I understand they are similar to the Yokohama S-Drives. Designed in Japan, and I think maybe manufactured in China. Some good (though sparse) reviews. Half the price of the name brands.

 

I'm using them. I bought them under recommendation from a dealer that gives discounts to our local MINI club. The tires are on their 3rd year this year. I run snowtires in the winter, so the Firenza's are a 3 season tire. Longest trip was a 2500km trip to attend AMVIV and then back (total about 5000kms). It also includes a short jaunt through snow in the mountain passes.

For my MINI, I can only compare them to the original Pirelli Euphori@ runflats my car came with. The ride or the Firenza is smoother (less harsh), but the turn-in is a bit mushier. My guess is for less than 1/3 the price of the Pirelli's (tire dealer discount price...MINI dealership price was double that) I'm getting 90% of the traction. If you're not driving at the limits (my guess is 99% of MINI drivers are nowhere near the car's limits), then you get great value for money. Also, where the Pirelli's have been a rather fragile tire where I've had to get them fixed a few times, the Firenza's have been trouble free.

The Firenza's have been a very good dry and wet surface tire. Not so good in the snow. Perhaps dropping the air pressure a bit might help.

The Firenza's generally run quieter than the Pirelli's. However, after fitting strut tower reinforcement plates, the tread pattern against the road surface hits a resonant frequency with the car's suspension at about 52 kms/hr and for a small gap in speed, tire rolling noise becomes loud enough to be annoying to me. Then as I cross 55kms/hr, the noise dies back down. Depending on a whole bunch of variables, it may or may not be an issue on your car. Dropping the air pressure a bit helped. Overall, given the price of the tire, they are fantastic value for money.

Would spending a bit (or a lot) more get you a better tire? I would suspect probably. These tires are so inexpensive, that I would say these are the best you can get if you have a minimal budget for high performance tires. However, tire choice is so subjective, I wouldn't tell anybody that this tire is better than another. Your experiences may be different. Even the MINI dealer service department felt the tread pattern on these tires looked awfully agressive and thought they cost a lot more.

Good luck in your choice of tire.