I am looking for best in performance, but also looking for best ride quality in a summer tire. My have a stock suspension with plans on changing just the rear sway bar. I keep reading all over the place that the 215/40 is a great choice, but I want the honest opinion for a MCS that I am going to rip around on the weekends and take on some nice long trips as well. Also, that looks good as well. Ordering from Edge racing:

my choices in 205/45 is basically just the Kuhmo 712

my choices in the 215/40 is falken azeni ST115, Toyo T1's

my choices in the 215/45/17 is same as the others along with the yoko Es100's.

I want to stay away from rubbing as well. Thanks for the help, it is greatly appreciated.

 

I went from the stock 16 inch with 195/55 runflats to 17 in wheels with 215/45 Kuhmo 712. Outstanding grip in turns but the steering is definitely slower. The ride is better than with the runflats (and better than the stock 17 in runflats, judging from rides in other MCS's). I stayed away from the 215/40 because of ride quality concerns.

 

I’m running the Yoko ES100 215/45-17’s with stock suspension and have no problems with rubbing. I was just out doing auto-x last weekend and would have known if there was a problem – there’s none.

 

I just mounted Yokohama es100's in size 215/40's on the 17 inch stock rims and the ride is so much better than the original Dunlop runflats. I had a problem with one of the runflat's coming apart after 13,000 miles. No rubbing problems yet and I have H-sport springs and MM sway bar.

 

just curious, why did you guys choose the Yoko's??

probably going to go with 215/45/17s...want the best of all worlds and fill out the wheel well as much as possible...only going to get a aftermarket rear sway as any suspension mods...

 

I chose the 215/45/17 Yokohama ES100's because they are a fantastic and grippy tire, and are priced very well.

When they warm up, they get very sticky. I was at the same autocross school as sndwave, and my driving instructor commented that my MCS had incredible grip and handling. He asked me what mods I had done to make my MINI handle so well, and I sheepishly had to tell him that all I had done was change the tires.

As sndwave can probably tell you, the Yokos do need to warm up over the first several hundred miles before they realize their performance potential. When you first install them, they can feel a little slippery for the first few days. He noticed this because he has a relatively short drive to work and was immediately worried that they were not performing well. After he and I had driven several hundred highway miles to the driving school, his tires were fantastic.

At the school, I had an opportunity to drive a Cooper Works MCS with the Falkens, and those were super-grippy tires. For fun, I just might try them out the next time. I don't think they will last as long as the Yokos, but they are also cheap and stick like glue in the corners.