Got a set of F1/AS sitting in front of the fire place in the living room. Can't wait to have them mounted! Oh do they give the house the wonderful aroma of rubber...

I am trying to find 1 additional S-lite so I can keep one of my runflats as a spare on long roadtrips. Once I find a decently priced wheel, or a better alternative, I will get the tires mounted. I really am curious to see how much they affect the ride. I didn't mind the runflats too much at first but ride pretty bad now that they are worn out.

 

I bought a space saver spare from Classic Mini for about $140.00. It will not fit over the front brakes, but it does fit on the rear. This is not ideal as you may have to do a double tire change if you have a flat on the front, but it is acceptable to me. This is on a 2007 MCS with stock suspension and brakes.

 

FYI. A chevy cobalt spare fits my 2003 MCS perfectly. Same hub diameter and everything. Its a tiny donut spare and was $50 shipped.

 

I thought of the space savers, but If I can get an extra full size rim for $80 bucks or so, it just makes more sense. I don't have to rush to a tire shop if I am far from home. I can just throw my old runflat on it and most likely have a replacement from Tire Rack waiting on my doorstep.

My original plan also included buying a 5th tire and having it mounted with the other four but the directional tread kept me from doing that.

 

Does it clear the front brakes? That would be cool.

 

I wouldn't EVER want to drive any car - including the MINI - with a donut on the front - severely compromises steering control....maybe this is just me... but I'd always rotate if needed to get the donut on the back...

 

You know that is very sound logic. It does make sense to run it on the back especially on the Mini as the front is the drive axle and the heavier braking axle as well as the steering axle.

 

And a space saver on the front would be very hard on the differential as well.

 

I agree, but if it was an open diff I don't think there's be a problem but it really would eat up a LSD.

If I pop a tire on front I'll put the donut on & motor to a safe place to transfer the donut to the rear & a real tire to the front for any extended driving. More that a few miles.

 

Paul is our resident advice columnist here in the Carolinas. ;-) BTW, I saw your reply about me having money > sense. This may be another example so here we go, and it's on topic to the original thread.

Just bought two sets of BFG G-Force Super Sport A/S tires from Discount tire--205/50-16s for MINICHI 225/255/40-18s for the wifey's car, (SexiLexi).
Less than $1,300 out the door. Three guys at the shop are running them, so they talked me into it.

I'm coming off S03s and went in for KDWs so I'm not sure what to expect. I did some donuts and emergency braking in a nearby and empty parking lot and they handled pretty well. We'll see what happens at the BMW PC in a couple weeks.

 

For no snow use you can use the better performing but faster wearing Max Performance or UHP summer tires which include the Goodyear Eagle F1 GS-D3 and others. They don't do as well when temperatures are very low and certainly are not good for any snow.
http://www.tirerack.com/a.jsp?a=EZ3&...ay.jsp?ttid=80[/quote]

Hope someone is still following this all season thread- my issue relates to the above comment about UHP summer tires not 'doing as well' in cold temperatures: how cold? and how bad is the decline in grip or performance in just cold? Major safety concern?

I'm deciding between all season or a summer UHP tire for my new (gently used) '06 S with 17 webspokes, currently with the original run flats. It'll be street only (for now) and I while I live in CT I won't drive it in snow- I'll use my SUV; but I don't want to not drive the Mini for 5 months. We don't have as much snow/ice as we used to, but there are a lot of sub-32 degree days October to March. I also would rather not do 2 tire sets.

 

I put the Bridgestone RE960 all season tires on my stock 17" crown spokes and I love them. I had the Conti all season run flats on from the factory.

I don't have any experience running summer tires in cold weather as my summer tires are still in the garage. Maybe someone else could chime in on that subject?

 

Thanks folks... you've been great help. I am also looking to replace my RF's on my 07MCS ... the ride (lots of highway miles in Kansas) is simply beating me to death!.. I'm inclined to go with the F1's AS non-run flats. I've lowered it with the ALTA springs -- My Goodyear Dealer thinks it'll work -- but that was just an eyeball analysis.... it appears that the eibach springs work with the larger tires --anyone tried the 215's with the ALTA springs?

 

I am in need of tires and cannot make a decision. Where I am located none of the tire dealerships will order the 205/45/17 tires for me. They all have told me Mini has a lock on the market. So I either have to order from the dealership or online from Tirerack. I definilty need 2 new RF's or 4 non RF's don't know which would be the better decision. I have a MCS '06. What do you guys think

 

Read the whole thread-
From post #4
if you want the stock size of 205/45-17 then at tirerack.com (talk to Alex)
you will find-
In Ultra high performance All Season
Goodyear Eagle F1 All Season $122 each 420 treadwear Y speed rated
Avon Tech M550 A/S $99 360 treadwear W speed rated
In High performance All Season
Kumho Ecsta AST $68 each 400 treadwear H speed rated

In Ultra High Performance Summer tires
General Exclaim UHP $83 each 380 treadwear

For runflats if you need them (buy 2 is OK)
Kumho Ecsta SPT XRP Runflat $141 each 340 treadwear
Ultra High Performance Summer tire

Shipping is fast and easy, you can ship to installer in your area using tirerack list of shops.

If you want value and street tires then at edgeracing.com
Falken Ze-912 $79 each 360 treadwear in 205/45-17
Ultra High Performance All Season tire
http://edgeracing.com/tire/5560/

All of these will work for you. Prices do vary.

 

I ended up with 215/45-17 Bridgestone RE960 AS which I got at the local Firestone store where they price matched Tire Rack. These run great on my stock suspension on my 2007 MC s. I am not sure about the 2006. I have been very pleased with this tire. I only have 2000 miles on them, so I don't know about tread life yet.

 

MINI doesn't have the lock on the market. They just use runflats and that's quite limited to certain sizes. It's the Runflats that dealers are not carrying because of the higher cost per tire and limited demand.

215/45-17 is a common replacement size for any MINI using stock suspension and stock 17" wheels. For those with 16" wheels look at 205/50-16.

The RE960AS is very good but not as cheap, if any dealer wants to match tirerack prices that is a great deal and worth asking about. The shop can make a little back by doing the mounting and balancing for you.

Other 215/45-17 value tires for street use:
In Ultra High Performance Summer tires
General exclaim UHP $73 each 380 treadwear
Firestone Firehawk Wide Oval $118 special! 320 treadwear
BF Goodrich g-Force Sport $108 340 treadwear
Kumho Ecsta SPT $90 each 320 treadwear
Sumitomo HTR Z II $77 each 220 treadwear
Fuzion ZRi $79 each 320 treadwear
Dunlop Direzza DZ101 $92 each 300 treadwear


Max Performance Summer tires (handles well No snow)
Dunlop SP SportMaxx $125 each 240 treadwear
Pirelli PZero Nero $119 each 220 treadwear
Sumitomo HTR III $86 each 300 treadwear (good value)

Extreme Performance Summer tires (fast wear but handles well)
Dunlop Direzza Z1 Sport Star Spec $125 each 200 treadwear $50 rebate
Hankook Rs2 $111 each 200 treadwear
Kumho Ecsta MX $112 each 220 treadwear

For longer treadlife and for cold weather and some snow-
In UHP All Season tires
BF Goodrich g-Force SuperSport A/S $109 each 400 treadwear
Continental ContiExtremeContact $92 each 400 treadwear
Yokohama Avid W4S $94 each 400 treadwear
Kumho Ecsta ASX $92 each 420 treadwear
Avon Tech M550 A/S $92 each 360 treadwear
Sumitomo HTR+ $77 each 360 treadwear


Of note-
Sumitomo HTR III did well in tests-
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tests/...ay.jsp?ttid=93
Good in dry, a little less good in wet, a decent value street tire.

General Exclaim UHP is good for street and value priced.

Also see
http://edgeracing.com/tires/2154517/
Many tires including Falken Ze912 (UHPAS) for $79 and Fk452 (UHP) $87 each

 

oh yah, one thing ive been meaning to tell...

you know how ive been saying all this crap about these junk
Falken Ziex912 tires... well i found ONE thing i like about them...
well actually 2 things:

1) the sidewalls do not get dirty that much... just wash, no need to
dress it. this is great news for dd's cause dressing tires is an extra step
we can all live without.

2) VERY long wear. 4.5k miles and still no sign of wear. i might hold off
rotating the tires until 7k miles. my dd has severe rear toe-in but even
so after 4.5k miles only shows minimal wear.