No, I haven't bought unidirection tires in probably over a decade. The only way to rotate them is to physically remove the tire from the rim and switch them. So the insides are now on the outsides. It was just a random though.

 

My wife is driving a 2010 mcs. She has had this car for 8 mnths. and about 13,000 miles.
The front drivers side tire developed a bulge in the sidewall.
The service center at the bmw/mini dealership in Cincinnati stated that the front tire must have hit a pothole and broken the steel belts. They also found a small nail in back tire.
They wanted to replace both tires for damage and the other front tire for tread wear.
Dealer stated you could not rotate or plug these tires.

Total cost: Just under $1,300 for three tires less than 9mnths old!!

Absolutely absurd!

I will be replacing all four tires with a non-runflat model.
This is her second mini. The first did not have runflats. We never had any problems with the tires, and the ride was way better.

 

For stock 16" wheels

Used for street and autocross and non runflat

Consider
Dunlop Direzza Sport Z1 Star Spec Extreme Summer tire
205/50-16 $115 each 200 treadwear
Reviews for Extreme summer tires-
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/survey...ay.jsp?type=EP

High priority aspects:
1. Grippy- Yes, very
2. Low Noise- Moderately, expect a little more noise with age
3. Sturdy Sidewall- 50 series tire. Stiff enough with some comfort.
(The tire's internal structure includes two wide steel belts reinforced by JointLess Band (JLB) Technology spirally wound polyamide to provide strength, uniform ride quality and high-speed capability while steel cord reinforced, 2-ply polyester sidewalls help resist lateral deflection to provide responsive handling and cornering stability.)

Other Extreme Summer tires cost more about $138 or $150 each and come in a slightly taller size 205/55-16 which is OK for street but not as good for autocross since larger tire diameter increases gearing and slows low speed acceleration.

see
Bridgestone Potenza RE-11
Yokohama Advan AD-08


Tirerack test results-
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tests/...y.jsp?ttid=118

 

Thanks Minihune.

I got the factory 16" wheel/tire combo for better ride. The surprise was they actually handle well for standard. I was planning on a nice set of 17" lightweight wheels and either the Kumho Ecsta XS, MX, or LE Sports. I also considered Yoko Advan's and Hankook's v12's. I've had numerous Goodyear products in the past and they have been disappointments. Dunlop is Goodyear so I'm leary of the Direzzas. I had Dunlops on one of my motorcycles and they were unpredictable. Not a good trait in a motorcycle tire.

I know I shouldnt group all Goodyears and Dunlops in the "Avoid" catagory since they are like all tire makers and have their winners and losers. Also, I have read good things about the Direzzas and some of the guys I race with use them too. I keep thinking back to some Goodyear Eagle GT's I had long ago that would howl all the time. I'd be driving in a neighborhood doing 20mph and people could hear the moaning tires from blocks away. I dont want to live through another set of annoying, howling tires.

What are you running for AutoX? 16" or 17"? How bout on the street? I see you are in Hawaii so I'm guessing you dont rack up lots of miles just doing road trips.

Lastly, what's your "tire resume" look like? What are your favorites past and present? Have you found the "Swiss Army Knife of Tires" that does many things well tilting more to the performance side?

I've gotten off the thread's subject. Do you have another thread that addresses all my questions?

I'll stop with the questions......for now.

Cheers.

 

You can search for more tire and wheel related topics and discussions of which I have participated. Literally thousands I would guess.

Yes, we should stick to topic or you can start your own thread on whatever question you might have however it is very likely the topic has been discussed multiple times in the past.

For autocross or performance driving tire or wheel questions you can also search the forums on autocross and track. There are many solutions for the MINI. Depends on your budget and needs.

I might drive about 8000-9000 miles a year at most. My 2003 MCS has 68K miles on it.

Track and autocross wheels and tires-
Many many many wheels used from 15x5.5 to 15x6, 15x7, 15x8, 17x7
Kumho Victoracer to V710 205/50-15 to 225/50-15
Avon R compounds and Hoosier A6 225/45-15
Extreme Summer tires- Bridgestone RE-01R x 15" and 17" sizes

Street:
Stock 15 wheels x 2 sets
17x7" Centerline RPM and 17" BBS MINI wheels
15x7 Kosei K1TS
Many many many tires from Stock runflats 17" to stock 15" continentals
Yokohama ES100
Bridgestone Potenza S-03
Bridgestone Potenza R-01R
Bridgestone Potenza RE-960AS
Firestone WinterForce snow tires for Rallycross
In other cars-
Bridgestone Potenza RE-950
Michelin Primacy MXV4

My favorite-
Any Extreme Summer tire that fits the MINI is usually worth the cost but will wear fast.

If you really need three season tires then Ultra High Performance All Season tires are a good option.

There is nothing wrong with Goodyear or Dunlop brands but not all tires are that good so pick and choose carefully.

The Dunlop Direzza Z1 Star Spec is a solid tire and worth a look. I would not pass it up if you have a tire in the size you want.

For street use with longer tread wear and still good handling in 205/50-16 then-
In Max Summer tires:
Continental ExtremeContact DW $99 each 340 treadwear
In UHP Summer tires:
Bridgestone RE760 Sport $100 each 340 treadwear
Firestone Firehawk Wide Oval 500 $91 each 320 treadwear
In UHP All Season tires:
Continental ExtremeContact DWS $101 each 540 treadwear
In HP All Season tires:
Yokohama AVID ENVigor $98 each 560 treadwear V speed rated

If interested in being more green using 16" wheels (not for performance driving however)
In 205/55-16
Michelin HydroEdge with Green X $129 each 800 treadwear
Continental ProContact with Eco Plus $94 each 600 treadwear
see
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tests/...y.jsp?ttid=133

In the end you cannot expect one tire to do everything perfectly and especially for cheap and last forever.

The MINI is very capable even in stock setup and is fully capable of using Extreme Summer tires however if you last a performance suspension and are using stock alignment you will not get the full use of the performance tires which is a bit of a waste. If you try to drive hard you will wear the tires faster. The advantage of a tuned suspension is you can adjust it to optimize your handling and make better use of the full tread of a tire.

I run a fully upgraded suspension and adjust it for street vs autocross or track use. It is a little firm for street but I also change to 15" wheels and 195/60-15 UHP All Season tires when I want a smoother daily ride. If roads are OK I run 17" wheels and 205/45-17 Extreme Summer tires if I want.

Over the years I have owned and used over 8 full sets of wheels and tires for my MINI. Now I have less since I am doing more Rallycross and street driving.

 

Heli_guy,

In the US MINI owners that are covered under our Roadside Assistance can receive service regardless of the type of tires on the MINI. For more information about MINI Roadside Assistance you can visit our website at http://www.miniusa.com/#/contactFaq/faq/roadside-m.

 

wife was driving the S on I-95 last week when the TPMS lite came on. Drove about 5 miles to an exit and found a safe place to stop and found a BIG screw in the tire, at an angle ... not in anyway repairable.

because this happened on runflats, rather than being stuck on the shoulder of I-95 in a construction area, she was able to drive to an exit and deal with the issue in a very safe location. Deal with = call me on the cell phone! I drove down to where she was and safely drove the car home - not exceeding 55 mph - to deal with the problem the next day; she continued on her way in the other car.

I had regular tires on my 02 after the original rf's wore out, and had the required goop, pump and gizmo's ... and AAA. In that car in this situation, I doubt any solution here other than wait on the shoulder for AAA was viable. Driving far enough to clear the construction zone would have also cost me a rim. I don't really think she was gonna try and figure out how to pull the valve stem, shoot in the slime and pump up the tire with an anemic pump. And if AAA shows up and finds an unpluggable tire then you get towed to a place that probably has no tires in our size anyway . . .

As I shopped for tires I asked her, do I pay the premium for runflats, or are you willing to risk regular tires?

Doesn't matter, I'm not driving your car anymore . . . mine has a spare.

Now some may see that as a good answer . . . but seriously . .

b4 you accuse me of loving runflats .... damn, I wish I had a spare, even a donut. THAT she knows how to handle.

When you REALLY trash a tire, all the patch/plug/slime/pump kits are not going to matter. I doubt this tire would have held air with slime .. there was an ugly hole from a screw that did not go in straight.

Run flats got me home ... and later to the tire store for a replacement . .

On the flip side I drove the 02 for 5 years, and now have an 07 .. in other words been spareless for 8 years and more; this is the first time it has become an issue. But as I look forward to needing to get to the port next week for a cruise that won't wait for me ... can I afford to drive a car that may not get me there if I replace rf's with regular tires? Even with a flat ... runflats will get me there (I have a friend that discovered he'd driven over 2000 on a flat runflat .... not recommended, but he reset the old style TPMS and since it did not come back on.... ) Regular tires might be unpatchable and in the short term unreplaceable.

Just food for thought . . .

p.s. I carry Dynaplug and a pump for the routine simple nail in the middle of the tread . . .

 

My wife hit a pothole in the first week that we had our JCW clubman. We have the dunlops, the exact uber expensive model that started this thread. The ride isn't bad but it can't take the punishment of LA roads. There is a big bubble in that one. I rotated it to the back and guess what happened the next week, same pot hole and another sidewall bubble. We have put maybe 1k more miles on, no change in ride, sound or size of the bubble but this is borrowed time. I will definitely be going non run flat next time Probably +1 or +2 sizes. It's simply too easy to just plug or replace it when you are out on the road and you can nearly get 4 for the price of one. I could see maybe if I did more highway driving then maybe I would see more value in the run flats but there is a tire shop on every corner around here and I can rescue my wife in about 15 minutes if she has a problem and we have AAA. Also my other car is a truck so I could replace all 4 if I have to. So far in 30+ years of driving, no catastrophic tire failures, just slow leaks that a plug can easily handle (knock on wood).

I shouldn't bag on my wife, I hit a trailer hitch in my JCW at about 3k Miles. Big 1/4-20 screw right in the middle of the passenger front tire, low pressure tire warning after driving about 3 miles (turned out to be about 25 PSI when I finally fixed it). I drove another mile to Harbor Freight bought a plug kit for under $5 and was back on the road in 15 minutes and the plug has held up for 8K miles so far. Everything I did would have worked with a std tire.

Think of it this way, a set of runflats is about $1000.00 more than std tires, maybe $500 more if you pick a lower end runflat and a higher end non run flat. Split it and say that is a $750 dollar insurance policy billable now . . . to avoid a $250.00 tow charge that may never happen. The difference is your time and convenience. . . which again is mitigated by a $5.00 plug kit and about 15 minutes of work.


Off subject but kind of related. The stock JCW wheels are really strong. No damage even though the tires are destroyed. I am thinking about going with some Konig Feathers. Are they as tough as the stock wheels? Any other suggestions?

 

Stink? My runflats smell just like regular tires!

Captain bj makes a good point, I'm keeping my runflats.

Dave