Oh, I get the cheap part. You save the weight and cost of a spare and create a nice business for the dealer selling tire insurance and over priced tires. Fits right in with the $400 battery that needs to be "registered". This is called creating income streams by solving non-existent problems to the benefit of the company and the detriment of the customer. I get it. I just don't like it and I am somewhat stuck because cars are a depreciating asset. I can't fix it without losing a lot of money and to me that is even more painful than riding on run flat tires. But you can avoid it in the future! However, if you like these business practices you should be free to finance them as often and as much as you like. Some customers accept second best, some demand it. I am OK with that. At the appropriate time I will recoup what I can and bail out, hopefully before my battery needs to be registered, or I have a flat that can't be fixed only replaced haha. Want to buy a car?

 

Mobility kits don't weigh or cost much which appears to be what MINI provides on S models if the customer does not opt for additional cost runflats in the UK. I get dealer greed though as I see plenty of it locally. Oddly enough the local dealer seems to be ordering or at least getting a lot of 16" Hankook Ventus Prime 2 tires on the base Cooper. Those appear to be non-runflats not yet available to dealers in the US. Anyone have these yet? 16" non-runflat Michelins have also been reported in this thread or another. There is also now a track option on the 228i BMW that gets you non-runflats. Pilot Sports IIRC.

When I see the mechanical LSD return I'll know a counter-revolution against the insane marketeers has happened for sure. Even Road & Track is chastising BMW for disrespecting US enthusiasts (see the online M235i review).

 

I've always replaced the runflats with non runflats of my own choosing. You can sell the runflats in the marketplace here for about what you pay for the replacement tires.

 

I have a 'Justa' that was bought off the lot... it is equipped with the Hankook Ventus Prime 2 tires mounted on the Victory Spoke 16" rims. According to the Hankook web site, the Prime 2 tires are all 50 mile runflat construction. In addition, the car is equipped with a jack and appropriate tools to change a tire. Because of the configuration of the Justa exhaust system, a tool kit is located in the deep well in the boot. And surprise, surprise, a temp spare is located under the boot floor! I suppose that this is because the basic tire for the Justa is a 15" non-RFT tire and the 16" tire is an option.


Having driven the Justa with both tire formats and a 17" S model before making the purchase I can make this observation: The Justa has less aggressive suspension and brake systems than the S. The 15" basic combination is almost plush but the rims do not look right IMO. The 16" version is nearly as comfortable but has much sharper turn-in due to the stiffer sidewalls on the RFT tires and they look right on the car. The ride is a great improvement compared to my '13 S even after I converted to non-RFT. This improvement is a combination of changes to the '14 suspension design as well tire design improvements. The '14 S that I drove was also much, much better in ride and comfort than my '13 S although I did not get to drive it in 'angry mode'. Rob

 

Thanks for the info about the Prime 2's.

 

I have a F31 M-Sport Sport Wagon with 18" Pirelli P7 All Season Run Flats (same tire model that's appearing on MINIs) and I too feel they're acceptable..firm and pretty responsive although initially, I too was apprehensive about run flats. Never having had them before, I suspect they have improved since the original versions. I agree with other posters, I'd definitely test drive your desired MINI with various wheel/tire options before ordering.