So its time to ditch the runflats and get something good for my 07 S. I'm looking at the Yokohama S.Drives and Firestone Firehawk Wide Oval, both in 20/50/16. I have found a couple places that sell them for comparable prices so thats not an issue, I'm just looking for people general thoughts. I know a few MINI owners with S.Drives and they seem to love them, but I don't know anyone with the Firehawks. So anyone that has either or better yet has had both for a comparison would be awesome.
1. I'm particularly interested in finding out which is better for overall grip for spirited daily driving and a trip to the Dragon about once every other month.
2. Ofcourse tread life is important but if I can get 15k+ out of either I will be happy.
3. Last on my list is ride comfort and noise level. Since I'm ditching runflats I'm sure they will be more comfortable but I'd like a tire that doesn't make me deaf.
Thanks for the help everyone!

 

Well I went ahead and ordered the Firestones and I should have them on early next week, maybe Sunday. I'm getting them at a Firestone Total Care place. The tires are $94 each with free install and a free alignment so thats not too bad at all.

 

I'm thinking about going with the Firestones, too. Being a new tire, there is not much to go on besides the Tire Rack.

 

Yeah that sucks, I talked to Alex at TireRack and he really recommended the Firehawk. There are a few guys on a Corvette forum that have given it pretty good ratings and are also getting pretty good treadlife out of them. The guys at the Firestone place seem to think they are pretty good as well, but I take that with a grain of salt.

 

Firestone is the higher performance of the 2

Both should be able to acheive that

Leaving runflat will offer a smoother ride, the Yokohama is the quieter of the 2 you picked.

Alex

 

Alex, thats why you are the man!

 

in my initial review of the Firehawks, I really like them. I only have 40 miles on them so no performance info or anything like that, but they look really nice. They have a nice low profile look that suits the MINI and the 1 size wider helps the stance a bit. Since my MINI is lowered the 1 size shorter side wall will also help if my springs start to sag any. Since I have yet to get to the 500 mile mark for break in I haven't done any spirited driving, but I can tell you they are much more comfortable. Instead of feeling like your on a solid rubber tire these actually feel like they have air in them. I've also gotten a couple compliments on them so far too. It hasn't rained here in a couple days so I can't speak for wet traction but I will report back a little later once I get them broken in and do some wet driving.

 

Thanks for your initial impression of the Firestones. Mine should be in tomorrow, but they won't be going on until it gets warm here...if that ever happens.

 

I have logged just over 20K miles with the Firestone Wide Ovals on my 2003 MC with practically no tread wear. The increased road grip is significant, and they have excellent wet road traction. I would recommend them based on my experience so far.

 

Now we're getting somewhere...thanks very much for posting your input.
20k miles with only slight tread wear is good to hear.

 

Thats exactly what I like to see as well. I will be very happy with 20k out of these and more is just icing on the cake. Hopefully NTB will get some alignment tool they need and finish up my alignment so I will be running straight and true. I think as soon as I hit 500 miles I'm going to make a Dragon run and feel out my tires. Maybe I'll bring my buddy in his S2000 so he can watch my tail lights fade away while he slowly brings up the rear, haha

 

Just picked up mine today...if they perform as good as they look, i'll be happy.

dwebber18...any more comments on the performance?

 

Well, I've got 250 miles on them and they are performing quite well. They are much more comfortable than the runflats and seem to be handling well. I haven't really worked them yet so I can't say 100% but they feel better in spirited city driving. The only difference I noticed thats not as good is sidewall roll while cornering. I know the runflats are really good at minimizing sidewall flex and you can feel a difference. These tires however should perform quite well and will be great once I take them to the Dragon and get used to them in the twisties.

 

You have 205/50/16, right?
Mine are 215/45/17, so I think the sidewall rolling issue will be less for me...I hope.

Thanks for your feedback, I really appreciate it. Mine won't be going on for a while, at least until the weather starts to warm up here.

I wish I could make it back to the Dragon...I haven't been since MOT4 in 2006.

 

Yeah that's the good thing about living in Knoxvillle, TN I'm only an hour from the dragon and yeah mine are 205/60/16

 

205 x .5 = 102.5 mm
215 x .45 = 96.75 mm
102.5 - 96.75 = 5.75 mm

Not sure 5.75 mm or approx. 1/8" will make much difference in sidewall flex. You will get more variation by playing with the air pressures. Try adding a 2 - 4 lbs of pressure to the front tires and see if that improves the "turn in".

 

So after 500 miles on the new Firehawks and I'm still pretty impressed. They are nice and quiet and offer a comfortable ride. We had a few days of heavy rains here and they were very steady confident. They are a vast improvement in wet traction over my old Continental runflats. Seem to hold better in dry as well, but I haven't had much time to really throw it through a curve. There is still the difference in sidewall roll but i haven't added the little bit of extra air yet to see if that will help. I plan on going over to the dragon for MOTD but I might get over there before hand and I'll report back with my impressions after a little more time on them. Overall though, good buy so far!

 

Thanks for the tip, Bilbo. I'll see how it feels when I get them on the car.

Thanks for the update...i'm glad you have been pleased with them so far. Good to hear about the wet traction.

 

I finally put them on today at work, the only mileage racked up so far was the ride home...about 30 miles or so and mostly highway. They do feel like a pretty good tire, and once I scrub them in a little I will push them harder to see how they really handle.

One thing that I am really, really bummed about...even though they are 215s, they are not as wide as the Cooper Zeon 2XS tires that I was running before. The Coopers were a lot wider. I wish I knew there was going to be that big of a difference, I would have bought 225s.

 

Thats an interesting statement, I like the width and with my MINI lowered I'm not sure I could go much wider without rubbing all over with them. I got to hit an on ramp pretty hard yesterday and they held perfectly and could have been pushed harder than I did. I'm also heading out to the Dragon next weekend and will really get to put them to the test. I will also put a little extra air in them to minimize the sidewall roll, but I do think they were a good value.

 

I was considering getting some Firehawk Wide Ovals,but any suggestion of sidewall roll is a deal breaker for me.Any new sensations to report on??

 

Well I just got back from the first dragon run on these tires and I really enjoyed it. It was really wet and rainy on the way out and they were very steady and predictable with only a little hydroplaning in a couple inches of water. On the way back it stopped raining and started just dry out slightly so I got to push the tires a little more. While still damp these tires felt better than the Continental runflats I had on dry pavement. I can only imagine that on dry pavement these tires would perform very very well. I pushed them pretty hard in areas where I would get a little tire squeal with the stock tires and these didn't make a sound so thats comforting. I also put 38lbs in the front and 36lbs in the rear and there wasn't any more noticeable sidewall roll than I had with the runflats.

 

Now for the competition. I just got back from MOTD with the S Drives. WOW, what a tire. The tire is spectatcular in the rain. That's what impressed me most. Dry traction is just as good as the Parada Spec 2s I have been running for the past 5 years. I didn't notice any sidewall roll and I have 35 psi all the way around. I've got a little less than 2,000 miles on these tires. I can't really tell you how they stack up against the Firehawks, but I am very impressed with the S Drives as a Summer tire.

 

I also just got back from MOTD with 225/40/18 S Drives. They were great in the rain. I have them on a non-lowered Clubman S and have been very satisfied.

 

I have heard nothing but good stuff about the S.Drives and I love that Yoko actually shows up to events. I know its to boost sales and brand loyalty but its still nice for them to show support to the community. Honestly the only reason I went with the Firehawks was on the recommendation from Alex at Tirerack. He said they should be a little quieter, get a little longer life and a little better grip. Granted those differences may be negligible, and since so many others have tried the S.Drives I figured I would get something different to check out a little competition.