Hello,

Just ordered Mini Cooper S Convertible w/ Summer tires.
I plan to buy a set of winter tires mounted on wheels for the cold months.

But, some folks seem to think the Summer tires will be bad in the rain.

Should I have opted for the All Seasons?

Any advice would be welcome, I can still make changes...

 

It really depends on what the summer tire are. Something like Falken Azenis isnt the best rain performer because it has very little tread to improve is dry traction.

 

If you plan to run winter tires in the cold months, why would you want to run the compromise of an all-season the other months? I have not known all-season tires to offer better wet weather performance than a good summer tire. Even the factory runflat summer tires should be a better wet weather performer than all-season tires. All-seasons : mediocrity all 12 months of the year if you want!

 

Thanks, that was my thinking.
But, I guess this period of waiting for delivery is fertile ground for second guessing...

 

If you get lots of snow, get snow tires. They make the car much more stable in the snow.

All seasons can generally be OK if there is less than 3-4 inches unless you like to slide. I think a good size would be 195 55 16 for winter tires. The narrower the better the grip in snow. I personally like the Dunlop M3 but there are good snows like Blizzaks etc.

While a lot of people like all-seasons, I generally don't really like them as they are a compromise for both performance and winter. However, I do use all seasons because I do not have too much snow where I am. I do not use them in the summer though.

I think it is really not advisable to drive summer tires in really cold wintry weather. They provide poor grip as they do not have the channels required and they also harden up below 45 degrees.

 

What size rims would you use? What size tires?

You can get very good tires for wet weather in many classes of tires.
You can't really generalize that summer tires or all season tires are one way or another without looking at specific examples in tire sizes that you would use.

The big advantage of all season tires is longer treadlife and if it does get cold or a little snow you are fine. Wet or dry handling can be good. Street manners can be good. Prices vary. Good tires in 16" or 17" possible.

Summer tires have a big range of prices and quality. They tend to wear faster up to twice as fast, offer better handling but can be a bit firmer or noisy. You can still find good street tires that are comfortable but they can cost more. Good tires are possible in 16 or 17" sizes. You never want to drive a summer tire if there is any snow so plan ahead.

For the OP,

I just reread the post and I think you mean.

You are getting a new MINI and are choosing between summer and all season Runflat tires- if so you don't have to worry much about wet handling between the two- it's about the same.

For Max Perf Summer Runflat tire-
Dunlop SP Sport 9000 DSST - Externally, the Dunlop SP Sport 9000 DSST shares the directional tread pattern and tread compound of Dunlop's "HydroMax" SP Sport 9000 tire. Its unique design features many relatively narrow "vanes" to help pump water to the sides of the tire to resist hydroplaning, and a tread compound with high silica content to increase wet traction without significantly compromising dry traction. The Dunlop SP Sport 9000 DSST earns the highest UTQG traction rating of "AA" confirming its excellent traction on wet roads

For this Dunlop and Pirelli eufori@
Customer ratings that very good compared to other tires nonrunflat in this class
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/survey...ireSearch=true

For a grand touring all season-
Like Continental ContiProContact SSR
Wet ratings by customers are good
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/survey...ireSearch=true

Bottomline is check which specific runflat tire you have to choose from- get the specifics, you can't really generalize from a tire class alone since there is a variety of tires within any class.

 

Thanks for all the advice.
I take it from all this that the OEM summer tires are OK in wet weather.
I stuck w/ the 16" wheels based on reviews I read about a harsh ride from the 17" pkg.
I enjoy spirited handling, but I need to be realistic & accept that 90% of it's life will be on my 20mi each way commute on the crumbling PA Turnpike.
I won't use this car much in the winter. I've an old 4WD truck and a Jeep for days when the f'cast calls for snow, but I always seem to get caught out a few times & that's led to a few scary trips in my current car (MB C240K) with all seasons.
So, I'll stick w/ the Summer Spec & proceed as planned to buy 4 mounted Winter skins for the bad months.
I really appreciate the advice.

 

Ouchie, harsh words for the all-seasons .

 

I'd agree with the sentiment, but the last time I ran all seasons was 3 MINIs ago, I managed to order Quentin with the all season runflats. They lasted 800 miles before I couldn't stand them any longer, and almost put me off run flats for life. They felt like they had no grip at all. They were particularly bad in comparison to our first MINI, which seemed to have infinite grip on its stock 15" non runflat Continentals.

I've since driven performance runflats which I could probably live with, but I'll take a decent summer tire instead.