I'm about to embark on a road trip from northern California to the Grand Canyon. I have an R57 Mini Cooper S Convertible with 17" wheels and the stock run-flat tires. I love how it corners, but the ride is a bit... stiff... for long distances.

Would I get enough ride improvement from simply replacing my run-flat tires with conventional tires to make a difference? Would switching to 16" wheels make enough difference to be worth the cost?

--R

 

whether worth the cost on the wheels is debatable. You are in NorCal (like I am), so you might check Craigslist for awhile; when I looked previously Mini wheels were listed pretty often and didn't seem to move fast. My sense is 16's aren't in that much demand used; you will also need to think through if you want to give up tire width, depending on the rim width you look at.

Meanwhile, having switched from RF's to non-RF's (from the Dunlop OEM sport summer RF's to Michelin PS2's specifically), it did make a meaningful difference. I have the sport suspension as well, on an R56S. I went a bit oversize at the same time (to 225/45), which increased my sidewall height a bit and filled out the wheel wells at the same time. No, nothing near as plush as my big Audi, but better and still with a big smile handling wise (bigger actually; I didn't think the Dunlops were very sticky either). Another notch softer would have been a good all season tire more favoring ride rather than a performance summer choice.

 

The extra sidewall offered by a 16" wheel makes for a very noticeable ride difference, especially when combined with conventional tires. In addition to improved ride quality 16" wheels are usually lighter and there could be improvements in performance and fuel mileage, depending upon how much lighter the wheels are. Also there is a reduced risk of rim damage from potholes when compared to 17" wheels. Sixteen inch tires are usually less expensive. As for difference in tire widths, it all depends upon how wide a rim you purchase. There does not have to be any sacrifice.

Switching to conventional 17" tires will give a significant improvement in ride quality compared to runflats but without the performance and fuel savings.

Is it worth the cost? Personal decision, can't help you there.

 

Within the past month I made the change from 17" wheels with run flats to 16" wheels with AS Michelins. The difference in ride is, IMO, exponential re: comfort. No more backaches for me!

 

This is a tough question because it deals with someone else's preferred compromise. How much in handling responsiveness is one willing to give up to gain how much in ride comfort, and how much money is one willing to spend to get it?

Switching to non-RFs alone should provide a noticeably more comfortable ride. I guess that's settled.

Switching to 16's with their somewhat taller OE sidewalls would be another step, but you may be able to get a sufficiently comfortable ride just by careful selection among tires in the OE 17" size. A/S and Grand Touring tires (or even the Grand Touring A/S combo) generally provide more ride comfort than tires in the highest performance summer tire categories do.

Beyond that, and regardless of wheel diameter or tire category, one should also be able to gain some ride comfort (and lose some handling responsiveness) just by choosing tires with a one size taller sidewall. For example, 205/50/17s instead of 205/45/17s. With its .8" greater diameter, I have no idea about how popular 205/50/17s are, but "shorter" 205/50/16s and "taller" 205/55/16s both seem to be fairly popular choices in 16" sizes (195/55/16 is the OE size).

If several hours researching this at the Tire Rack site makes your head explode, you could just ask Alex for a recommendation.

 

There are categories of tires in every size...touring, grand touring, sport, performance etc. Also there are all-seaon as well as summer tires to consider. Each will ride differently and perform differently. For comfort I would say that' "yes" a smaller diameter size wheel (15 and 16) with larger sidewalls would help you or you can change to a touring or grand touring tire which will ride smoother over bumpy roads. Non runflats also help significantly. Have fun on your adventure, The Grand Canyon is unbelieveable!

 

There you have it - Good excuse to get some Rota RB's to boot....

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...l-gallery.html

http://www.fastmini.net/rotarb.html

 

Thanks all! Those Rota RBs do look pretty good... I think I will probably go for the 16x7" wheels and a set of conventional all-season tires. I'll report back on how it goes.

 

Just got this tire test report link in TireRack's monthly email...... Has a comfort rating between the 4 tires tested.......

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tests/...17130&ttid=147&

 

Assuming you are using stock suspension and want-

Better handling and comfort for commuting
Better treadwear

You will be giving up some response in handling and cornering at speed- not a big deal for commuting as a trade off.

You can consider tires up to about 25" tire diameter.

Think about-
Goodyear Assurance Comfor Tred Touring Grand Touring All season tire
$161 each 205/50-17 will fit stock wheel. 640 treadwear, 21 lbs each
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires....ACTT&tab=Specs


Or consider
Michelin Primacy MXM4 Grand Touring All Season tire
$133 each 500 treadwear 215/45-17
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires....XM4P&tab=Specs