Went to get my MINI's (R56) tires rotated today after never having them rotated at 11,500 miles. My mistake - should have had it taken care of way sooner. I have myself to blame. They wouldn't rotate the back to the front because they said it would be too dangerous and I would lose traction in the back on rainy days or if I was going to fast around a corner. SO, now my two options are:

1. Spend less $, don't get what I want and purchase 2 new run flats to replace the front ones.

2. Spend more $ and buy 4 new tires, go bigger (205-45-17) AND get new wheels since mine are 16's.

I have been wanting to get rid of my run flats at any opportunity I had, so I'm thinking here is my opportunity. So if I get 4 new tires, I want something good. I had my eye on Continental Extreme Contact DWS and Kumho's Ecsta 4x. Both seem to have decent reviews on Tirerack.com, and I want to keep the per tire cost less than $130 per tire.

The wheel's I have been eyeing are the ALTA Performance Deceptions in 17"s.

If anyone has any other ideas, or tire preferences who have made the switch from run flats, I would really appreciate the input.

ALTA Deceptions http://www.altaperformance.com/hardt...17-wheel-black

Continental's http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires....odClar=Hardtop

Kumho's http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires....odClar=Hardtop

 

If you don't want to spend the $ I have a set new stock RFT tires from my CPO purchased a few weeks ago. 195-55-16 with a little over 1000 miles on them. PM me if you want them.

 

You can buy 4 new non run flats for the price of 1 run flat.
I've got 205/50/16's and Enkei WMD wheels from tirerack and the
entire event cost me $1100 that included mounting, balance, tpms's, and shipping.

 

The Alta Deceptions should look very nice with the Chili Red.

 

The Conti DWS and the Kumho 4X are both very good tires in the UHP A/S category. If you value more traction in the wet and snow more than you value more steering response and cornering stability, go with the DWS. The DWS is king of the snow among A/S tires, but it apparently gives up some steering response and cornering stability. I'd choose the 4X, but that's just my preferred trade-off; especially if I lived in MS.

 

These are the tires came with my Car

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires....n&autoModClar=

 

These are the tires that came with my car.

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires....n&autoModClar=

 

I just put Bridgestone Potenza G019's on mine and LOVE them. They were $107 each (not including install etc.). The ride is so much quieter and smoother than the Michelin RF's that were on it. They are plenty sticky for the way the car is used. I have the can of fix a flat in the boot and an AAA card in my wallet. I am going to be looking for one of the donut spares for if we take it on the road.
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires....n&autoModClar=

 

Well for sure I am deciding to ditch the run flats all together. At least I have a general idea on my tires, and a for sure on the wheels. Hopefully I can get them installed before July. Luckily I don't do too much driving to ware down my stock tires anymore, just no more windy roads until then.

 

Figure I'd chime in since I am replacing my 15' runflats. I did some tirerack research and see the Kumho Ecstas are rated very highly. You can opt for the UHP 4X or the LX platinum which is a grand touring tire. The tread pattern is a bit different and the GT tire has a higher wear rating for longer life. I wonder how the sidewall stiffness differs as my wife is the primary driver and she likes a more comfy ride. Though i dont want to give up performance when I get to drive it.

 

I have the Kumho tires and I like them alot.
They are quiet and offer a great ride in my Clubman S
I think that Tire Rack is having a $50.00 rebate on them now also.
They are a great All Season tire, they are better tires for racing though.
Kumho are a great choice !!

 

I am keen on comfort for sure, but I want an aggressive and sticky tire. So I want to go larger than the stock 195 - gepperso, what size did you get them in? I want to go either 215 or 225 at the largest.

 

I am in Austin and I have a set of stock wheels with Kumho runflats that have roughly 80% tread left that I am looking to sell. FYI.

 

I got the 195/55/16 with a 87v rating, they did very very well indeed!! When I was in the mountains at MOTD. Unless you have a modded suspension and engine mods, or drive like a crazy person I think they would be fine. I used to live near Mesquite Texas I know it rains heavily in Texas, the Kumhos will do very well in the rain's at least they work great for me,again unless you drive like your crazy. Keep in mind there are better tires if you are going to race your MINI. For the price of the Kumho tires they are a great buy for the all around performance you get in return. They also come in the sizes you are interested in. If your mini is lowered then keep in mind about rubbing issues when you change tire sizes, I didn't want to have to even start to worry about that, that's why I went with the factory size tire.

To sum this all up the Kumho's are a great choice for all around performance that you get
From this tire and in that price range. Tire rack had the best prices, but Discount tire matched their prices and that allowed me to save even more because I didn't have to pay shipping. The $50.00 rebate was offered from Kumho, so I was able to get that discount also.
I hope this helps you make your decision, keep us all posted...

 

Sorry, my wife who knows little about cars is very much aware that the RFTs are causing the ride issue we experience currently. The very frugal woman she is says they have to go now, even with 15k of wear left on em.

 

Honestly the Kumho rebate they have on Tirerack is excellent. Especially since I will be doing a tire AND wheel upgrade at the same time. At least the rebate will give me until August, though with the shape of my front tires I want to upgrade before then! My husband wanted me to get either Continentals or Dunlop (Star Specs I think, both of which he has had on his BMW), but good lord that is a LOT of money. So all in all, I will get the Kumo's (unless the hubby pitches in haha) in 215-45-17 and still trying to decide on the wheel... good thing I have a while to decide!

 

I can relate to hubby wanting you to get Extreme Performance Summer tires on your MINI. I run Extreme Performance Summer Bridgestone RE-11 on the car I autocross, but wouldn't dare suggest those for my wife's MINI. They are expensive, short wearing, and somewhat harsher riding than most UHP A/S tires. They do stick well though. My suggestion for her MINI is the Kumho 4X, and the MINI doesn't even need tires yet.

The other UHP A/S tire at Tire Rack that I might consider over the 4X is the #1 user survey ranked Bridgestone RE970 AS (which I'll probably get for the BMW), but they're $143 each in size 215/45/17 (compared to the $106 4X, before the discount). In short, the 4X looks like the value leader among the UHP A/S tires, where it also ranks 3rd in the user survey.

 

Jim, although I am not totally convinced my car needs new tires just yet, the fact that the shop that I took Little Wing to have my tires rotated told me they wouldn't even put the back ones in the front because it would be too dangerous makes me want to get new tires on before I hit 15,000 miles :\ this is my first time doing anything like this so, I would rather be prepared and know that the Kumho's are what I will be purchasing and swapping out for.

 

You could measure the tread depths across the tread of each tire with a tread depth gauge to estimate how many more miles you still have left on them.

The two outside grooves on our MINI show about 6/32" remaining on both fronts and rears, while the inside groove shows about 5/32" remaining. State inspection wants at least 2/32" all around for a pass, but we'll probably replace them when they get down to about 3/32".

 

Well, from the little piece of paper they gave me at the tire place, my fronts are both at 3's. And my back right is a 6, and the back left is a 7.

 

With those measures, I think your tire guy made the right call in not wanting to switch the tires. It's easier to regain car control if the fronts lose grip on a wet surface first than if the rears let go first. You're legal for another 1/32" of wear in front, but I think I'd order four new tires very soon. I wouldn't be concerned about "wasting" the remaining rubber on the rears; just rotate the new set regularly.

Although you said you wanted to ditch the run-flats, Tire Rack testing has identified a relatively new RF tire that seems to perform more like a non-RF tire (including ride comfort); the Bridgestone Potenza RE950 PP RFT.

 

Hmm, I will have to look into those Bridgestone's. Thanks for the input Jim

 

Sorry, I made a mistake. it's the RE960 instead of RE950. It's an Ultra High Performance A/S tire in limited sizes, but Tire Rack shows sizes 195/55/16, 205/55/16, and 205/45/17.

 

How much is the price of this tire? Is it certified for every kind of roads or terrain?

 

Bridgestone RE960 at www.tirerack.com:

195/55/16 = $149; 205/55/16 = $146; 205/45/17 = $188.

It's an UHP all-season road tire, but probably not so good as a rugged off-road tire.