Went and test drove a couple of Minis today with the wife.
Today we drove a base with MT and an S with AT.

I'm leaning toward the S now. The laziness in me likes the AT and I like the way the S rode.

So question. Since the S lacks a spare, I guess I can run with the Runflats, or else keep a can of fillerup in the car. What do most here do ?

Also, it seems the 16" runflats are an all season tire. How all season are they really ? Do they do good in the rain and snow, or should I buy some other all season tire for the car if I care about that kind of stuff ?
Doing that, I would have to ride exposed without a spare and without a runflat tire though.

So what's the general consensus on dealing with that, for those of us who have a winter to contend with ?

Thanks !

 

This is an an enthusiasts board. That said, ...

some ppl immediately dump the RF and get performance tire. However, I believe the silent majority wait until the first set goes bald and THEN get performance tires

I had all-seasons and any all-season tire is a compromise. It does terrible as a performance tire and terrible as a snow tire. However, it does BETTER than the other two between about 20 - 50 degrees in the wet and light snow. So, it all depends upon your weather. If your in the snowbelt, most people get a set of four snow tires on 15 steel wheels. If your border state like me ... they were fine for us.

 

So when they dump the RF and change tires, they just run without a spare or any way of getting home in case of a flat ?
Just wondering. Now a days I can see that flat tires are more of a rareity, but if I were say crossing the desert I would want a spare or some way of getting out of there in case of a flat.

Doesn't it affect the speedo reading pretty significantly to change from 16 to 15 wheels ?

 

Excellent question and discussed many times. First read these horror stories ....

http://www.carnutgarage.com/board/vi...?p=86214#86214

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...ad.php?t=64565

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...ad.php?t=66176

Here is a blowout I got in the NV desert



No amount of goop is going to fix a blowout.

MINI sells some goop that will seal a nail hole and hopefully get you to a store (as long as it aint the weekend and you have far to go). The Goop is NOT the same stuff you see in car stores for $4.95. TIrerack sells an excellent kit by Continental for the same thing. Comes with a compressor. You dont have to jack up the car.

MINI also provide roadside assistance for the first 4 years. Call them 24/7 and sooner or later a tow truck arrives. They will tow you to the nearest MINI dealer (and they just subcontract to AAA). However, there is no cell service in much of the US desert areas so yes, they are taking a chance.

With RFs, you should be good for 100 miles or so. You can always buy a spare tire and just put it in the car for trips.

BTW, no it should not effect the speedo for going from 16 to 15 (or 17 to 15) inch wheels because the overall circumfrance is about the same because they use different series tires (e.g., 45 is standard on 17", not sure about 16" but its going to be a higher number).

 

On my first MCS I took the runflats off in favor of performance tires. The Goodyear all season runflats (17s) actually rode better than the Yokohamas I replaced them with.

On my 06 MCS I bought another set of wheels and put performance tires on them for the summer when I generally travel short distances closer to home. For the winter I kept my stock all season runflats for driving longer distances (NJ->Boston) and for use in the snow. I actually just put the runflats back on for the winter season yesterday and I generally don't mind them.

I did experience a few flats with the non run flats but none of them were catastrophic. I did carry cans of fix a flat which I used from time to time. In hindsight I would just keep the runflats and not bother, they really aren't THAT bad.

 

I have a set of 15" ATA's from Tirerack.com with Blizzaks mounted on them. I'll put them on before the first forecasted snow. Takes me 40 minutes to change the set out.
My 17" RFs will stay with me until they are at the wear marks or the next profit sharing cheque. ;-) Then I'll buy some performance all seasons - probably non runflats too.