Background:

*'04 Cooper, soon to have struts from an 'S', and MiniMania springs (which will provide @ 1" drop from stock). I have steelies and Blizzacks for winter (thanks Alex!).
*Tires in question will be on R83 5 spokes, and for 3 season usage only.
*I drive fairly calmly 99% of the time (Fatherhood has changed me), but will attack on/off-ramps with everything I have. I will probably never (at least for the next few years) do any autocrossing or track events (Fatherhood again), so tires will be street use only.
*Price IS an object...ride harshness is not...wet handling takes a 3rd row backseat to dry grip.

The question: Which tires to buy?
*I have read all of the old threads, and tons of test results and reviews @ tirerack. Based on said test results my price range includes the Azenis, Toyo T1S, Yoko ES100 (I can't afford the GS-D3, or SO3). I will also consider Avon Tech, Cooper Zeon, or Fuzion ZRi, but the Yokos seem to be better than these while all being at a similar price-point.
*I have owned Azenis before, and liked them (highly modified miata), but they are heavy, and combined with the weight of the R83s won't be doing me any favors. The other issue with these is that while I know they can physically be mounted to the wheels...the 'pinch' factor has me concerned about losing some steering response crispness.
*T1S was always highly regarded in the miata world...I'm sure the light weight had something to do with it. These sound like very sticky tires, but lacking in steering response a bit, due to the compliant sidewall (good and bad on this point).
*ES100 sound like they grip well, but maybe not as well as the other 2. The weight is pretty good, and steering response is said to be crisp as well! Price-wise these are the winner in this group, but is this difference worth the grip difference from the others.

I really want the Azenis, but they are going to dissappear soon as the replacement RS615 will be out shortly. If I am going to buy these, I'll likely have to order soon. The main drawback for me is that the others weigh less, and from my miata background, this keeps popping out at me!

Any experiences with comparisons in this group are welcomed. Obviously 17" diameter tires will have different characteristics, so if you have had the T1S or Azenis on a stock 16" wheel, I'd prefer to hear about that.

Thanks in advance, for any insight you can provide.
*I have owned many Yoko tires in the past (Most recently A520s), and have liked them. The ES100 is the obvious price winner in this group

 

I run Azenis on my autocross/track wheels... and ES100's on my street wheels. While I agonized about what to put on my street wheels this time, after running ES100's before, I ended up going with ES100's again. Bang-for-the-buck, I just couldn't see trying anything else (I might have tried the Avons, but they were out of stock).

I've driven MINIs wearing all the tires you have mentioned, and NONE of them have a significant advantage over the ES100's EXCEPT the Azenis. Some people will say, no, no, the S-03's or T1-S are far superior, etc., but I personally haven't experienced that in my driving comparo. You can pay a whole lot more for tires and get marginally better performance than the ES100's, or you can just get the ES100's and save the extra cash for a set of track wheels...

The Azenis are a match made in heaven for the MINI, IMHO, especially one with a modified suspension. Everytime I mount up my track wheels and drive out to the autocross, I fall back in love with the crisp turn-in, stick, and feedback. The difference between the Azenis and ES100's make the ES100's feel like the OEM runflats. While they are heavy, their stick more than makes up for it.

The Kumho MX is also a great tire, but their sizes in 16" don't work for MINIs very well. Personally, I think the Kumho MX has a more pliable sidewall and requires more air than the Azenis to keep it from rolling over.

Of course, there's always R-compounds... But, my budget doesn't allow for that!

So, if you want a pure, hardcore sports summer tire - go Azenis in 16". Nothing else even comes close, IMHO - not the S-03, GS-D3, KDW, or T1-S. It will work fine on the stock wheel, too. If you want a good all around tire, go ES100. None of the tires mentioned provide a signficant performance improvement that matches their price (in fact, some provide NO performance improvement). I'm on my second set of ES100's, and I don't regret it. I'll be trying the new Azenis RT-615 later this year when I need new rubber for autocross...