Mini Cooper Tires

Initial Review, 2,000 Miles on Tires
March 15, 2013

I bought these as a budget-level replacement for a set of Yokohama S-drives. They look aggressive, but have much less dry traction than the s-drives. If you just want a tire for looks and want to save some money they are ok, but I would not consider them a high performance tire. They do seem to work well in the rain.

Initial Review, 100 Miles on Tires
April 08, 2013

The first summer tire I had on my car was the Conti DW, and I was blown away. They were a bit noisy, but wet or dry, they stuck like glue. Then I decided to go with an A/S tire, the Bridgestone 970 AS Pole Position; after 2100 miles they came off. Great tire, really, but not the tire for my car, not enough grip.

So while I contemplated going for the DW again, I thought I'd splurge and try the PSS. First thoughts, WOW. Quiet, quiet quiet. Shortly after having them installed, took them on a really twisty road or two north of Portland, up hwy 30 a bit. It was raining out a bit, so I thought the perfect time to try them out.

Wet grip? Outstanding. Very predictable, great on-center feel. They feel heavier than the AS tires, but I think that's just the increased level of grip and being so quiet. Dry grip? Got a chance to try that this weekend a bit. Again, outstanding. Did I mention they're quiet? Yeah, my MINI has never had it this good. Dry grip was great, I'd say this compares very well with the DW, but the PSS is quieter by far.

I plan on rotating every 2K to make sure I get the most out of them that I can as I tend to drive pretty aggressively when I do drive =)

Updates to come.

Initial Review, 1,000 Miles on Tires
April 17, 2013

Absolutely awesome!

The Michelin Pilot Super Sport tire transformed my car:

1) Increased ride comfort
2) Reduced road noise
3) Increased responsiveness

I highly recommend these tires! :)




 

Initial Review, 1,000 Miles on Tires
April 10, 2013

Amazingly good wet traction for a tire of this type. Quick turn-in. Only one autocross so far on a cold day. Despite the temperature, the tires had impressive grip, but didn't provide a lot of feedback as to when they were going to let loose. I expect even better performance when the weather warms up. Noisey at low speed, but tolerable.

Initial Review, 100 Miles on Tires
April 02, 2013

Went from 205/45/17 run flats which are horrible tires. you feel every crack on the pavement and the ride is terribly noisy. i wanted to address the ride comfort first and foremost and put a bit more beef in the side wall by going to a 205/50/17. No exageration but the ride is like that of a Town Car. And very quiet. The steering feels softer but that should be expected. No rubbing on the wheel wells by going from a 45 to 50 profile. Can't wait to try it on rain and snow. If you hate the ride of your Mini Cooper S get these tires you wont regret it.

Initial Review, 9,000 Miles on Tires
March 21, 2013

I have 9,000 miles on these tires and they have just started to show a little wear. I think they will last me at least another two seasons. Best snow tire I have ever used, at least on the Mini Cooper S. The traction was incredible in the snow overall. Once the tires got moving, I rarely lost traction, and most of the time I was trying to lose traction to see how they handled. Acceleration in light snow was the only "little" complaint. It usually took a second or two to get going. All other acceleration was great. When the temp is under 30F, the tires handle great for a snow tire. I took it onto a dry track at 15F, and even at high speed it was extremely stable. Even cornered well. Once the temp gets above freezing, the tires get soft at around 75mph. Overall the best winter tire I have used because you will tell a difference. Highly recommended.

Initial Review, 25,000 Miles on Tires
March 28, 2013

expected 40000 miles, not 25000 wear needing replacement

Initial Review, 1,600 Miles on Tires
January 11, 2013

Replaced OEM runflats with these tires. Ride comfort and wet traction improved significantly. Tires are fantastic in rain and light snow. Haven't driven in heavy snow yet.

As other reviewers have warned, the steering response of these tires is much slower than runflats. Entry into turns has lost a lot of precision. This does take some of the "go kart handling" fun out of the Mini. I considered returning them, but the improved ride comfort has been worth the trade off.

Initial Review, 100 Miles on Tires
March 04, 2013

I'm comparing these to the 225/45-15 RS3's I normally run. They are a bit sketchy at the limit and required a big setup change to get the balance back on the car, but once we did that the performance was very good. They drive differently than the RS3 so don't be shocked when it feels different. As far as time difference on a 60 sec course they seem to be a few tenths faster at most than the RS3...but we'll see in 2 weeks when I get to do a back to back test.

Initial Review, 1,000 Miles on Tires
February 23, 2013

I bought the Kumho tires 5 weeks ago to replace original equipment Bridgestones. The difference in road noise and ride comfort was like evolving from primative Flinstone stone tires to a modern Jetson smooth ride. Handling characteristics on dry and wet roads are excellent. Sorry, I can not comment on ice and snow as I live in SW Florida. I will so definately buy these tires again, in fact I will be ordering the same type tires next week for my MINI Cooper S.

Initial Review, 3,000 Miles on Tires
February 26, 2013

Best riding runflat I have ever owned. Quiet,smooth, excellent wet and dry traction in a performance all season tire. Much superior to the Continentals that came on the car.

The tire rack review was accurate. You can not tell these are runflats

Initial Review, 19,000 Miles on Tires
February 12, 2013

They replaced Continental Extreme DW that were not a bad tire, but without a doubt, these are the best tires I have ever owned.
With one exception, I cannot say enough positive about these. That one exception is treadlife.
Tires are rotated and balanced every 5000 mikes and treadwear is even across the surface of the tire and among the tires. There is no excessive or odd wear patterns and the shoulders are holding up well; however, the tires are done. The tires were at the indicator bar with approximately 17500 miles on them.
I don’t consider the tires to have been abused: No SOLO events, and only one trip to the Tail of the Dragon.
Even with the prorated mileage warranty, owning these tires is an expensive proposition.
Guess you really do have to pay to play.

Initial Review, 3,000 Miles on Tires
February 04, 2013

Huge difference comapred to the Ecsta ASX I was driving on before. Bought these totalyy off of the ratings I saw, as I was not happy with the previous set of Ecstas I had. Put these on my MINI andthe total driving experience is better that with the original tires that came with the car over 100,000 miles ago. Waiting to see how well they wear, but a big thumbs up for these.

Initial Review, 22,000 Miles on Tires
February 04, 2013

I bought these because it was original equipment, I should have known when I bought the car it had 18,000 miles on it and it needed tires. But I did it anyway and only got 22,000 miles and almost paid double that of a non run flat tire and Im sure I would have gotten double the miles if I had bought the regular tire at half the price

Initial Review, 40,000 Miles on Tires
January 26, 2013

These tires were installed on my car when I bought it at 27k miles in Feb 2011. I'm now at 67k miles, almost Feb 2013 so I average 20k miles per year.

To start off, when the tires were new I was pleased with them. Plenty of dry and wet traction and low noise. Car tracked good as alignment was performed when tires were installed. Over the course of 40k miles I would have expected the tires to be shot and pretty worn. Granted I have a lightweight vehicle but I've still got 6/32 tread on center. Edges however are more like 3/32. I know edge wear is due to the MINI's aggressive suspension, however the tire noise is now quite loud. Not as bad as goodyear eagles with similar mileage but loud none the less.

Last winter was quite mild and I never had the chance to test out the MINI in the snow. Finally got the chance to drive in a snowstorm last week and let me say- Mark these tires down as NOT all-seasons. More like 3-season tires. With 6/32 tread life over 80-90% of the tire I expected much more in snow. Braking in snow is awful- slight tap on the brakes caused me to fishtail across multiple lanes on the interstate in less than an inch of snow on the roads (traveling about 55mph and going straight initially). Starting from a stop is a joke, grandmas pass me in their Buicks. Cornering in snow is, lets say breath taking, and not in a good way. Again, this is all on less than an inch of snow. Nowhere close to "deep snow" and not slush or ice.

I am now investing in new tires. Again, these Hankooks are not "worn out", more like 50% tread left. These tires would be great for someone who lived in warm climates that may get cold but stay above freezing. However for a norther climate driver, I would pass on these.

Initial Review, 35,000 Miles on Tires
January 23, 2013

This tire came as OEM on my 2011 MINI Countryman. I drive in a pretty spirited manner, and like to take curves somewhat fast - as such I feel like I've gotten a good amount of tread life out of the tires, especially compared to other tires I've used on previous MINI models.

The tire performance is I feel really good for an all season tire. I've been satisfied with it in really hot conditions, but also the performance on ice and snow is really good for an all season tire.

An all season tire is never going to be as grippy as a performance tire, or quite as good on ice as a dedicated snow tire. But if you just want one set of tires to last a year and do pretty well all around, these seem to be the best I have used.

Also of note is that I've also used the tires for light off-road driving - some forest roads. The tires seemed fine and did not give me any problems.

Initial Review, 29,000 Miles on Tires
January 29, 2013

Smooth. Sticky. Predictable. Precise. Long-wearing.
Quiet. A bit expensive. I'm just off the wear bars. Recently put a thicker rear sway bar and front negative camber plates on the MINI. Wow! Gotta get back into Solo2, run these "shoes" bald and go get another set!

Initial Review, 500 Miles on Tires
January 22, 2013

I've only had these tires a couple weeks so I can't comment on treadwear or wet/snow performance. But I can say that the difference in ride quality is phenomenal (they replaced run flats). A MINI Cooper suspension is stiff by design; but with run flat tires, on 17" rims, in sport mode…if you hit a nickel lying in the road, you’ll spill your coffee. With the Continental Extreme DWS tires I can hit all the loose change I want. Plus, the run flats were very loud whereas the Continental’s are so quiet that I can now hear my wife telling me to slow down. I’m very happy with these tires.

Initial Review, 10,000 Miles on Tires
January 21, 2013

My review of these tires is different than it would have been when I first purchased them. Some reviewers mention the wandering nature of these tires. I have never had a tire that took so long to break in. After 1,000 miles the tires started to perform like I had expected. I'll admit that they were a bit unnerving in the beginning. I could not keep the car moving in a straight line. I was constantly correcting. After 10,000 miles I am very happy with the tires. I run 40# psi to get more sidewall stability. That helps in the corners.

Initial Review, 65,000 Miles on Tires
January 14, 2013

I am very happy with this tire. The previous set were Goodyear Eagle RS-A. The RS-A has better handling, but lousy wear and became very noisy by 20K miles. Also, with the RS-A, you feel every crack in the road. The GT has a slightly softer feel, but a much smoother ride.