For the 17' tires come with the s-lite wheel,
which tire do you think is better to use in san jose?
I perfer to have a softer and quieter ride.

 

Not sure if this will help since neither runflat is geared towards a softer or quieter ride, but I have lived in the North Bay and SF with regular non-runflat performance tires on year round with no problem and I would thing the performance RFs would be designed to be softer and thus stickier. Perhaps someone here can tell you if one runflat is softer then the other for sure, but I have a feeling the best solution for you is to go with a smaller wheel/more sidewall or regular tires for the ride you prefer.

 

if you really want a softer & quieter ride, first get rid of the 17" wheels, then dump the run flats. I down sized to a 16" rim... you can find out more on the REME MegaBBS

 

If I dont want to down size to 16, then which one is better, performance or all season?
I heard that performance is softer and quieter than all season.
Is that true?

 

Funny I just responded to a post about tires. heh I just got rid of the runflats in December, I replaced them with BFGoodrich g-Force T/A KDW 2 from the Tire Rack. These ride real nice and the grip is great.

 

Chainsaw,

Your tires look great, just like the flame of your car!!
What tire did you have before, all season or performance? Were those RF came with the car? How did you feel about them?

 

It is difficult to make broad generalizations. Noise and ride quality vary widely even within a single category of tire. Your best hope is that someone will respond who has experience with both types of tires equipped by MINI.

Performance tires have softer rubber for better grip, but it does not necessarily translate to softer ride. In fact, performance tires are often given stiffer sidewalls for more responsive turning, which means harder ride. Grippier rubber also generally means more road noise, but on the other hand an all season may (or may not) have a noisier tread pattern.

I would guess that because both are runflats, the difference in ride softness will be negligible, and the noise level will depend most of all on the tread pattern. On MINI2, there is a list of which tires are supplied by MINI although I think the information may be incomplete or out of date. If you find out which particular tires are being shipped from the MINI factory, you could look up ratings and reviews on TireRack.

 

Since noise is an issue I would just say that I have the g-Force T/A KDW 2 on my MCS and do find them to be noisy - I would try Pilot PS2s or even BFG F1s for a quieter tire.

 

I had the Pirelli Performance Runflats. The Pirelli's had a very hard ride, and they were a lot noisier that the current tires. The only things that I weighed my purchase on was ride, traction, and tread-were. The noise wasn't so much an issue with me. After the tire switch the MINI felt like a luxury car compared to what it felt like with the runflats, at least thats what my wife said. By no means should you take that as the KDW2's are quiet and ride like a fluffy cloud, but they ride like a sport car should.

Oh, and it didn't hurt that the tread looked like a flame to match the car...

 

We get rain, and I live where there's fog. So I gave up a bit of turn in for a tire that sticks really well in the dry, and really really well in the wet. Sucks in the snow though!

The tire is more quiet and complient than the run flats, but when the tread is low, pretty much all wide low tire will be noisey!

Matt

 

The F1s are excellent in the wet. They aren't that bad in the dry either but there are probably better ones out there.

 

I'm on my first set of tires after my stock 17" run flats and I also picked the KDWs because of what I read in performance articles. I too would say that the KDWs are not a quiet tire but they are also not a loud tire.

They are GREAT in the rain (KDW stands for K? Dry Wet) and
they are an incredible tire on dry pavement.

Everyone should at least try one set in their life to expose the true cornering performance of your Mini.

 

I have to disagree with you there, these are the loudest tires I have ever heard - they literally make a loud howling humming racket at times when going fast and in the curves, the runflats were actually quieter (and other performance tires I've had on other cars have been quieter, i think it may have to do with the tread pattern on the KDWs). They sounded like this from the get go so its not a wearing problem. Grip is good and I'm happy with that, but I'll be trying something else next time.

 

Happy on my 205/40-18 Toyo Proxes 4. Even had them in the snow up in Tahoe. Very versatile shoes.

 

I never had a set but a friend has a set on a SRT 4 and he brought the car back to the dealership because he thought the wheel bearings were bad. It was the tires.

GY F1s are great in the rain. Off topic: I chased down a Carrera ragtop(several generations old) in the rain in our MCS shod with GY F1s, and the Porsche fish tailed in front of us while it seemed as if we were driving on rails. I think I ticked the driver because the car was weaving dangerously in and out of traffic after that. It was his own fault because he was following me very closely in traffic and I decided to give him back a little of his own medicine. I don't condone this but sometimes enough is enough. Did I mention that I was cut over half a dozen times this weekend?

 

Got a set of those our on Lexus. They grip so well that the suspension flaws were exposed. Okay, so the car never did handle all that well.

 

Just picked up a set of Pirelli's at Les Schwab in Livermore for my 16's. A little softer than the RF's but they seem to be doing a great job for me so far. I can get the exact type if you need it.

 

I have Goodyear F1's on a MCSa and have put on about 3K miles on them. They are a nice improvement over the Dunlop 9000 run flats and I would certainly recommended them. They are quieter, handle better and softer over bumps and potholes.

 

I have the Goodyear F1's on my R32 now, and I have a set of R99's with the F1's ready for my soon to be delivered MCS

I love the tire, and think they are good all around. Good wet traction for a high performance sport tire..

 

Looks like the F1's are a winner, but which model? The reason I ask is that I've just been to the Goodyear site and they seem to have a bunch of tires with the "F1" designation.

[edit] BTW, I have the 17" web-spoke wheels

 

not sure what the EMT means but this looks like the tire

http://www.goodyeartires.com/goodyea...eter=&sidewall=


http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires....e1=yes&place=6

 

Now I looked at that tire(Eagle F1 GS D3 EMT), but when I checked out the sizes.... none of the sizes seemed to fit my rims (and I'd really like to keep my rims).

[edit]
Oops, didn't see the second link But it seems to be a different model: Eagle F1 DS-G3 sans the EMT.

Now I'm running the stock performance run-flats 205/45/17. I notice the Eagle F1 DS-G3 is 215/45/17.... a slightly wider tire?

[edit]
just found a link that explains the question above....
http://www.enjoythedrive.com/content/?id=25824

 

215-45-17s are good. A little wider, a bit taller.

Matt

 

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires....Eagle+F1+GS-D3

GS D3

215 will work

 

since everyone seems to pointing towards the high performance, I will chime in with my plan on performance all-season: Avon M550. I was torn between these and the BFGoodrich g-Force Sports. I do too much highway driving to commit to a performance only tire. The Avon's even get good reviews in light snow.

Avon M550:http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires....num=045WR7M550

BFG g-Force Sport:http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires....=g-Force+Sport