Fewer choices in the 215's. No old DWS06, only the new plus version. and no old sport model either. I find going up to the 215's adds $100 a set - Is it worth the cost ?
DWS06 215's $618
Sport 02 215's $698

 

The dws06 plus version is what I had on my f31. Comfy tires, much quieter than dws06 prior, excellent traction in the wet. No decrease in mpg.


wouldn’t hesitate to choose them if you live in a place where it rains… or like me where it never rains, but when it infrequently does, streets flood out.

 

I am in Los Angels and don't get much rain nor snow - I have a host of other things I can spend the cash on - headliner falling- slight mushrooming of strut towers - all fluid changes= replace a sliced seatbelt- speakers- and I'm sure to find more. Frustrating part is - I can/like to twist wrenches but I don't have the space to do much any longer as I live on a boat. I am leaning towards the DWS06 plus in 215's due to pricing and availability unless I find a mid priced summer tire. Surprised no one uses the Cont. Sport summer tire. The search continues.

 

I have gone with the same tires for quite a few years on my '04 JCW and my daughters' 09 MCS. The BARUM BRAVURIS 5HM (Discount Tire/America's Tire), they are made by Continental in Europe and are highly rated have a 40K Mileage Warranty. I have used them since they were the 3HM Version. Best of all they are pretty well priced (less than $100/each). I recommend them.

 

USNAE2- Thanks for the recommendation. I have seen one of your other posts on these tires and did check them out. My only concern and I maybe nuts but without a spare tire - jack - ect I was thinking that a better known brand could have fewer problems down the road.

 

I would imagine you may have already checked = TireRack.com Continental ExtremeContact DWS 06 Plus - 215/45ZR17
Their current price is just a little bit more than what I paid for my 205 DWS06's last year. Currently @$640 with an additional rebate = $530. Not bad!
I am lucky enough to have a certified TireRack distribution and mobile installation hub 25mi from me. I ordered the tires and requested mobile installation to be preformed at my apt complex parking lot. New tires arrived and mounted within 5days of my order.
Mobile installation service was $60 (if i recall). Tires were nice and black in perfect condition. R&R Installation was top notch = no damage to my car, very minor scuff on the lip of one rim, perfectly balanced and lugs were manually torqued to 89ft# with an actual torque wrench!
The whole purchase, price and experience was nothing less than fluid and stellar!
I will never bring my Mini into another tire shop again. TireRack was the best (tire and auto) experience I've had in years. I HIGHLY recommend them

 

Should I feel guilty by putting on a set of all terrain in an area that does not require it ? Somehow I am ---
dws06 installed here is $618 plus tax whatever ? with the mail in rebate

I found an independent tire shop with Hankook Ventus v12 215's installed @ $440 - interesting ? and Ventus V2 con 2 at same price

 

I just bought a set of Goodyear Eagle Exhilarate 215/45 R17.
For for a reference point:
My old tires were Toyo Proxy's but they were bald and over aged.
My track tires are Falken Azenis RT615K+

My first impressions, I just drove home. They are WAY more compliant to the bad roads and bumps. The harshness of the rough roads is diminished significantly. I wouldn't call them soft but the edges of the pot holes and rough roads don't come through as much. They do feel a little bit more "sluggish" in the steering and my butt dyne says acceleration/torque is off a bit.... but I think that might be the extra tread (Proxy's were bald) and the Goodyears being an all season tire (track tires are not)
You can not have your cake and eat it too.
Should I have purchased an Ultra High Performance "Summer" tire??? hmmmm well I live in Oregon and it rains 8 months of the year and I really did like the smoother ride coming home.
Last point.... I got a really good deal on the tires, $530 installed. Hard to pass that up.
I will try to update as I drive them more.

 

Not sure if you committed to a new set or not yet, but since we're on the topic...
I'm currently in the process of dropping down to 15" wheels. At present I'm still running 17" w/ run flats (Driveguard 205/45) which gives me good traction and response to handling, but the pot holes. I've been consistently replacing right side components (strut bearing, ball joints, axle boots) because of the dramatic land-mine style potholes lurking in the shadows. I've already mounted a set of 205/60 Yokohama tires (non runflat) to some new 15" Sparco Terra's and have a new 15" steel wheel to slap a spare onto. I plan to do the swap after getting the right inner ball joint (newest pothole casualty) replaced next week. If you want to save yourself a lot of headache and anxiety, I recommend 15" wheels with non run flat tires, my estimate is this will add just enough extra impact absorption at the tire to reduce premature hardware failure at the front end. I hope this input reaches you in a timely manner.

 

Adding to this thread rather than starting another tire thread.

I'm in need of summer/fun tires. I currently have michelin pilot sport 4's on 17 inch OEM wheels for my summer tires, and I have Nokian hakkepelita 5(?) studless snows for winter weather on 16 inch OEM wheels, and I did have some Hoosier R7's on 16 inch wheels for track days but my michelins are down to the wear bars and I corded the hoosiers so I'm shopping for summer tires. I've got a set of 16 inch wheels and 17 inch wheels as options, and I have 3/4 a set of an additional set of 17 inch wheels (destroyed one wheel with some highway debris).

I'm not doing tons of track days/autocross these days so I was thinking about just getting another set of michelins or maybe trying the firestone indy 500's. My other thought was to get something sensible and maybe even all seasonish for daily driving, and then having something like falken azenis rt615k's, falken rt660 or maybe even the toyo r888r or r1r for fun mountain/canyon drives and HPDEs. I'm thinking that I'd put my daily tires on the 17 inch wheels and then fun tires on 16 inch wheels mostly for weight considerations. I usually run a 205/45 or so in either size.

I don't mind changing wheels/tires for different conditions or uses, but if I can avoid changing them, it would be nice.

Any thoughts/suggestions as far as tires/sizes to go with?

 

go 215/45/17, I run that on both winter and summer sets. I like the Indy 500’s, on my 2nd set.

Just mounted indy 500’s and waxed R98’s

Winter set

Summer set

 

For fun cross weather driving I've found that I like the Conti Extreme DWS, They work very well in every kind of weather (when they are new) as they wear, the molded in D, W and S disappear (in reverse order) indicating that the tire is not really useful in 1) Snow, then in 2) Wet and lastly 3) Dry. And I can attest to the fact that when the W is gone, they are really NOT for driving in the Snow

 

I like the BFGoodrich g-Force Sport. It's a summer tire, but we haven't had much snow the last couple years in Raleigh, North Carolina. If you don't use run flats on your R53 carry an inflater and a plug kit. I've only had one flat while I've had the car and I was able to fix it in a parking lot. It won't help a blow out or sidewall damage, but those are rarer cases.