Hello Everyone!

Could anyone advise on a good all-season tire choice for the standard 15" rims? I live in Boston and would like to avoid purchasing (and storing) a set of winter tires. I've been looking at various 195/60/15 all-season tires at TireRack, but am wondering if I'll be any better off than with the stock 175/65/15 Contis? All input is appreciated!

BTW, this is my first post here on the NAM , even though I've been hawking around this site ever since I ordered my mini last month!

 

Aloha and welcome to NAM. Imagine your first post in the tire forum!

Ok you want a real all season tire that works in the wet and light snow.

With 195/60-15 tirerack has a bunch of High Performance All season tires-
Michelin Pilot Exalto A/S $88 400 treadwear A traction 21 pounds H rated
BF Goodrich Traction T/A H $62 440 treadwear AA traction 23 pounds
Bridgestone Potenza G-03 $66 460 treadwear A traction 22 pounds H rated
Check out the winter ratings-
http://www.tirerack.com/a.jsp?a=EZ3&url=/tires/surveyresults/surveydisplay.jsp&type=HPAS&width=195/&ratio=60&diameter=15&tireSearch=true

With 205/55-15 (23.9" outer tire diameter)
Michelin Pilot Exalto A/S $116 400 treadwear A traction 21 pounds V rated

With 205/60-16 (24.5" outer tire diameter)
Michelin Pilot Exalto A/S $92 400 treadwear A traction 22 pounds H rated

Try giving Alex@tirerack.com a call for more info on using All season tires for snow. Just from the customer ratings the Michelin Pilot Exalto A/S costs more but performs better. Note that the 205/55-15 size is V rated and more expensive but also is likely to perform better than any H rated tire.

 

Depending on how much snow you get, you might want to stick with 175/65/15. With the MINI's relatively low weight, if you use a wider tire you might not get enough traction on the fluffy stuff.

 

I'd vote for the Kumho ASX. TireRack lists it as a Ulta-High Performance All-Season tire. We're running them our on daily driver and the are awesome! Decent dry traction, wet traction and snow. Remember the Mini is a FWD so it's not like you need the ultimate snow tires (unless you get a ton of snow)

The Kumho ASX is available in a bunch of 15-inch sizes:

195/55-15 $63 (23.4" dia)
195/60-15 $46 (24.2" dia)
195/65-15 $48 (25" dia)
205/50-15 $58 (23.1" dia)
205/55-15 $64 (23.9" dia)
205/60-15 $49 (24.7" dia)

It's interested that the 60 series tires are so much cheaper than the 50 series. Weird. The OEM diameter is 24.4" so you've got a lot of choices that are close. The 195/60-15 looks pretty good.

 

Wow! I am starting to realize that the MINI community is just as great as driving a MINI . Thanks everyone for the valuable input and detailed info. I must say that I was leaning towards the Exaltos after my online research, but the Kumhos at $46 seem like a real bargain!

Do you guys have any general comments on the stock tires? They just make me a little nervous, as I used to have Yokohama H4S in 205/60/15 on my Golf and they were great all year around. I am just a little worried that the 175's won't be as surefooted...

 

I'd go with the 195's. See if you can talk to some other Cooper drivers to make sure 195's (or even 205's) don't rub. Worst case you'd have to add some spacers. No big deal. You can buy hubcentric spacers for the MINI so they are plenty safe. (it's the thick universal spacers that can cause problems)

There are other tires that you could buy that would give you more grip in the dry but they would be horrible in the snow. If you want the ultimate setup, you would have two sets of rims/tires. One set with maximum performance spring/summer/fall tires (Falken RT-615 or Hankook 212) and the other set with winter tires. If you get a lot of snow you could get some Blizzak snow tires. But only if necessary.

 

The only all season tire that I know of that actually works in snow is the Nokian Hakka WR.

http://www.gosstire.com/Nokian.htm

 

If you want to consider Ultra HP all season tires-

Check out the
Continental ContiExtremeContact in 205/55-15 for $78 each
400 treadwear A traction 19 pounds V speed rated

The highly rated Avon Tech M550 A/S and Pirelli PZero Nero M&S are not available in 15" sizes.

The Kumho ASX is a decent tire and well priced but doesn't get as high ratings from consumers on Ice performance. There is a large variety of tire sizes though.

The stock tires in 175/65-15 are OK. Not much to write home about-
http://www.tirerack.com/a.jsp?a=EZ3&url=/tires/tires.jsp&tireMake=Continental&tireModel=ContiTour ingContact+CH95
It scored 14th out of 16 Grand Touring All season tires.
While wet and dry traction are OK, ice traction isn't stellar. It is true that the 175/65-15 narrow size is better for snow driving.

 

You should also check out the Toyo Proxes 4 - it may not be available in all of the sizes mentioned here - but its a terrific all-season tire.

 

I was also going to suggest looking at the Toyo Proxes - I believe Edgeracing has it but I'm not sure whether it's available in 195/60/15. I have an '06 Cooper that came with the 15" holeys and 175/65/15 Pirelli 3000s. I was initially going to swap out for 16" whee/tire combo, but the holeys really grew on me (and they're very light). I'm going with 195/60/15 Pilot exaltos soon - they're a bit pricier than the others, but hey - it's another advantage of being happy with your stock rims and 15" tires - overall very economical compared to various 16 & 17 in. wheel/tire packages. And I'd recommend you go no wider than 195 - I know that people do go 205 section width, but you're dealing with only a 5.5 in. wide wheel and fitment is way less than optimal

 

Well, MINI552, we seem to have the same tastes!

I was just looking at doing some new tires for the holies, because canyon runs are getting squealy and it's cheaper than new wheels and tires, and I love my holies!

The Michilen Pilot Exalto A/S seems to be the choice, although for a few bucks less the BFs look alright. . .

Here's tireracks comparison:
http://www.tirerack.com/a.jsp?a=EZ3&url=/tires/CompareTires.jsp&resultsNumberSelected=Y&displayRe sults=20&compare=true&compareList=6%2C17&RunFlat=N one&goWhere=%252Ftires%252FCompare1.jsp&width=195% 2F&ratio=60&diameter=15&performance=UHPAS&performa nce=HPAS&startIndex=0&sortValue=0

edit: oops, bad link. . .

 

Also, the Toyo Proxes Tpt looks good: 18lbs, light, and V rated. . . $70 each from EdgeRacing:

http://www.edgeracing.com/tire/1143/

 

WELL! Wouldn't you know I have a small leak in one of my tires that I just discovered, so I just placed my order from EdgeRacing for 4 195/60r15 Falken Ziex 512s. $210 shipped. I wanted to go with another set, but at that price and the reviews I've read.. . why not? Just in time for MINIS IN THE MOUNTAINS! Nothin' like fresh rubber for rippin around the mountains!

I'll post reviews over the next couple weeks. . .

 

Thanks, Guys! I picked up my new mini three days ago and finally managed to pull myself away from the wheel and get back on NAM... To my surprise, the car came with Pirelli P3000's rather than the Continentals. While my MA claimed that it is a fantastic tire, I am not so sure if that's true. I think I'll be ordering new tires in the upcoming days... What is the best way to do this? Order from TireRack and then have your local tire dealer or Costco install? Do tire dealers ever refuse installing tires that are not OEM size?

 

If you go on the Tire Rack website, you'll find a list of local installers that they recommend - try to find one in your area. They'll have proper mounting/balancing gear, etc. Sandtoast mentioned another good choice in your size a few links up - the Toyo Proxes Tpt - that's one of the few 195/60/15 that is available in a v speed rating. By the way, I haven't found the Pirelli 3000s to be half bad - I decided to get some use out of them, but they seem to wear like iron - 12K miles and still look like new.

 

Thanks mini552. Do you have any experience with the P3000s in the snow?

 

Each rim has a limit as to what size tires will fit OK.
If we look at 15x5.5" stock MC rims then we see the following will fit the rim and be usable for the MINI:
175/65-15
185/60-15
195/55-15
205/50-15 (less than stock sized for outer tire diameter)
205/55-15

I have had costco tire tell me that their installation equiptment would not be able to install 205/50-15 tires on a 15x5.5" rim. So I took them to a tire specialty race shop and they did it no problem. I have taken the same combo of tire and rim to a local Chevron garage and they did the install just fine with their equiptment.

 

Minihune-

So the 195/60 r15s will be OK on my car right? They're .2 inches smaller than the stock size, which is negligable. I'm installing them Friday morning, then heading up to MINIs in the Mountains that night. Because they're fresh, is there an initial limit I should be carful not to push them over while driving until they break in? I'll be driving about 50 miles on them to get there and a few more driving around. . . Should be OK, right?

Thanks!

-Steve

 

New tires have mold release on them. They will be a bit squirmy until that wears off. Might take a hundred miles or so. You'll be fine just take it a bit easy at first.

 

You'll be OK, Mold release will be there so don't go overboard-but you do drive them all day before the event so get out there and drive.

Read about the tire release lubricant-
http://www.tirerack.com/a.jsp?a=EZ3&url=/winter/tech/techpage.jsp?techid=117
I don't think you can exactly say how many miles it will take to wear off the lubricant but you can try for about 100 miles and that should be ok.

That tire size is good for street use. 60 series is great for comfort but not so great for highest performance- still will be pretty good. Turn in response probably best in about 45 series tires.

I have 65 series contis on my MCS and they are very soft and comfortable but handle like wet noodles compared to my 215/45-17 Potenza S-03s.

 

i have the same wheels ... looking at the FLAKEN ZIEX 512's at Edge Racing for $41 a tire (195/60/15) ... great deal and a lot of people here seem to love them.

 

Well, the Falken 512s are beautiful and much nicer than the Conti all seasons. . .

Stickier: They feel softer and grip in corners more than the contis. With the contis, i could push them to squeel and they held steady, but the falkens feel melty at the squeel point in a corner, like they would just totally break loose. I think i may have them a few psi low, though, and that might keep them from being as steady.

Smoother ride: small bumps and craks in the road are now soaked up much more. . . I can even (accidentally) hit a manhole and not have it sound like my wheel exploded. quieter and more comfortable.

what would the recommended psi be for 195/60 r15 on a MINI?