Ok, I've heard so many opinions. And this topic seems to come up regularly, but not latey.

I've read lots of tire reviews on Tire Rack and other places and it seems there is almost NEVER a concensus about tires for performance on the Mini.

Better performance often equals louder (tread patterns) and softer compound (shorter tread life) tires.

Many have suggested the Goodyear F1s - are they selling well or too expensive for most?

Isn't there a happy medium that satisfys and thereby also becomes the better seller?

Paul

 

These have been very popular and I am about to purchase a set...BF Goodrich gForce T/A KDW's everything that i hear about them is generally good, not many complaints out there.

 

keep in mind the KDWs are quite loud, especially on the freeway.

 

Its been my experience with perf tires thats just a trade-off and besides, its nothing the Hi-Fi stereo can't fix, right or that modded exhaust system or...

 

Just picked up my second set of YOKO AVE ES100s in those dimensions.

 

Two,

How do you like the RS100's on your Mini? I have used them on an E30 and really got to like them once I took them to the track and got some heat into them. In general I've always had good luck with Yokohama tires. I went through several sets on my Honda CRX si and always enjoyed BMW and Porsche drivers on the Angeles Crest Highway in Southern Calif. I no longer [rarely?] do such naughty things.

Cheers,

Joe s

 

You've heard many opinions because there are many opinions.

215/40-17 is a common size and you can find quite a few good tires.

More performance usually means higher prices, faster treadwear and usually much better dry and usually wet traction.

Realize that the MINI is quite capable even in stock form and can make good use of very high performance tires. Most standard cars cannot and it would be a waste to put Extreme and Max Performance Summer tires on your family sedan.

Comfort and loudness will vary and there can be some very very high performing tires with very good street manners but they are usually very expensive and they wear fast.

Treadlife is highly variable with driving habits. Just because treadwear rating is fairly low doesn't always mean it will wear that fast. Depends how hard you drive on those tires. A treadlife of 300- 400 will last quite long for a MINI. You always need to keep tire pressures up and rotate for best results.

When you go to tirerack you can see the number of tires sold for each tire as listed for each category and some are really popular. There is no breakdown for tire size.

Just because something is good selling doesn't mean it will be a good fit for you. Depends on your needs.

For 215/40-17

In Extreme Performance Summer tires there is only one choice
Kumho Ecsta MX $110 each
220 Treadwear AA traction Y speed rated 20 lbs
Almost 5 million total miles reported on customer ratings (#2 out of 3)

In Max Performance Summer tires
Goodyear Eagle F1 GS-D3 $152
280 Treadwear AA traction Y speed rated 19 lbs
Almost 16.6 million total miles reported on customer ratings (#3 out of 23)
Dunlop SP Sport Maxx $161
240 Treadwear AA traction Y speed rated 21 lbs
Almost 0.7 million total miles reported on customer ratings (#4 out of 23)
Pirelli PZero Nero $113
220 Treadwear AA traction Y speed rated 22 lbs
Almost 2.2 million total miles reported on customer ratings (#6 out of 23)
Bridgestone Potenza RE050A $162 each
140 Treadwear A traction Y speed rated 22 lbs
Almost 1.32 million total miles reported on customer ratings (#7 out of 23)

In Ultra High Performance Summer tires
General Exclaim UHP $71
380 Treadwear AA traction W speed rated 18 lbs
About 2.2 million total miles reported on customer ratings (#1 out of 46)

Michelin Pilot Exalto PE2 $151
240 Treadwear A traction W speed rated 20 lbs
Almost 0.48 million total miles reported on customer ratings (#2 out of 46)

BF Goodrich g-Force T/A KDW2 $119
300 Treadwear AA traction Y speed rated 22 lbs
Almost 4.8 million total miles reported on customer ratings (#4 out of 46)

Bridgestone Potenza RE750 $148
340 Treadwear AA traction W speed rated 21 lbs
Almost 5.2 million total miles reported on customer ratings (#5 out of 46)

BF Goodrich g-Force Sport $93
340 Treadwear AA traction V speed rated 20 lbs
About 2.4 million total miles reported on customer ratings (#6 out of 46)

Kumho ecsta SPT $81 closeout
320 Treadwear AA traction W speed rated 21 lbs
About 1.4 million total miles reported on customer ratings (#7 out of 46)

Avon Tech M500 $89
280 Treadwear AA traction W speed rated 22 lbs
Almost 2.9 million total miles reported on customer ratings (#9 out of 46)

Yokohama Parada Spec-2 $80
300 Treadwear AA traction W speed rated 22 lbs
Almost 4.1 million total miles reported on customer ratings (#16 out of 46)

Yokohama AVS ES100 $89
280 Treadwear AA traction W speed rated 21 lbs
Almost 22.3 million total miles reported on customer ratings (#18 out of 46)

Based on miles looks like the Yokohama ES100 is an overall best seller but it's hardly the best performing tire. But it might not be a best seller in the 215/40-17 size.

In Ultra High Performance All Season tires
Continental ContiExtremeContact $90
400 Treadwear AA traction W speed rated
Almost 26.9 million total miles reported on customer ratings (#2 out of 15)

Pirelli PZero Nero M&S $117
420 Treadwear A traction W speed rated
About 13.4 million total miles reported on customer ratings (#4 out of 15)

Kumho Ecsta ASX $85
420 Treadwear AA traction W speed rated
Almost 10.6 million total miles reported on customer ratings (#6 out of 15)

Sumitomo HTR+ $78
360 Treadwear AA traction W speed rated
Almost 13.4 million total miles reported on customer ratings (#9 out of 15)

ContiExtremeContact another big overall seller.

 

I bought a set of Nitto Neogens about a month ago and am very happy with them for a performance tire. They make a 215/40/17 and Discount tire direct sells them for $85.00 a piece to your door. I bought them after talking to several people that have them in different sizes and like them a great deal. They feel very responsive in the twisty's and are very quite and to top it off there is no wondering on the freeway because of the tread design. My other set of wheels are Pirelli P Zero Nero's and although I like them performance wise and for there lack of noise they do wander with every groove on the freeway .

 

just got my Kumho Ecsta SPT's installed and they feel great. After researching quite a bit I thougt it was the best bang for the buck. I was told by Alex that I should get a good 25-30k miles on them which is great for a performance tire. just my 2 cents.

 

Thanks all, particularly Minihune from Hawaii - big help.

Noise issues with the Yokos are said to be a real issues - about the same as the Bridgestones.

I'm going to check the Kumhos next.

Paul

 

I'm not sure where "noise issues with Yokos" came from, or which Yokohama tire is associated with noise. I have used ES100's on my BMW and on a Honda CRX Si, and they did not seem noisy to me. Of course they could be loud on another car.

It's so difficult to get good usable info on tires. There are so many brands and types, and they change so quickly, and they can be different on different cars, and to different drivers. I know with the Tire Rack customer ratings I am often astonished about the things that are sometimes reported about a particular tire. And to make things worse most of us can only try a few different tires on our cars due to the cost and amount of time it takes to go through a set of tires.

The good news seems to be that there are usually a few pretty good choices at a particular price point. To a certain extent, you get what you pay for.

I have a set of the new Goodyear Excellence tires on my MCS, and I like them pretty well so far. I haven't pushed them much yet, but I think I'm going to like them. Certainly they are not the disappointment that I feared from a Run Flat tire.


Happy motoring,

Joe