Hey guys I've narrowed my summer 215/40/18" tire search down to these three as recommended by tire experts, but was hoping to hear from Mini some users like yourselves, I've read the reviews, but value your feedback. Is anyone currently running one of these 3 models? Up here in Vancouver wet performance is paramount. Wear is also a consideration. I'm getting a set of winters also so the summers won't have to deal with the snow, only wet and dry Please give me your exprienced impressions thanks a lot.

1.Kumho Esta SPT
2.Falken FK-452
3.Toyo Proxes T1r

 

if its wet performance then i can say with some confidence the SPT will be last in your list, they are great dry tires (had them on the track and they lasted better than the bridgestone RE750 i had) but not as great as the 750 in the wet... they get slippery quickily, they do last pretty well though

friends of mine had the FK452 and told me they are a great street refined tire

can't vouch for the T1R, but i know people who will vouch for their performance

i'd like to hear more about the 452 too as that's one tire i am very interested in to replace the RT615 i got now

 

My Falken 452's have been an outstanding value. I am very happy with them.

 

I have the 215/40-18 spt's. I dont really think they are excellent tire in any way. They handle fine wet or dry but really dont stand out either negative or positive except for the price. Will be buying a different brand for the next set.

 

What about performance wet/dry? All 3 of these tires are reasonably priced.

 

love the t1r's.
i strayed to try re750's and i hated those. trash in the rain.
ran on some spt's from a friend... as one of my cuban friends would say, "Es'ok, mang. No so good no so bad."

 

No experience w/ the 452's on a Mini, but everyone I've sold them to w/ sport sedans/coupes seem to like them. Most are not enthusiasts, but they do seem to work well. They do work well in the rain, and heaven knows you guys get plenty up there. I'd go w/ the Falken's.

Later

 

I'll vouch for the T1R's. I'm on my second set on my Miata and they do wonderfully. Their grip in the wet is quite good, but they become positively nasty when there's standing water on the road. My working theory is that the relatively large block design lets them hydroplane fairly easily. If you can keep your foot in check when you're in puddles, they'll be fine.

 

They all have almost identical tread design.

Kumho Ecsta SPT:


Falken FK-452


Toyo Proxes T1-R


I was at the tire shop this past December with a friend in his MCS. He was trying to decide between the new Falken FK-452 and the new Goodyear Eagle F1 AS and after reading the user comments from tirerack.com, he ended up getting the Goodyear F1 AS, which also have a similar looking tread.

 

Thanks for the info Alex at Tirerack recommends the Kumho Ecsta SPT, but the Goodyear F1 AS is an all season and as we all know the all season is a compromise tire, I've run all seasons myself for years but we just seem to get more and more snow here each year so hence I'm going to run summers and a complete set of winters, thanks

 

boo to the Kumho's. i got them for a great price but it wasn't worth it. i'm running the SPT's on S-lites and couldn't be more blah about them. performance wise i give them a 4. value wise a 7-8. the value when i bought them was like a 9 because i thought they would be better performing based on some love affairs i saw on here. i'd strongly suggest against them unless you get a great deal like i did. $56 a tire.

 

I hated my SPT's. Took them off after a month. The T1R's get great comments from people I trust. The Falkens...no experience.

 

Compairing ultra high performance summers, to maximum performance summers isn't really a fair comparison.

Alex

 

If performance is your main goal, I would take the T1-R over the other two tires. Dry and wet traction is really good, but they are a bit noisey. If you want a more comfortable ride with less noise, take the FK452. You will lose a bit of dry grip due to the highr tread count, but you will still be able to push the Mini on spirited drives. Wet traction is still very good too. You will also get a bit more mileage off the Falkens than the Toyo's.

Leo Barrios
leo@edgeracing.com
800-489-5353 x211
http://www.edgeracing.com

 

Well, I used to think that, too.... but the F1 AS is the best tire I've ever driven, and beats the pants off my Kumho SPTs in every way.... not what I expected when I bought them, but at least in my case that's the way it turned out... I'd run my F1's this summer instead, but I need to wear out the Kumhos first...

But no doubt if you get a lot of snow, real snow tires will be better in those conditions...

 

I have about 15K miles on my T1Rs on my S4 Avant. I think they're a very good tire, better grip and less noise than the OEM Dunlops. I have a loud exhaust, so I've never heard them during normal driving, actually. I will say that they squeal a lot more now around turns whereas they wouldn't make a sound when new when sliding around a turn.
It's been a rainy winter and they have performed beautifully. I have gone through some material standing water and have never had any hydroplaning or squirmy feelings. Quattro helps this out, I assume.
I am 90% sure that I'm getting T1Rs for my incoming MINI. I was going to get the new Dunlop Z1 but it has an 83 load rating and weighs 22 pounds whereas the T1R has an 87 load rating and weighs 19.6 pounds.

 

I had the SPT's on my R53 and I would not recommend them. They gripped pretty well, especially for the price, but the driving feeling they gave was absolutely terrible. The sidewalls were sooooo soft, it gave the car a "nervous" feel, you were never sure if it was gonna grip...but it always did, with satisfaction too. So even though they gripped ok, they just feel terrible to me. Before that I had Yoko AVS ES100's and they were outstanding in everyway. I'm not sure if they make them anymore though, I think they replaced them with something else...S-Drives i think they're called?

The SPT's did wear pretty well though, even with my insanely "spirited" driving.

 

This is getting very interesting I'm hoping this will help others also, doesn't look like the Kumho is a great choice for the Mini. Funny the S-Drives were originally one of my candidates but the last on Alex's list. Anyone else?

 

After much of the same deliberation, I replaced the stock dunlop runflats with Falken FK-452s. However, Omaha winter won't allow me to put them on yet. I'm running ZE-912's in the meantime, and I can definitely vouch for their (meaning the 912s) all-weather capability. Will post up on the 452s as soon as I can!