So I've come up with a new rule on modding your MINI. If you bought the cheapest tires the tire store had, DON'T bother modding your car it will be a waste. We work on a lot of MINI's, but lately I've noticed people with all these questions about what mod to do next, then I look at their tires and see they bought the $87 tires. There is no point in adding power if you can't get it to the ground, upgraded suspension won't stick, bigger brakes don't work with no grip. The tires were cheap for a reason.

Get some good tires it will be worth more than you think.

 

I like this advice.

 

That is a good rule! Im partial to the people who use studded snow tires in August! Man they grip the... well NOTHING it's AUGUST!!!

 

I live in Canada, and although my location gets little snow, we do occasionally get it, and no one is prepared with snow tires. It drives me nuts. Tons of fender benders because of idiots who think $47 wal-mart all seasons are actually useful for winter (or any.) driving.

 

That is an excellent rule!

I plan on buying new rims and tires, but my budget after rim purchase Breytons will only allow me to purchase mediocre tires. Whats the sense. I guess for looks only. So, I am opting to keep my stock R98s and put the best tires I can on them. I know I will be much happier this way!

 

I had a friend stop by in a porsche this week with Riken Raptor tires on it. Drove it and it sounded like I was going through a tunnel, and had no grip. What a waste of a good car.

It's like having big screen TV and no cable.

 

WayMotorWorks, thanks for the advice. Are there some mid-priced all season non-runflat tires you do like? After the original runflats wear out I'll put regular tires on my S Coupe.

 

what's wrong with Hankook Ventus V12 evo K110 for $89? several folks seem to like them. i have no experience with these tires.

 

I've said for a long time that the first mod anybody should make to their MINI is to ditch the runflats. Joe Shmoo, I've got those tires on my R53 and love them. Quiet, excellent handling in wet and dry, and inexpensive for a performance tire.

 

+1

Just put my RFs back on because I am having a wheel repowder coated and I was in 2nd this morning and gave it a good amount of gas and all I did was spin.

 

Whats is wrong with the cheap chinese tires?!
I admit, they lack grip dry, are dangerous when wet...wonder what happens in the snow?!
They are prone to failure (anybody want the excitemt of blowing a tire while taking an on/off ramp at...er...max legal speed?!
Sure you also take a job from a domestic worker, close a factory....
But you saved $10 a tire...and they look cool....all you had to do was risk your life and destroy your performance to do it!!
LOL
I guess you all know i agree with how bad they are....

 

That is a generaly well respectef brand...like yokhoma, etc.
I think the referance is to the oddly named (some kinda funny) chinese made tires that some shops will sell to the person looking for the absolute cheapest product they can get. When tested, these tires are usually pretty dangerous in the rain....

 

When I was shopping around for tires last summer, I stopped into a chain tire store (fountain tire.) and said I was considering Avid Envigors. He gave me some BS line about how those were just "generic all seasons" and tried to convince me I needed some Chinese knock-off garbage "performance" tire. Left and never went back.

 

Good tires are essential. That's something I learned many many moons ago. HA!

But yes, if you drive on cheap tires, you deserve what you get. [said in a well-meaning nice way - ]

 

Hmmm. On Tirerack.com, in my preferred size (205/55/16), at the $87 price point, that would kick out folks who bought:

Dunlop
Hankook
Kumho
BF Goodrich
Goodyear
Sumitomo
Fuzion

With the rebate bringing the cost/tire down to $70 each, it would knock out the Hankooks mentioned earlier. When I bought S.drives a while back, with the rebate my cost per tire was $63. My Continental ECDW tires were in the $75 range.

I guess when I am in the market for parts to mod my MINI, I'll try to remember Way's rule and the fact that my MINI is not worthy of mods. Then I'll take my business elsewhere.

 

Inexpensive and cheap are two different things. The Hankook V12s are inexpensive but not cheap. The V12 are good performance tires and have been rated well by various car magazine tests. The V12s only last 15,000-20,000 miles so you have to purchase them more freqeuently.
Cheap applies to poor performing tires that last 60,000 miles and are inexpensive.

 

The whole point is not brand, the whole point is that people will go and upgrade their MINI to well over 200hp and run around on economy rate tires. Tires that are not meant for performance at all.

 

...Not sure that was the OP's intent. I could see the point being to not buy the lowest priced tire solely due to it being the lowest price. I would be comfortable in saying everyone likes a good deal on a quality product.

But, then again, I have no dog in this fight as I still have the stock run-flats (for now). When I do purchase tires, however, price is truly a secondary matter. At this point it looks to be Conti DWS's as they were great on my B6 A4.

 

I know what you mean about the sound. I have those tires on my Mini because whoever had the car before me decided they would be a good idea. Haven't had any issues with grip though.

 

I have grid09 right now, but I have started to notice a lot of slip during starts recently. I agree with the above. I used to run nothing but high end summers when in Germany and the car was planted to the road. My next set of tires will be some good summer tires and winters for winter months.

 

I'll take it a step farther

A 100% off the floor Cooper, not to mention an S is capable of things 99.9% of the buyers are NOT capable of doing/controlling.

Buy some driving lessons!!!!!!!

 

^^^ This.

 

OK, my point wasn't just the price. It's more about the quality of tire, which is proportionate. The $87 Kumho tires that is the case I was talking about. Those particular tires are round and roll that is the good about them. They are loud, and don't have the grip that the performance MINI owner should want.

The bigger problem I actually see is that many tire owners don't really know how bad their tires are in performance. Most went from run flats to non run flats, so no matter what tire they got they were happier with new ones. The bad thing that happens with this is those people then tell others how great a particular tire is when in reality it isn't a very good performance tire. Also don't forget because one tire works great on a BMW, doesn't mean it will work great on a MINI, and vice versa.

 

This is really good advice. I wish there was a place for HPDE around me, I think I need to go to California or Vegas though.

 

I went from the Continental run flats to the Continental Extreme Contact DWS non run flat tires. These are not summer tires but all season tires that seem to have everything that I need. They handle very well and have good wet traction. I have not used them in snow yet but I know the Conti all season run flats worked well in the snow. I assume these will as well. They were $118.00 ea and come with a 50K mileage warranty. My wife does not track her car and I don't track mine so it works good for us.

We get snow occasionally and lots of rain so this tires makes sense for me.

My new car will have a summer set of tires and a winter set of tires. But it is the new JCW Coupe and will require 2 sets. More money but it can't be helped.

I don't know how this tire is viewed by others but it works well for me. I don't buy on price but i do listen to recommendations and ratings. Price is always secondary.