Tires?

[cmcveay]

Okay, I know there have been several discussions about runflat vs. non runflat and all. I'm running non runflat tires and I'm fine with that so here's what I'm asking...

 

I'm planning my tire change and I intend to go with a set of Extreme performance summer tires and in the fall, I'll decide if I will change them or go to a second set for the winter.

 

My tire size is firm, 235/45R-17. That narrows it down to 4 tires and I'd like to get some feedback from anyone that has driven with those tires.

 

Please keep in mind that I do autocross 6-8 events.

 

Here are my choices:

 

1) Bridgestone Potenza RE-11

 

2) Dunlop Direzza Sport Z1 Star Spec

 

3) Kumho Ecsta XS

 

4) Yokohama ADVAN Neova AD08

 

I've heard great things about the Dunlop's and I'm on my second set of Kumho's (third if you count the set that was stolen with less than 45 days driving on them) but I'm running the ASX which is an all-season tire. I've never played with Yokohama's or Bridgestones.

 

Thanks for your inputs everyone!

[orcadog]

This summer I will replace my very awesome Hankook Ventus V12 Evo's with the Dunlop Star Spec's.

 

All of the above tires are nice, but I have heard the most good things about the Star Specs.

 

I like to stuff my tires onto the rims too

[RichSperry]

Pass on the Kumho's if those are your only choices.

 

The star specs are probably the best bang for the buck. The Yok's are probably the most expensive, I've never had a problem with Bridgestone's, (but I've never had them on a Mini...)

[Yarsay]

I'm also looking to get a new summer tire when I rotate off my winters in a few months (not a fan of the $$$ OEM Dunlop runflats which will probably be hitting the market place in the not too distant future).

 

I'm looking at switching over to some lightweight wheels but will be sticking with the 17x7 size. Star Specs come in a 215 width (rather than OEM 205) and I'm curious, will there be any issues with rubbing? I haven't lowered the car or adjusted the camber in any way.

 

Also, what's with the weight on the Star Spec and comparable tires? I read 23 lbs for 215/45/17, which is actually more than the OEM runflats and kind of goes counter to my mission of shedding unsprung weight. If I go a notch down in performance to Conti ExtremeContact or SportContact 3s I can save 3-4 lbs per tire and also get much longer tread life (understandably at the expense of grip).

 

And, finally, what kind of tread life have people been seeing on Star Specs and comparable tires? I drive about 1,000 miles a month, mostly on highways and would like to be able to get two seasons (figure 8k a piece) or at a minimum one full season out of the tire. High-wear driving conditions where I actually need the capabilities of the tire are probably a very small percentage of that.

 

Thanks!

[LV2CRNR]

Star specs were the best tires I ever put on my mini, finalky got them to slip exciting a tight downhill 270° ramp at 95+ mph. My friend riding with me said I hit a 100 mph. The rear finally oversteered on me, not bad at all just a flick of the wheel and it straightened up. I was wearing the harness I sold you, my friend still won't ride in the mini.

[Yarsay]

Star specs were the best tires I ever put on my mini

 

What has been your experience with ride quality and tread wear? I don't have room for a 3rd set of wheels/tires in my apartment so I need a summer tire that will be tolerable for the 90% of my driving that is commuting but also will be rewarding for weekend fun drives and potentially auto-x.

[cmcveay]

I think Jason commuted on the Star specs but I'm looking forward to his reply. Like you Yarsay, I don't have the room to store a bunch of tires and as much as I love my ASX's, I'd like something with a little more stick for spring, summer and fall driving.

[LV2CRNR]

I drove to Indiana and back with them and a trip to Cocoa beach, FL. no issue's at all. Also drve them in the snow storm's last year. Not the greatest snow tires since I would be driving along and slide off the flat straight road. I put about 6000 miles on them and couldn't see any tread wear. I now have nitto Neo Gen's for winter and going back to star specs in summer.

[Yarsay]

Thanks Jason, that's good to hear. Star specs are now on the top of the list! (...unless someone can think of a tire with lower weight but comparable performance...)

[Mach V Dan]

My tire size is firm, 235/45R-17. That narrows it down to 4 tires ...

You need a 235/40R17, not a 235/45R17! The 45 profile is too wide and too tall.

 

For pure summer (not below 40 F temps), I'd go with the Star Specs. Great tires.

 

--Dan

Mach V

FastMINI.net

[rickyr53]

geez thats a meaty tire.

[cmcveay]

Dan was correct, I went with the 235/40R-17 and they are very, very awesome.

[Yarsay]

Dan was correct, I went with the 235/40R-17 and they are very, very awesome.

 

Already have the summer setup installed? Assuming you went with the Star Specs? I think I'm T-3 weeks right now...

 

Complicating my decision is that Michelin just released the new Pilot Super Sport, which will likely be in a compatible size for the MINI, unlike the PS2. I run the gen 1 pilot sports on the M3 and love them.

 

Downside is that they're not in production yet for MINI sizes and not scheduled to hit shelves until at least mid-April. Might go with the sure thing and get the Star Specs so I can get off my snow tires before it hits 80...

 

Look forward to hearing a review of the new tires!

[cmcveay]

Oh yeah, I had them put on the Friday before our last snow/ice day.... I'm always up for an adventure! I actually had no problem, I just took it easy. I'm impressed so far but the one thing I've noticed is that you do not want to follow too close if someone is running summer tires on a day above 50 degrees if there's anything loose on the road. It will throw it at whoever is behind you - just ask Brian... Sorry Brian.

 

The road feel is good and the steering response is still quick and confident. No road noise and of course the ride isn't has "harsh" as the RF's. I haven't tested their adhesion qualities yet but I'm eyeballing an out of the way parking lot where I can go wind it up a little.

[Yarsay]

The road feel is good and the steering response is still quick and confident. No road noise and of course the ride isn't has "harsh" as the RF's. I haven't tested their adhesion qualities yet but I'm eyeballing an out of the way parking lot where I can go wind it up a little.

 

Cool... thanks Craig. Not long now before I have mine on as well

[Poison Ivy]

Just thought I'd share that we're finally getting some MUCH needed new tires on Thursday for Lola. We're getting Bridgestone ECOPIA EP422 BL P195/55R16 on special, buy 3 get 1 free with road hazard and lifetime balance & rotation warranties. I hope no one has heard any bad stories about these tires.

[Wizzer]

Just thought I'd share that we're finally getting some MUCH needed new tires on Thursday for Lola. We're getting Bridgestone ECOPIA EP422 BL P195/55R16 on special, buy 3 get 1 free with road hazard and lifetime balance & rotation warranties. I hope no one has heard any bad stories about these tires.

 

What's the cost of them? I need new tires for the POD and was looking at Amazon (Because they have everything) and found these: http://www.amazon.com/Nankang-NS-1-High-Performance-Tire/dp/B004QL6ORW/ref=au_pf_pfg_s?ie=UTF8&Model=Cooper%7C218&n=15684181&s=automotive&Make=Mini%7C32&Year=2005%7C2005&vehicleType=5&carId=001

[Poison Ivy]

$147 per tire, Buy 3 get 1 free. Warranties (Lifetime Balance, Rotation, Rubber Value, and Road Hazards = $80) = $645.60 on the car

[elpollodiablo]

Was going to suggest the Hankook ventuses. . .but 235's wow. That's a lot of meat. How wide are the rims you're running?

 

I've only tried the Kumho's of that group and had pretty good luck with them.

[CP3657197]

Oh yeah, I had them put on the Friday before our last snow/ice day.... I'm always up for an adventure! I actually had no problem, I just took it easy. I'm impressed so far but the one thing I've noticed is that you do not want to follow too close if someone is running summer tires on a day above 50 degrees if there's anything loose on the road. It will throw it at whoever is behind you - just ask Brian... Sorry Brian.

 

The road feel is good and the steering response is still quick and confident. No road noise and of course the ride isn't has "harsh" as the RF's. I haven't tested their adhesion qualities yet but I'm eyeballing an out of the way parking lot where I can go wind it up a little.

 

 

cmcveay,

 

Just curious, which rubber did you end up getting?

 

 

:motor:

 

CP

[cmcveay]

Are you sure you want to go with 55's? You will notice a very "plush" ride but when you get out in the twisties, I think you'll find that the handling isn't as responsive as your previous "shoes". Personally, I don't like anything taller than a 45 series tire, especially on 16" rims, but I'm willing to trade some comfort for more precise handing. Believe it or not, I've gotten adjusted to the runflats once again and I think that's what I'll keep on Merlin.

[cmcveay]

I went with the Star Spec's and loved every minute with them. The car still has them on it, I noticed that in the "Archie" sighting last week. The downside is that they did start to get noisy when on the road at speed. As far as handling though? Awesome...

[Poison Ivy]

I have no idea what you're talking about!

[Poison Ivy]

Geno asked... Can 45s go on 16" wheels? ---- nevermind, can you check you're email?

[Edge]

Are you sure you want to go with 55's? You will notice a very "plush" ride but when you get out in the twisties, I think you'll find that the handling isn't as responsive as your previous "shoes". Personally, I don't like anything taller than a 45 series tire, especially on 16" rims, but I'm willing to trade some comfort for more precise handing. Believe it or not, I've gotten adjusted to the runflats once again and I think that's what I'll keep on Merlin.

Craig - while I agree with you that 55s are plush, 195/55R16 is the stock 16" MINI tire size, so Catalina should know that deviating from that without making the proper adjustments will cause her speedometer (and therefore also her odometer) to lose accuracy.

 

Catalina - the "55" that Craig talks about is one of the key measurement numbers for tires. It is the "ratio" number - the ratio between the tire's height and its width. Since it's a ratio and not a direct measurement, you have to take the first number (which is the tire width) into account. Therefore, a 195/55 tire is 195mm wide with a (195 x 55% =) 107.25mm sidewall height.

 

Now, if you want to go to a more "aggressive" ratio, say a 45 instead of a 55 (at Craig's suggestion), the problem with buying a 195/45 tire is that the sidewall will shrink to (195 x 45% =) 87.75mm. This in turn will reduce the tire's circumference.... which means your speedo will be off by 6.3% compared to your original 195/55R16 tire size. For example, when your speedo says 60mph, you'll actually be travelling at 56.2mph.

 

The way you can compensate for this is choosing a wider tire, so the circumference (and your speedo and odometer) stays roughly the same. The closest "45 ratio" match to a 195/55R16 tire to keep the circumference the same is a 235/45R16. That's a 40mm wider tire... very "meaty" for a MINI. The next issue is "are your existing 16" wheels wide enough to handle a 235mm tire"?

 

In short, while I understand Craig's dislike for tires with any more than a 45 ratio (aka "45 series"), I recommend sticking with 195/55R16 size, unless you're willing to move up to 17" or 18" wheels instead.

 

...but if you don't care about your speedometer and odometer being wrong, then ignore me.

 

One last thing - a very handy tool for playing around with tire size changes is this Tire size calculator (requires the Java runtime installed on your computer).