My 03 S has just passed 36000 miles and the Goodyear runflats that came with it are down to the wear indicators. I have been laboring over a choice of new rubber and think I made a decision but am not quite sure and do have one last question to throw out.

I really wanted Goodyear F1s but since I live in the Northeast and occasionally I have to drive in the snow and didn't want to get a second set of wheels I finally decided on the Pirelli P Zero Nero. It seems to be a good compromise of good and bad weather handling with good wear characteristics. Understanding it did not come in the stock 205/45 size the 215/45s will do fine and since I am on S-lites there should be no clearance problems.

One last decision is should I get the 215/40 or 215/45s. I am looking for a smoother ride which either way will be better than the runflats but I am tired of the potholes and the teeth rattling I get each time I hit one which is unavoidable in these parts. It seems to me that the 40 will bring the speedo closer to accurate (it reads fast now as they all do) which is good but I am concerned about the ride.

This is my daily driver. What do you all think?

 

215/40-17 is slightly below the stock runflat (83 versus 84)

215/45-17 is higher (87)

 

On my TT Coupe, I replaced worn, very noisy Michelins with PZero Neros about a year ago and they have been wonderful. Quiet, good ride (in 225-45-17) and I couldn't detect any handling penalty in real world driving. I have an '06 cooper on order and the PZero Nero is one of the tires I'm considering - they've been great on the Audi.

 

Thanks for another thing to consider. But here is a thought. Since the runflats have stiff sidewalls wouldn't you think that their Load Index is more than the "light" Cooper S actually needs?

Or is there something I am not grasping about how the Load Index affects handling rather than the ability to actually support the car.

 

Rich, I too live in NJ and my 2002 Cooper S has around 34K miles. I'll be due for replacements for my 16" stock wheels and will be interested in hearing what you decide to buy. I'll probably follow your lead.

Ted

 

I just came back from Discount Tire for balancing and rotation and was just bullshitting with one of the guys who works there and talking about tires for the Cooper S. He told me that if I wanted non-run flat tires and if I get a flat, I would screw up my tire sensor monitor inside the tire. Is there such a thing? He said it costs $350 each.

 

I don't believe the guy knows what he's talking about. As I understand it, the MINI doesn't have dedicated 'tire sensor monitors' in the wheels. It uses the ABS sensors to detect a difference in rotation rates, which then triggers the low pressure tire warning.
Many people have switched to non runflats without incident.

 

Maybe, in a corvette, that's true, but like Eric wrote, I think the Mini uses abs sensors. I've seen my monitor light come on and I am not running oem wheels/tires.

 

I picked up some Kumho ASX tires for my other car (replaced the Pilot Sports). The ride is incredible different. MUCH smoother and softer. Turn in suffered a little bit, but the highway cruise is dead silent compared to the Pilots. Overall handling is down a notch, but not much to say that the switch wasn't worth it (also, because the ASX's are all-seasons, so I expected a little performance drop off).

I've heard great things about the new Avon's that Tirerack sells. Price seems to be great, so I am thinking of trying them out on the Cooper when I get it to see how they perform.

 

Are the Avons you mentioned run flats?

 

Oops, didn't realize you are looking for Run Flats. They are not run flats..

 

Implanning to get replacement tires for my runflat as well... Do you think 215/45/17 would be fine with S-lite R85 wheels with 1" H-sport Spring?
No Rubbing issue?