Time for new rubbers on the '07 "S". Lake effect snow. What does everyone recommend?
Daily driver. Just for fun, no racing (too bad, though)l

 

BTW, daily driver. No racing (breaks my heart!).

 

16 or 17" wheels? Sticking with OE sizes?

If you want one tire to drive on all through the year, including in lake effect snow, consider the Continental Extreme Contact DWS. It gets the best ratings for snow and ice of the ultra high performance all-season tires. It does give up some dry traction and steering response to some of the other top rated high performance A/S tires, but it's supposedly king of the snow/ice for an A/S (though not as good as a dedicated snow tire).

They come in OE size 205/45/17, but not in the OE 195/55/16 size. They do come in 205/50/16, however.

If you are willing to give up a bit of the Conti's snow prowess, the Michelin Pilot Sport A/S Plus has somewhat better cornering stability, dry traction and steering response, but they're significantly more expensive.

The Yoko AVID ENVigor (also a high performance A/S) comes in both OE sizes, and is quite popular with miniacs. It gives up even more snow prowess than the Michelin though.

Research tires in your size at www.tirerack.com.

 

The above poster covered it. Contact Alex @ TireRack, he'll get you the right tire.

 

Kumho ecsta 4x is supposed to be phenomenal in the snow and the cost is great too. I run the previous UHPAS model they call the ASX and it was enough to plow through the Colorado winters! The new one is supposed to be a vast improvement, which if that is the case will be my next set of tires!

 

Don't know where you are located but I am in Rochester, NY and IMO up here its a must to have snow tires for the winter. Having had my Mini first on Kumho A/S and now Blizzaks the difference in control is night and day.

 

The DWS and the Pilot Sport AS+ are 2 excellent picks! Jim is right on point with their main advantages. I have tested the Ecsta 4X, and it was a great improvement over the ASX.

 

I am considering replacing the run flats on my 2012 Cooper S with regular tires. If I order the tires from tire rack, do I just bring my Mini to a tire specialist, give them the tires, and they will make the change (keeping the rims)? Presumably I'll be getting 195/55 R 16's to match the size of the run flats I have. I do want all weathers but being in DC snow/ice is infrequent enough that I would prefer to optimize for dry or rainy conditions. Suggestions? The Yokohoma Avid's sound like a good choice.

BTW.. I'm pretty ticked off right now. I've had my Mini for less than a month and it has about 500 miles on it and already a nail/screw has put a nice hole in one of the run flats. I've seen a lot of opinions on this but it is hard to find anybody who will fix it so replacing it might be my only option. Brand new tire completely useless because it is a run flat and you can't tell by eye if the sidewall is damaged. Nice.