Any suggestions for a good tire somewhere between a high performance tire (non-runflat) and a conventional all season?

What you do with the car can help with the tire recommendations? There is a tradeoff among:

price
dry versus wet
longevity or wear
noise
winter driving capability

etc.

I am generally not a fan of all season tires.

Need more info.

Year and model of your MINI.

Wheel size and current tire

Suspension- Stock vs lowered (how much)

How bad is your winter- mild or blizzard prone?

Any rain?

Budget and intended use- commuting or any performance driving?

How long do you want them to last- does it matter?

Lots of options depending on tire and wheel size.

Probably stick to All Season tires- so that you can run the same tire all year without making changes.

Ultra High Performance All Season tires give better handling but wear out faster and can give a firmer ride- depends on which tire.

Grand Touring All Season tires- are better for general street use but you trade some handling for more comfort and longer treadwear. Not all sizes are available- good for 15" and 16" sizes.

Minihune,

Is that a custom Koa dash I see in your pic? Looks really nice...

Okay more info--06 MCS stock; drive 2 miles to work; Maine winters but garage my precious when really bad. All Season is NOT a necessity. Still I bought the car to have fun with driving even though I don't "push it" except rarely and then very reasonably; I don't want to forfeit a bunch of handling but like I say, in reality, I am a pretty mild driver and Maine is quite rural. I just about fainted though when my dunlop oe run flats were shot after 16,000 and at $300+ I don't want to repaet that. Thanks in advance for the help!

I just ordered Bridgestone Potenza 960AS all-season non-runflats. They have been rated very highly in TireRack surveys and tests, and there are a lot of positive opinions abut them here at NAM. I didn't find any negative comments in my research. I paid $146 each for 215/45/17.

You are really brave not to have at least all seasons in Maine. Performance tires get really hard in the cold and are quite bad even when it is not snowing. With your description, I would at least go all seasons. It will not affect handling that much given your reasonable drivng. Do you want to stay with run flats?

PS: Are you one of those ice racers?

That's a great point I overlooked. Summer tires start to loose grip very quickly and drastically once the temp starts dropping below 40F or so.

I do not want to stay with runflats! I have gone through two winters already with the OEM Dunlops; not a big deal; but I want to go conventional; any opinions on Kumho's? Other suggestions?

I haven't used them but the Kumho Ecsta ASX were recommended to me. They run $89 each at TireRack. I was going to get them, but decided to spend the extra for the Bridgestones.

I REALLY appreciate the help--I know nothing about this stuff as should be obvious. One last thing: I now run 205/45/17's. Am I locked into the "205" or can that be different and by how much? Same question for the "45?"

You can go to 215/45/17. That's what I did.

Given your situation and use I would recommend the Bridgestone Potenza 960AS in 215/45-17 as well. No problem with the size being slighter taller than stock.

Should work fine all year summer or winter (go slower), and fit your MINI fine providing good handling and comfort and good treadwear at a decent price.