Ive never heard of run flat wheels...I bought my tires at Discount Tire with the tpms rebuild kit.....30k miles later and no issues.

 

Its difficult to imagine why someone would recommend against non-run flats, but in this case I suspect the Big "O" guy was thinking -- "hmmm 4 runflats at $250 = $1000, 4 non-run-flats @$100 = $400. Which should I recommend?"

Buy the non-RFs and forget the issues, you'll never regret the change. There are about 43 million threads that agree somewhere here.

 

I have 21,000 miles on these tires and they are shot. They handled well but burning through them this fast, 14 months, is not something I'm pleased with. I am now ripping them up wine I drive. Yes I drive more aggressively than someone in a Buick but it's a MINI, you are suppose to.

 

I've had these tires for about 23,000 miles. They have 3/32 tread life left. Hopefully they can make it a little while longer until my tax refund comes in. I will be trying different tires next time.

And yes I drive pretty aggressively.

 

Didn't these tires come with a long treadlife. I got 32000 out of mine. 30000 out of my runflats. I don't think I'll be going with these again.

 

I replaced the OEM runflats with Avid Envigors in Oct of 2010. Since then I have put about 20K miles on them, mostly highway. Cost me a little over $600 mounted and balanced at my local tire shop. I have been extremely happy with them. I haven't pushed them to the limit, but they've done well when I put my foot down into a corner. They are quiet, and have good ride. As far as weather goes, they do well in rain, not sure about snow. Haven't really had any here in the last couple years. Would definitely buy again.

 

I installed these on my '07 S a year ago. Agree with everyone who said that they ran quieter (better than the Yoko S-Drive tires I previously tried) and they perform well on dry and wet surfaces.

However...I let them go 15,000 miles before rotating, and that seems to have been a mistake. The rear tires started cupping. Which means I get a loud chattering noise at highway speeds. Since these are not cheap tires, I can only conclude that it is suspension related. There was an earlier post about scalloping/cupping (same thing) and it was suggested that this is a softer/heavier (22 lbs) tire that doesn't hold up to the stiff ride of a MINI. Not sure. The shop that installed them indicates that MINI's are prone to this issue. In five years it's the first time this has happened to me. But I also switched jobs and started commuting 120 miles a day about the same time I installed this tire, so perhaps that too contributes.

Anyway, given my experience with the Avids, I just ordered a set of the Continental ExtremeContact DWS (205/45ZR17) and will see how that goes. About the same price. Continental was not a brand I would have thought I'd end up with, but so far I like them better then the Yokohama brand that I thought I preferred.

EDIT: I am about 5,000 miles into the Continentals (about ready to rotate!) and I have to say I'm very happy so far. Quiet, good handling, especially in rain.

 

Purchased the Envigors Jan 2011. It is now 2 years and 8 months later, and although the treads are still quite deep, there is cracking everywhere. At least they got me through three Chicago winters, and those of you in Chicago.. well, yeah. Great handling in the rain, snow, black ice.. And they do look real nice haha

I probably got about 27-28k miles on these. My suspension is in dire need of replacement, so I think that was a major contribution. I'm upgrading to the Megan Racing coilovers and deciding whether I should stick with the Avid Envigors or try the Hankook Ventus S1 noble2 or the Kumho Ecsta 4x's in 205/45/17. Any thoughts? Looking at going to 215/45/17 as well.. how badly would that affect mpg?

 

Thanks for posting this. I just "accidentally" came across it.

I got my MINI used a few months back, and it has the Yokohama Avid Envigors. Decent tire I agree.

Anywho, we've had two sets of Continental ExtreemContact DWS on our Subaru. My wife and I rack up a lot of miles quickly, and they seem to last a long time (even with how I drive) and perform well. We get Pacific NW Rain 9 months of the year, and occasional light snow.

I hope the yokohamas will last a while longer, but I'll try the continentals on the MINI next.

Motor on and Wave!

 

Look into the Niito Motivo tires. I had them put in my Mini back in January and love them.

http://www.roadandtrack.com/rt-archive/nitto-motivo
http://www.bimmerfest.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=632743
http://www.sccaforums.com/forums/aft/433304

 

I wanted to chime in with a second in the above rotation comment. I too failed to rotate front to rear at the proper interval. This resulted in a similar wear issue as reported above. That said, I now experience an unsettling vibration in the steering and more wander than I care to. It's totally my fault and not that of the cars suspension. The added camber angle developed from rotating rear to front is a nice addition to an otherwise stock front angle setting, however the trade is certainly not at all worth the not-so-enhanced handling.

While I've enjoyed virtually all aspects of these tires, I'm considering going with a set of Contis or Michelin Pilots the next go round...

 

I replaced my run flats the the Avid Envigors about a month ago. The ride is fantastic! I no longer swerve to avoid cracks in the road. I will never use run flats again.