With the nicer weather around here I'd really like to put my summer wheels/tires back on my MINI - it would also give me an excuse to lube by noisy Alta swaybar bushings.

When do others throw their summer wheels on? April 1? I'm new to the winter/summer tire thing and was curious.

 

... will be transformed...


... into this. Okeh, I know they're only R99s but the Blizzak WS50s on the S-Lites, while they're great in the snow, the go all squirmy and weird on wet or dry pavement.

Experience has shown me that swapping over in early April has always left me in a lurch when the last freak snow storm shows up. Usually during the second week.

And I have a long twisty uphill driveway so the swap will be the middle of the third week of April.

 

There is no shame in anthracite R99's - they are my summer wheels as well.

I can't wait for the better weather. I'll go from this:


My MCSC in my driveway in Chicago

To this:


Me in my MCSC at Sebring

 

HA!!!! Summer tires have been on since April 1!!!!!! And they were broken in at Sebring!

On the same wheels, or different ones? if its spare wheels that have the tires then just go out and switch them for the week and if we get lingering blast of cold then it only takes 5 min to swap them back. Otherwise I'd wait til end March begining April.

 

I've got Pirelli snow sports on the set of R91 bullets, and the Dunlop 9000's on the R99's - so it would be a pretty easy swap. It looks like there will still be some cold this week, so maybe I'll wait until the end of March.

 

i took my first drive since 1/7 over the weekend. was very nice.

tires? 205/50/16 GS-D3's on SSR comps 16x7.5's.

remember to check and lower your tire pressure this week for those that have
been driving all winter.... will be on the high/very high side (psi) by
the time we're in the upper 50F's.

 

I'm waiting for my torque wrench, which should be here tomorrow - then I'll probably swap the tires. Tom Skilling says spring will officially be here Wednesday. While taking out the trash last night I found a perfectly good 2x4 next to a dumpster, perfectly sized to fit between the jack points on the mini to use with my floor jack

It was like some kind of sign or something.

 

congrats on the 2x4 find. be sure to retorque after 5miles or so
after the torque. im sure you knew this, but for those that didn't.

 

tirerack sells TE37's now, huh?

 

I did the swap today. Torqued to 87 lb/ft., then re-torqued them after a short drive - my summer tires are the Dunlop 9000 rft's, which I hated - but they have around 10k of life left in them so I couldn't justify getting new summer tires. They are much better (especially at 65f) than the Pirelli snow sports, as I now have my handling back, and my R99's.

 

^^ sounds good.

im going to be polishing my car probably this weekend as it looks like its
going to be raining.

 

Plan to swap mine out this weekend. Along with a bunch of other things that mean Spring to me like:

• get the motorcycle out of the basement!
• Take the snow plow/chains off the tractor and put the mower deck back on.
• Swap the wheels on the wife's car.
• Sweep/hose/mop out the garage from salt/cinders/gravel/sand
• rake out the gravel that the snow plow threw into the landscaping.

I'll probably remember a few other things once I get in the garage and get started.

 

Summer tires? I'm still on my OEM's since year.

OK, do I really need to upgrade? to 16"?