

 

Keep in mind handling in the rain. Florida gets some real "frog-stranglers" every once in awhile and, while dry performance has its virtues, it also needs to perform adequately in the wet.

 

Michelin Pilot Super Sports are awesome both dry and wet. Maybe not the best for some of those Florida downpours, but when it is raining that hard you have to slow down anyway because the windshield wipers can't keep up. They have a 30K mile treadwear warranty, I rotate every 5K miles and get about 24K-25K out of a set. Then I go get a new set discounted 20% because of the treadwear warranty.