Hi, I'm getting ready to join the Mini crowd very soon and would appreciate some advice.
Last week I test drove a MC and a MCS both with automatics. First of all I have two MG's with a stick and the new Mini would be my traveling sort of car so an auto would be better when I hit traffic which is getting more common in Southeastern Ct. these days. Anyway because I just sort of took it easy on the test drives I didn't notice the power advantage of the "S". I imagine that punching it to get on the freeway or passing cars would be where the advantage would be evident. Also, the MC had stock 15" wheels and had a very quiet ride whereas the "S" had the 17" run flats and....well didn't. Anybody would love the bigger wheels but I still can't get it out of my mind. Would the stock 16" wheels on the "S" be a good compromise? Or can I mount regular 16" tires on those rims when the run flats expire?

Thanks................Dennis

 

Yes, stock 16" wheels and 195/55-16 runflats are OK.

Yes you can replace any MINI runflats once worn out or even earlier.

You can get 205/50-16 non runflats for 16" wheels and that will work fine.

17" MINI wheels look nice but runflats are firm riding and optional.

Some owners will change to non runflats in 205/45-17 or even 215/45-17 and sell their runflats when new.

 

Thanks for the input. Now I feel like I have some good options to consider. The sales girl I had was pretty knowledgable but couldn't give me a good reason for the stiffer ride in the "S".

 

The only issue is that many shops do not have the equipment to mount or dismount run flat tires. I'm running into This issue with NTB. They are a big tire company. How is it possible That they don't have the equipment?