I am looking for a 17" winter tire for my 2006 MCS. I would prefer a runflat, but i am open to non runflats. Alex, what do you suggest and what do you have in stock for this season? Any specials or packages?

What do others suggest for a 17" winter tire?

 

blizzaks in 16's. 205/55/16's if you can find them.

(oversized on purpose so you can clear the carwash rails in the winter)

 

Where do live and what tires are on your MINI now? Winter will be over before you know it. It was even tropical in Germany today...50F. Don't think I'd be looking to buy winter tires with Spring just 30 days away. Unless of course you still expect a lot of freezing temps and major snowfall. If you can make it the rest of the way, you can postpone the purchase until Oct/Nov.

My recommendation is to source a used set of R84s on eBay and load them up with less expensive, just as capable 16" winter tires. Don't think I'd want to swap runflats back and forth off the same wheels. Better to have a dedicated set you just swap out, and makes for easy front to rear rotations to make both sets last much longer.

 

I am in Colorado (Denver)....and the worst of winter has yet to come. March and April are when we aquire the most snow. As the temperature is low now, yesterday's high was 13 degrees with the low being -2 at night, it should start to warm up. I have a set of S-Lites I want to fit with winter tires. I have performance 17" RFTs right now, well when I take delivery in a week.

I am ordering a set of R99's and was going to put the OEM performance RFTs on them, and fit my current S-Lites with winter tires to get me through March - May and then store them for next season.

It seems like the cheapest and smartest way. I just need to know what would be a good fit for the S-Lites for cold weather and occasional snow, packed snow and some ice.

The weather here is so unpredicatble, I want to have a set of dedicated winter wheels / tires. I have the wheels, 17" S-Lites, I just need to decide on the tires. I know a lot are sold out, at least on tirerack.com, that is why I asked Alex and I am hoping he answers.

Can you ever get a deal on winter tires once winter starts to come to an end?

 

I see that tire rack has Pirelli Winter 240 SnowSport RFT in 205/45 in 17". That seems to be it. Any experience with these?

Also, there seems to be more choice when going up to 215/24 - 17. Is there any problem with that size? I have the sport package (suspension).


Thanks.

 

I would assume any of the true winter tires are up to the task. Pirelli, Goodyear, and Dunlop all make RF winter tires, as well as traditional. MINI can also get them as they have MINI stock numbers. You may want to see what kind of deal your dealer will make at delivery with installation. I'd hope that they'd throw you a bone or two considering the deals are typically in their favor. Stock size is the best option for your wheels. Wider is less preferred for snow.

BTW, how much are you getting the R99s for?

 

I have Bridgestone Blizzaks in a 215/45/17 on my S-Lites. They work great!

 

Stevie B....Mini dealers I have seen sell the wheels for $255 to 285 a wheel. That is without a tire and the wheel is anthracite in color.

 

If you're not opposed to using steel wheels in the winter, it may wind up being cheaper to go with a set of 15" steel wheels and snow tires (combined) than 4 17" snow tires. Especially after you facter in the costs of getting the tires swapped on one set of wheels.

In other words, go for a second set of wheels, and make them smaller (15" or maybe 16").

 

I have 16" Michelin X Ice 205/50/16. Very happy with their snow performance and not bad in the dry either. I got 16" Konig Theory rims plus the tires from Tire Rack for $684.

 

If you need the 17"'s, I would highly recommend getting both the wheel and tire combo from Tire Rack. The reason why I did is because for the amount of $$$ the dealer was going to charge me to unmount and remount the tires each season, I could have purchased new rims (the low cost aluminum, not steelies) from Tire Rack in one year (two switches). I learned this the hard way when I showed up at the dealership to pick up the new MINI with a set of the Pirellis that you mentioned and no rims. It hit me like a ton of bricks......

So, I now have one set of Winter 240's with Flamespoke and a set of ASA's on the Performance tires that came with the Checkmate Pkg.

 

Powershot, are your 240's run flats? You like them? Wheels are not an issue. I have S-Lites and R99's. I am just missing the 17" winter tires. The R99's will have the OEM performance run flats.

 

Minihawk,
Yes, the winter tires are the run flats - Pirelli 240's. Since I haven't driven the car with the performance tires, I can't give you a comparison to the summer tires. However, I will say that I don't hear alot of excessive tire noise (only on I-80 after the skyway on the way to Tire Rack) and they seem pretty comfortable. As the temps get above 35 or so, they do get a little squishy in the corners as can be expected. I don't think they are designed as a pure "I'm going through 12 feet of snow" snow tire, however going through a few inches of snow and slush, they are very capable. Which is what it is all about.

 

Alex? Can you get me a price on a set of Pirelli 240's for 17". You can PM me back or check your inbox.

 

$692 plus shipping

Alex