Looking for some advice on replacement tires for my wife's MCS Convertible. The car is 100% stock and she drives it conservatively 99.9% of the time. The car has just over 20,000 miles and the tires are worn out. She is concerned with mileage, ride quality, handling and price, in that order. The current tires are run flats (do all Minis come with these?) and the size is 195-55-16. We live just outside of Newark, DE, any direction on which tires and where to have them installed would be appreciated. TIA, Wayne

 

Depends on whether you want to stay with the runflats or not . . . I personally would go with conventional tires, a cell phone, a can of fix a flat and a Triple-A card if I had an MCS. I have a Cooper and a spare, so I haven't had to worry about runflats. If your wife is comfortable with the runflats and wants to stay with them, there are very, very few choices (check with Tire Rack) and I would stay with the stock size unless there have been new, improved runflats introduced in more common, mini-friendly sizes like 205/50/16. In that size, there are many conventional tires available, and if she drives conservatively and values tread life and a smooth, quiet ride, and is comfortable changing from runflats, consider a high perf. all season tire like the the Toyo Proxes 4 (Edgeracing), or the Pirelli Pzero Nero (Tire Rack). Both will give you long treadlife and all the performance your wife would probably ever use, with enhanced ride comfort.

 

Thanks for the response. We will probably stay with the run flats since it is our family car and when we take a road trip there isn't much room left after we load up the kids and their gear. I was hoping to get something that would last more than 20,000 miles, but I guess everything has a cost.