Well my run flats have finally reached the end of their life (29,000 miles) and I'm really looking forward to replacing them. I have a stock MCSC with 16's and I'm looking at 205/50-16 sized replacements because according to the guys at the TireRack a 205/55-16 would be too big. I do mostly highway driving with spirited cornering as much as possible. I also want to stick with an ultra high performance all season tire for the fun factor and to help deal with the occasional Maryland snow. I've come up with a few candidates, more or less in the order of preference, but I could really use the advice from some MINI owners to help finalize the decision.

Pirelli P Zero Nero M+S $108 each
Toyo Proxes 4 $80 each
Falken Ziex ZE-512 $71 each
Kumho ECSTA ASX $69 each

Thanks in advance for your help!

David

 

Proxes 4 are my everyday street tire on my Mini. I am very happy with them. I've also had them on 2 other cars.

 

I know there's a lot of support for P Zeros around here!

I had the exact same criteria as you. I went with 205/50-16 Dunlop SP Sport 5000 Asymetricals. But I also work for the company that makes them, so I felt compelled to stick with that tire. But from what I understand, it's a great tire, too........

 

If you want a fun all season tire that does well in the dry, rain and some snow then I would spen the extra bucks and get the Pirellis. I've owned them and have had them on the track and in some serious central florida downpours and they've held up just fine.... very quiet tire as well

My .02

 

Woo hoo, Pirelli PZero Nero M+S! Great tyres, I have had Kumhos and Falkens over the years (and other brands as well), and I must say that I am very happy with the Pirellis. I have about 20,000 miles on mine, and they are holding up great. I suspect to get another 20,000 out of them.

 

How in the W O R L D did you get 29,000 miles out of your OEM run-flats ??

Both our MINIs have them. Both our MINIs have around 10,000 miles on them. Both our MINIs had the tires rotated at 4,000 miles and again at 8,000 miles. Both our MINIs run-flats will be lucky to get a total of 15,000 miles on them before we have to replace them. And we're driving in the same area as you... central Maryland.

Thanks for the thread though... I'll be paying close attention to the replies as I inted to go with non run-flats in the next few months. I'm leaning toward the Falken Ziex ZE-512's myself.

 

I have a mini s on order so I can't comment on that. I had the P Zeros on my Touareg and went with the Proxes after the Zeros wore out. I personally prefer the Proxes.

 

I have Toyo T1R's on my MINI and really enjoy the way they handle...but then I also have 18" AXIS Reverb wheels.. But I do have to say, it sure beats the run flats..not only on hardness, but also weight.. 30 lbs vs. if I remember right, 45 lbs for each wheel/tire setup...

 

Thanks for all the input. So far I'm leaning toward the Pirellis with the Proxes a close second. All things being equal I'm hoping the higher treadware number justifies the higher price.

As for the question on how I got 29,000 miles out of my run flats - I have no idea it must be some kind of record though. I'm glad they lasted that long from a financial perspective, but from the driver's seat I was hoping to get rid of them much sooner.

Thanks again,

David

 

Is there a tire out there that is known to consistently last longer than others? I don't push my car hard enough to justify a set of tires that I can only get 15,000 miles out of. I currently just put on Continental Extreme contacts on my car and I need to rotate them. I am betting I will get 3 hopefully 4 rotations on them of 5000 miles each.

 

David, What brand of run-flats did MINI put on your car ? Mine came with Dunlops. I really can't believe how fast the tread wore down on those things. I should write Dunlop and tell them how crappy that tire is.

 

Chili ...

I have the Dunlop SP Sport 5000A DSSTs which I believe is the standard crap run flat tire MINI used. My expectations for these tires was pretty low based on the feedback from the forums here, garages, etc. I was really only expecting 10-20,000 out of them, certainly not what I have. I think the percentage of highway driving is to blame.

 

Yep, same tires I have. My driving is mostly on my commute which is on a secondary road which is in good condition. I drive around 60 mph most of the time. Very few stops along the commute route. Interesting that we got such different tread life.

Thanks and take it easy !

 

I have the Goodyear runflats and 32,000 miles on the car. However, they are really really bad now. I should have changed them out 5,000 miles ago. The tread is almost totally gone, helped by the fact that the car is seriously out of alignment...

We'll see how the non-runflat Dunlops do for me. That's the replacement tire I am going with (I work for Goodyear, who owns Dunlop).