MCS tyres, Michelin, Bridgestone or Toyo

[jimmy156]

Evening all,


Going to need some new front tyres on my R56 MCS in the coming weeks.

I am perfectly happy with the Bridgestone Potenza RE050A's that are standard, and this would cost me £210 for a set of front.

Always looking for value, i notice that a set of TOYO T1R's can be had for £160 for the set. I have had these on cars in the past and they have been fine, any one had them on a MINI and care to share an opinion.

Going the other way i only hear good things about the Michelin super sports, These would set me back £240 for the set.

All tyre sizes are 205/45/17 and prices include fitting.

The cost is not necessarily a major factor... i am happy to pay extra if its worth it, i am also (very) happy to save some pennies if the cheaper options are still a solid option!

Just looking for some informed opinions please

TIA, James

[jimmy156]

Thanks for the replies guys, the kuhmo's fall in the same camp as the Toyo's, I only looked at the Toyo because I have past experience of them. I am sure they would both be fine, however I do seem to remember the Toyo's wearing pretty quick, which would negate the price advantage completely. How do you find the kuhmo's in this regard?

I remember reading that tyre test when EVO did it, and I thought the same thing then... its annoying that the bridgestone tested is a different tread pattern (not available in the correct size anyway) and the michellin tested with the Pilot Sport 3, not the Super Sport which everyone seems to rave about.

Conti CS5's could be a good shout... The Yokohama's are probably a bit too dry weather biased for me, but I hear lots of good things!

[jimmy156]

So it took me longer to replace the tyres them i had envisaged Always one to get VFM i have been religiously checking tread depths every few weeks and they have just got to the point where i had to change them. Maybe i am a northerner at heart

In the end went for some Pirelli P Zero's. The PSS were going to cost me £50 more in total, and that was a bit much to stomach. The bridgestones were replaced a few years ago with the S001 which is not available in my size, and i had concerns about getting "old" new tyres.

The conti contact sport 5's that seem to be winning lots of group tests seem to wear very quickly so in the end it was between the P zero's and Goodyear Eagle F1's. Toss of a coin really, but in the latest EVO test the P zero's narrowly beat the Goodyears.

Paid £205 fitted, (cheaper than the Bridgestones incidentally) from black circles. They will replace the worn fronts but go on the rear, the rears that will be moved to the front will probably need replacing later in the year so i may report back with opinions once i have a set of four on there!