Has anyone noticed an improvement in torque steer after installing non-runflat tires?
IN the next few months I'm gonna replace my tires and will not use runflats.

Also anyone got experience with Yokohama S drives, I want the Michelin pilot sport but thats another $200

Plan on going up to 215/45-17 size
Other recomendations welcome

 

Yes, Non RFT can help.

No experience with those Yokos or the pilot sports.

Yes, go to 215 for a better tire selection but it is a little more expensive.

 

I have 1400 miles on Michelin Pilot Sport A/S PLUS tires and they have been great so far. Good turn in, crisp handling, quiet and compliant ride. Bought them from Tire Rack at about $180 each but Michelin was running a buy 4 and get a $60 gift card.

Factor in the 45k mile treadlife prorated warranty and the price is not that bad. Check out the reviews and surveys at Tirerack.com. The PLUs is a newe tire and is entirely different from the Sport A/S witihout the PLUS - easy to get confused.

I keep a Continental Comfort kit (compressor and sealant) in the car as I have no spare with the S.

Good luck

 

Some have reported that increasing traction with wider tires has reduced torque steer.

I don't recall noticing much difference in torque steer going from Dunlap SP Sport 01 DSST 205/45ZR17 runflats to Michelin Pilot Exalto PE2 20545ZR17 non-runflats. My MCS has LSD and hard accelleration would cause it to weave with both tires.

No experience with the tires you mention, but check the tests on TireRack.com and the discussions in NAMs Tires, Wheels, & Brakes forum.

 

I have Dunlop Direzza Star Specs in 215/45/17 on my MINI and they're simply amazing for the money. I think torque steer is slightly better with wider tires, but it's not a huge difference to me. I don't know how tread life will be, but they're fantastic. My VW has the Michelin Pilot Sport A/S Plus on it and they're really good for an A/S tire. I think they're a little floaty and dry traction is not as good as the Star Specs, but I'm sure they'll be cheaper to run in the long run since they'll last much longer.

 

It's not that RF tires inherently have crappier traction, but the ones that come OEM on our cars just aren't very good. I recently switched to 215/45/17 Falken Azenis RT-615's and both handling and ride have moved way up the scale. They are soft though and I don't expect much more than 15K miles from the set.

 

Yeah the wider you the less torque steer you'll have. But I don't notice the torque steer in the Mini as much as I did in my old car. It's not really that ba but the runflats do have a lot less grip then non runflats. But good luck and keep us posted on your impressions

 

Yea... Mini stock runflat tires suck!
Went 10mm wider than the runflats with my wife's car.
The tires are Hankook Ventus RS2.
You IMMEDIATELY notice the difference.
Braking is smoother.
Less tire noise... A LOT less.
Grip is exceptionally better (not as good as my M3 with Bridgestone RE-01R, but way better than the OEM tires).
I am not too sure about the torque steer since I haven't really tried flooring the car in a straight line.
I've taken it autocrossing after the new tires got put on, but never tried it before with the runflats. I just took it out that one time to see how the MCS would run and though I was surprised at the agility of the car, I probably won't use the MCS for autox again.

 

Goodrich 205/50R16s Super Sports. The ride improved. Heck, I didn't know it was bad until I changed. I wouldn't change just looking to improve torue steer, but I would change for the better traction, noise, and ride. Well worth it.

 

Michelin's are great, I have the Pilot and have no complaints. I too carry the BMW flat repair kit because they are not run flats. They are expensive but in my opinion worth it. I hear good things about the BF Goodrich tires too (and much cheaper).

 

Has anyone else noticed that if you hit the DTC once (this is when the DTC is activated and the DSC is limited), the torque steer is less of an issue? Is it possible that what we think is torque steer is actually the DSC applying breaking selectivly to different sides of the front end causing the pull to one side or the other?

 

No totally torque. Steering cause it goes where the steering wheel is. I think next set of tires I get I am going with 225/40/17s add a little more grip and I will probably have to throw some 5mm spacers in too

 

I don't notice any torque steer with my non-RFs... then again, I didn't with the RFs, either.

Whatever torque steer there is, it's not nearly as bad as this.

 

Thanks for all the replys/info. I'm going to non runflats anyway and just wondered if this would help the torque steer. I reasoned that the super stiff sidewalls with no flex would cause or enhance the torque steer. I'm tired of the harsh ride especially over rough roads (anybody got those) and the sometimes quirky/quickie handling. My other toy (1988 Porsche 911) is night and day different in handling, not always better but you can feel the give in the sidewall of the tires when cornering which I like and it allows you not have to be as precise in the execution of a curve as you do in the MINI. (I'm sure that's as clear as mud)

 

Exactly the opposite.

That said; you're not going to notice any difference due to sidewall distortion.

 

The ride improvement from 17" runflats to non-runflats will be noticeable, but not hugely. You will get a much better ride from going to 16" wheels. I have a set of each. On 16x7 wheels you could put 215/50-16 tires and get the same tire O.D. as stock (24.4"). However, the choice of tires in that size is very limited. There are lots of tires in 205/50-16 (0.04" under stock O.D.) or 205/55-16 (0.4" oversize). When I swap wheels between the 17x7 wheels running 205/45-17 tires, and the 16x7 running 205/55-16, the ride difference is significant.

 

Well handling and comfort are hard to get out of the same tire. Just remember that the lower the sidewall the better the handling because of lower sidewall tuck but the worse the ride and opposite for the larger sidewall.

 

That would be the same symptom if the DSC was applying the break on one side or the other. It would cause the steering wheel to go to that side just as if more power was going to the other side.

 

Wouldn't this behavior be lessened with DSC?

The reason DSC does anything to a wheel is because the tire is slipping and not transferring power to the road. By fiddling with the brakes, DSC is actually increasing the amount of power applied through that tire because it pulls the tire's rotation down to a speed that can grip the road.

 

Only if the computer gets it right. I don't know, but it seems to me that it is applying a little more breaking than is necessary resulting it a slight pull to that side.

 

Any pull resulting from computer applying brakes will depend on the control loop that's programmed. I'm willing to bet "slight" is about as severe as it would get. But I think it's safe to say that it's not nearly as much pull as when one wheel is pushing and the other can't get any grip.

Regardless, if DSC is kicking in, perhaps there are more important things to be concerned with in that situation than minor torque steer.

 

I freaking HATE the torque steer issue. Was on the backroad hwy's of NC/SC this past week, and had a few moments of open road bliss. Had to make a pass, and when I nailed it (at speed), the damn torque steer nearly put me in a really bad spot. I was quick enough to know it might be coming so I was prepared and got the beast pointed in the right direction. I drive several performance and GT type cars, but this one is a challenge when you nail it.

I've been debating about tire change from the crappy RF's (not going to 16 from 17) but also wonder about other tweaks that could easily keep the front nose planted and reduce the Torque Steer.

Torque Steer is the #1 negative for this car for me. Otherwise, I love driving it, but damn it can create some pucker factor.

So, for those who have 17" crown spokers, have you found 'the' tire yet?

Thanks.

 

I also plan on going to non-RF as soon as my original tires need replacing.

Considering my speedo reads 4% higher than my GPS speed, would the larger size decrease speedo error, whereas the smaller would increase the error? Or do I have that backwards??? Realizing of course, 0.4” is not much.

 

Dunlop Direzza Z1 Star Spec 215 45 17 with a little lower tire pressure, 36 psi F and 37 psi R works for me. You can go down to 34 psi F and 35 R if you wish.

 

Thats what I'm running (although 36 all around).

To the OP I personally don't think RFT have any worse torque steer than no RFTs, as many have mentioned tire size will make a difference, but thats about it.