Primarily light rain 8 months of the year, then beautiful for the rest of the time...

Would you go with the all-season or perf. 17" run-flats with a '04 Sport Package on a MCS?

Does anyone know which specific tires are used? I guess I can read the ratings on tirerack.com, given specifics...

Regards, Mark

 

With the snow and ice we've been having around here lately, all-season tires might not be a bad idea. I ended up opting for 16" V-spoke wheels with all-season tires. Meanwhile, I'm waiting for JCW 18" wheels with non-runflat performance tires, which will be great for the remaining 4 months of dry weather. :smile:

 

Mark-

I live in Seattle and went through the same quandry. I ended up ordering the all-seasons. Since I picked the car up in Dallas in mid-December and wasn't sure of what kind of weather I would encounter, I ordered some Blizzak LM-22's from Tirerack and had the dealer install them. I am having the all-seasons shipped to me. The tires that came with my car were Goodyear RS-A's. They do not get a great rating on the Tirerack customer review.

On the trip back to Seattle, we never encountered any snow, but did see a fair amount of rain. I am impressed with the wet and dry traction of the Blizzaks.

As davecsumini notes, the weather you have been having lately would not be kind to performance tires.

Duncan

 

I initially ordered the perf tires in 17".

Do you really think there is a need to Blizzaks? Seems excessive, given the typical amount of snowfall here per year. Perhaps you live in the West Hills? I used them on my old BMW 318i with much success in Michigan. I like to stay off the Oregon roads when snow falls -- Oregon drivers in snow are just downright scary. I'm going to assume NW snow is a fluke and operate on that...We also have a ML320 for the snow anyway.

Does anyone know what is coming on the 17" cars these days? Perf/All-season?

From the FAQ:

+----------------------------------------+--------+--------+--------+--------+
| TIRES FOR 17" WHEELS | 205/40 | 205/45 | 215/40 | 215/45 |
+----------------------------------------+--------+--------+--------+--------+
| Bridgestone Potenza S-03 Pole Position | X | | X | X |
| Continental ContiExtremeContact | X | | X | X |
| Dunlop SP Sport 9000 | X | X | X | X |
| Falken GRB FK-451 | X | | X | X |
| Falken Ziex ZE-512 | X | X | X | X |
| Goodyear Eagle F1 GS-D3 | | | X | X |
| Kumho ECSTA MX | X | | X | X |
| Kumho ECSTA Supra 712 | X | X | X | X |
| Michelin Pilot Sport | | X | X | X |
| Pirelli P7000 | X | | X | X |
| Pirelli P7000 Supersport | X | | X | X |
| Pirelli PZero Nero | X | | X | X |
| Sumitomo HTR Z II | X | | X | X |
| Sumitomo HTR + | X | | X | X |
| Toyo Proxes FZ4 | X | | X | X |
| Toyo Proxes T1-S | X | | X | X |
| Yokohama AVS ES100 | X | X | X | X |
| Yokohama Parada Spec 2 | X | X | X | |
+----------------------------------------+--------+--------+--------+--------+

 

I would go with all-season runflats.

 

From the MINI2 FAQ, It appears that the 3 options are:

Code:--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
205/45-17 TIRE WEIGHT (*)
------------------------- ---------------- ---
Dunlop SP Sport 9000 DSST 21.8lb ( 9.91kg) P
Pirelli Eufori@ 22.0lb (10.00kg) P
Goodyear Eagle RS-A EMT 30.4lb (13.80kg) A

(*)
---
P = performance (summer) tire
A = all-season tire



The Goodyears are reamed on tirerack.

The Dunlops have 55% more treadwear and AA vs. A wet ratings vs. the Eufori's...The choice seems obvious. I wonder how the Goodyear can top the AA wet traction of the 9000 DSST.

 

I would recommend the Goodyear Eagle F1 GS D3's. They received a great write-up in Consumer Reports recently, and read the TireRack's opinions on them, very highly rated. If you are looking for great wet/dry performance, the Goodyears hit the mark. Also, check for rebates on TireRack's website. I have these tires on order, I probably won't see them for another month or so since they are back ordered, but they are worth the wait IMHO.

 

We have 17" Dunlops 9000 runflat summer tires on and they are working great. Driving in heavy rain on I-5 or I-205 has only set off traction control once. I also run 15" wheels during the winter and have parked the MINI since the winter snow has come in.

 

>>I would go with all-season runflats.


Dito ... I would not put much thought behind it.

 

I have the Yokohama ES100s in 205-50-16 and they work great in the dry and wet. They are NO GOOD in even the slightest amount of snow. My MCS has been parked for 2 weeks due to the snow. Luckly we have an 4X4 Explorer for the bad weather. Anything will be better than the runflats that come stock.