I have a 2004 Cooper S (54,000 miles). I currently have 195/55-16 Kumho Solus tires that have served well (after dumping the run-flats) but are nearing end of life. I have a set of new Continental Extreme Contact DWS tires in 225/50-16 that came with a Z3 that was refitted to 17 inch. I've generally determined that this size will fit without interference and that ride height will increase by .2 inch, so apparent minor differences.

My questions are (1) does anyone have a concern about these fitting properly (6.5 inch wheel is on the low side of range for this tire size) and (2) does anyone have experience with Conti's on their Mini?

I can afford tires but it seems wasteful to let these sit, and my experience with them on other cars has been good.

Any comments welcomed.

 

I have experience with this tire in an 07 BMW Z4si. I was on my 2nd set of them when I sold that car. They were great! Excellent wear, quiet, great handling in the twisties. I ran Tail of the Dragon and Six Gap with them in the dry and in the wet.
Absorbed impacts as well as 40/35 profile could on 18" wheels. Upside translation for you is more sidewall does this even better with a 16", 50 profile. Downside is more sidewall means more flex.. impacting handling if you are really into that sort of thing.

I like them so much that I ordered a set for my mini within days of buying it. They are now waiting in my garage until I wear out the tires that came with my new to me 05 MCS. Why they are being phased out is beyond me. They were tops in their category on Tire rack for years. They challenged Ultra High Performance summer tires for grip in the wet. They are a great A/S tire even when you push them to the limits.

As for fitment on a 6.5" wheel, per tire rack they are not at the edge for that width. Your fitment issue is whether they are going to rub. http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires....omCompare1=yes

Good Luck
Bruce

 

Thanks for the comments. I have them on my Z3 in 17 inch and love them. I actually need to change my profile; we've moved from Atlanta to western NC, near Asheville. I do love the go-kart handling of the Mini, but some of the best of the twisty roads up here also don't have the best of surfaces. While the additional flex would not be good at a track day, it's a positive here.

I've looked at the dimensions compared to OEM and the differences in ride height (.2 inch) and width (less than 1/2 inch) are minimal . Since I'm doing away with the old tires, my only real risk is the cost of mount/balance. Worth a try, I guess.

 

I had the DW tires on my car (205/50/16) and the car tramlined like crazy (followed the grooves in the freeway). I wore them in for about 500 miles and it didn't get better. Continental (at the time at least) had a 30-day satisfaction guarantee so it was no problem to swap them out. Not sure if the DWS variation would have a similar issue, but if they still have that guarantee you don't have much to lose.

 

A search on DWS returns 494 posts. I don't see a downside on the 225's except for two additional pounds per tire.

 

had them on our r56 justa, tramlined a bit but it was our alignment

 

I ran them on a '99 Porsche Carrera 4 and was very pleased with them. Good wear, good ride and not too much noise.

On my current MCS, I am using ControlContact sport A/S, which is a very similar tire. (I have the same tires on my wife's Volvo.) I've had them about 10K miles and they have been a major improvement over the Kumhos that were on the car when I bought it. I'll have to put more miles on them before I can render final judgment.

I would be more concerned the tire that size would sap the car's power and make it feel heavy to drive.

 

Just put them on my wife's Volvo C30. Replaced the factory Pirelli P-Zero's. Handling not quite as sharp but they are at least 150% quieter than the PZ were! When we first got in the car she had the radio blaring because it had to be up loud to hear over the tire noise.