Just ordered the Hancook Ventus v12s for Cyndi...

Apparently, I am driving around on front tires that have chords starting to show...

 

No mention of the Goodyear Eagle GT yet, but it's available for $96 in 205/50/16 and has a 50,000 mile life and a good deal of performance at the same time. Also an all weather suitable for light snow.

I ordered a set on 16" Konig Feathers. The 17" wheels are making my butt hurt on our LA streets.

 

The best tires I have ever had on my MINI was the Goodyear F1.
Great handling year round, and long lasting.
Hated the run flats so added non run flats and carried a patch kit and pump.

 

careful -- too many chords and you might wind up with a crescendo!

 

I had the F1s on my Acura TL and loved them. They don't seem to come up as fitting my 03 S though... 205/45/R17 doesn't seem to be available. Can you get away with 215/45/R17 on the standard S-lites???

 

Were they major or minor " cords "? :-)

 

I am not sure. That would be a good question for the Goodyear dealer. I doubt it though.

 

I have been to many tire dealers and they will read the book. If it is not the standard size, their answer is it will not fit.

215/45 17 easily fit without rubbing on my r56. They also fit on my friends R53 that is not lowered. We are both using et38 mm.

s-lites are 17x7 and 215/45 17 should fit on those as well.

 

Well there you go. Now he has to convince the tire dealer to install them.

 

Go to tirerack.com and look at the installation tab. These guys will install your tires on your rims. Just do not ask them if they fit. They will say no b/c it is not in the book, but they will install them for you.

 

If you are lookingto see if the tire width is Ok for the rim width, look at tirerack.com as well under the spec tab for each tire. Most of the time that info is there.

I use them all the time as a reference. If you need to have a confirmation about something, call Alex at the tirerack number extension 294.

 

thanks for your help. I would definitely rather get the F1s, since I know they are money in the rain and do pretty well in the snow vs. having to buy the hancooks for summer and then another tire for winter... I know the F1s big knock is that they get louder as they wear down, but that's not my top priority...

 

I have not had the opportunity to run the f1 so cannot really comment on how well they do. But I do have the conti EC DWS and they are pretty good for an all season.

 

The F1s are exceptional in wet weather, which is my biggest concern. It's the only tire I have driven on that I can honestly say I never hydroplaned in.

Cyndi came with Continental ContiProContact SSRs and they were terrible from day one. Part of that is no doubt because of the runflats, and part of it is because they were balding. But I have had the F1s and know that I like them, so that's why I am inclined to go with them over the Contis...

 

I may try the F1 at another time when I have a need.

FYI, the Dunlop z1 star spec are also great wet tires. I use them primarily as my track wet tires and there is great stopping power in the wet and decent in turn wet grip They are also quite close in dry grip to an average racing comp tire. They are very well known within the racing and autox circles. Not too sure I have come across the F1 yet but will definitely look around for it.

 

The z1 star specs are summer tires... the F1s are all season. probably why you wont see them on the race tracks.. For me, it was all about budget. I can't afford to run 2 sets of tires even though I know that is the best way to go performance wise...

 

The Star Specs are amazing for the right person, but they'll run out of tread quickly and get really loud after 4/32... But you will never complain after utilizing them in the twists.

They are not great under heavy heat when new. I've heard that on multiple forums (the fall apart)

 

I was going to go with Bridgestone Ecopia EP42d because the deal was so great. The tires were $550 then $50 off for weekly promotion and then $70 mail in rebate. So I was looking at $430 pretty much.

I want to know what exactly is good to put on my MINI. I do live in Michigan so it rains, snows, sunny and all that other crap. I plan to put on 205/55/16 for better handling. I checked out tirerack.com but I think I've heard that Continental ExtremeContact DWS are really good.

Any other options please? I want them on by this weekend, these run-flats are killing me how annoying the noise is.

 

The Bridgestone Ecopia EP422 is a Standard Touring All Season tire
another good choice in 205/55-16 in the same class of tire is
Continental ProContact with Ecoplus $106 each, 600 treadwear
Tire rack test results-
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tests/...y.jsp?ttid=161
The ProContact tested above the Ecopia 422.

For more performance in an all season tire-
Continental ExtremeContact DWS (Ultra High Perf All Season tire)
205/55-16 $109 each, 540 treadwear
Tire rack test results-
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tests/...y.jsp?ttid=147

Both of these tires are good, the Standard Touring is trading more comfort, less road noise and slightly longer tread life for less crisp handling. Prices are close.

 

Thank you!

But what if I wanted more handling? But of course I still want a little comfort and of course needs to be all season weather.

 

If you want comfort, good handling and longer wear the first place to look is Ultra High Perf All Season tires but you may have to pay more to get all those traits in one tire.

Otherwise it's all a compromise along with budget.

 

Yeah I finally picked the tires I am going with. Bridgestone Potenza RE970 A/S(non run-flat). Great price and wonderful traction and handling plus the comfort of the ride. They're good enough for the snow and ice(not like I drive in that crappy weather a lot anyway).

Thanks for the help! Tirerack.com helped my decision.

 

The RE-970AS is a good choice, somewhat limited sizes for the MINI but decent in price for how good the tire is overall. 400 treadwear is moderate but I find that by the time the tread wears down, enough time has passed that the rubber starts to get hard and noisy so it's time to replace them anyway.

The longer wearing tires need to endure over time and avoid road hazzards to wear out the treads.

The RE960AS runflat is a good choice for those that have MINIs. Well priced.

The RE960AS non runflat is good for those MINIs with 15" wheels- it's what I use for daily driving now. $80 each!

 

There's no such thing as a much needed plunge back into run-flats.
I suggest you lay down and wait for this unhealthy urge to pass.

 

I just upgraded from the ContiProContact SSR to the Michelin Pilot Sport A/S and have been very happy with the results. Can't say anything yet about snow/ice traction yet, but the dry handling has been significantly improved. The car feels more stable with the Pilot's; turn-in is much smoother and has significantly more grip. The conti's felt wrong to me... handling with the conti's were bad enough that I thought there may have been a suspension problem with my new car...turns out it was thankfully just the tires.

While they wont be confused with slicks or max performance summer tires, they held up well on the track. I was actually even able keep pace with another mini on Potenza RE-11s, so maybe they aren't much different then a summer tire. They communicate well when they are at their limits, and when taken past fail in a predictable manner. I don't notice any additional noise, and comfort level is about the same...maybe a smidge better.