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After posting for help regarding what tires I should get in switching from my factory 15" wheels to 16 inchers, I thought I'd post up a report on what I chose and how the ride felt.
So I recently picked up a 2012 Cooper base model with just SIX thousand miles on it, for a pretty dang good price. Absolutely love the car, but the 15" wheels on it did not inspire confidence in aesthetics or road feel. This may have been mostly due to the skinny 175/65 continentals on there. I have never ridden on a tire so skinny, and the ride was just terrible, in my opinion. I had thought a 65 profile tire would be very comfortable, but it was far from it on the Mini. I'm no expert, but every bump on the road felt very hollow, harsh and jarring. The air pressure was also factory, so it wasn't over-aired. The car wandered so much on the freeway I feared the wheels would fall off. On top of that I felt the 15s on stock suspension just made the Mini look like it was on spare wheels.
After much research and consideration I went with 195/55/16 Kumho Ecsta 4X II's on a set of 16" oem wheels. I considered 205/50 but after checking out cars at the Mini dealer, I thought the 195/55 looked just right on stock suspension...
...and WOW. The car feels completely different. The ride is FAR more comfortable. The Mini seems to absorb bumps much better with a satisfying flat thump versus a hollow "ping" on the old wheels. Freeways feel much more confident and the car just feels much more compliant all around in straights and twisties. I'm also not seeing a noticeable difference in MPG or acceleration in daily driving.
The Kumho's cost me $345 shipped at Tirerack with an $80 rebate. Not a bad upgrade for $265 net.
Anyways, absolutely love this car. Now to see about fixing the excessive brake dust issue... for some reason BMW LOVES using the softest brake pads ever. I had similar brake dust issues on my old e39 5 series!
