Tyre Choice for "new" minis
Discussion
Hiya
I'm now on my second Mini - started with the Cooper S and moved on to the JCW
But i've always hated the run flat tyres, that BMW insist on fitting - and I've never had so many punctures in my life - 3 years of mini driving and I've had 6 - 8 punctures or slow leaks or whatever.
So decided (having picked up another 2 this week) that I'll ditch them and go back the normal high performance tyres. Looked at Bridgestone S03's - but opted for Toyo's T1-R (nearly half the price of run flats)
I cannot begin to tell you what an improvement it's made
Even with 210bhp on the front - i now have traction (unless i'm ultra aggressive with the throttle) and the roads are greasy as ...
Cornering, stability, road noise are so much better. It's comparitive to going from treaded to slicks !
BMW don't want you to change to standard tires (the even told me the flat tyre sensor would stay permantely on - BS) but believe me - do it - change to something that actually performs like a tyre is suppose to !
I'm now on my second Mini - started with the Cooper S and moved on to the JCW
But i've always hated the run flat tyres, that BMW insist on fitting - and I've never had so many punctures in my life - 3 years of mini driving and I've had 6 - 8 punctures or slow leaks or whatever.
So decided (having picked up another 2 this week) that I'll ditch them and go back the normal high performance tyres. Looked at Bridgestone S03's - but opted for Toyo's T1-R (nearly half the price of run flats)
I cannot begin to tell you what an improvement it's made
Even with 210bhp on the front - i now have traction (unless i'm ultra aggressive with the throttle) and the roads are greasy as ...
Cornering, stability, road noise are so much better. It's comparitive to going from treaded to slicks !
BMW don't want you to change to standard tires (the even told me the flat tyre sensor would stay permantely on - BS) but believe me - do it - change to something that actually performs like a tyre is suppose to !
Hi,
If you read the threads on Mini2.com most people will agree that changing to conventional tyres improves performance in every way except ONE.
I could not think about having a blowout on the Motorway at say 80 MPH after removing the run flat tyres, bit of a risk to take when you have them as a built in safety feature.
Your thoughts on the run flat tyres?
Alan.
If you read the threads on Mini2.com most people will agree that changing to conventional tyres improves performance in every way except ONE.
I could not think about having a blowout on the Motorway at say 80 MPH after removing the run flat tyres, bit of a risk to take when you have them as a built in safety feature.
Your thoughts on the run flat tyres?
Alan.
Hi
I've had the Toyo's on now for 6 weeks or so - I'm still extremely happy with them - and stick by the original comments. And still no punctures ! Kind of does tell me that Run flats are more prone to punctures fro whatever ever reason.
Re blow outs - Pretty unlikely situation - the tyre pressure gauages still work in the car - so potentional I'd know that a tyre was below pressure
Personally i feel that a high performance tyre safer and more predictable than a run flat. I think run flats are a marketing & sales ploy really - more to do with saving a little space and charging 2/3 times the price for run flats.
I've had the Toyo's on now for 6 weeks or so - I'm still extremely happy with them - and stick by the original comments. And still no punctures ! Kind of does tell me that Run flats are more prone to punctures fro whatever ever reason.
Re blow outs - Pretty unlikely situation - the tyre pressure gauages still work in the car - so potentional I'd know that a tyre was below pressure
Personally i feel that a high performance tyre safer and more predictable than a run flat. I think run flats are a marketing & sales ploy really - more to do with saving a little space and charging 2/3 times the price for run flats.
OK guys, you have convinced me that the pro's outweigh the con's.
What tyre's are the best all round performance tyre for a Cooper S and what sort of cost are we talking about. The cheapest run flat I could find was £140.
Alan.
Ps, do you carry a can of puncture repair liquid and a pump around with you?
What tyre's are the best all round performance tyre for a Cooper S and what sort of cost are we talking about. The cheapest run flat I could find was £140.
Alan.
Ps, do you carry a can of puncture repair liquid and a pump around with you?
E74778 said:
OK guys, you have convinced me that the pro's outweigh the con's.
What tyre's are the best all round performance tyre for a Cooper S and what sort of cost are we talking about. The cheapest run flat I could find was £140.
Alan.
Ps, do you carry a can of puncture repair liquid and a pump around with you?
The Toyo's (T1-R ) are great - I think they were only £85 each and yes I do carry a can of puncture repair in the boot !
>> Edited by woof on Saturday 11th March 17:44
E74778 said:
OK guys, you have convinced me that the pro's outweigh the con's.
What tyre's are the best all round performance tyre for a Cooper S and what sort of cost are we talking about. The cheapest run flat I could find was £140.
Alan.
Ps, do you carry a can of puncture repair liquid and a pump around with you?
my local tyre place have the dunlops for £150 but blackcircles have/had them for 125. bmw charge nearer 200 don't they..?!
it's interesting the post about falken 512s - i found them useless on a 1.4 fiesta...! maybe it couldn't get enough heat into them..
a collegue of my missus rates pzeros, and I have seen trackdemon post on here that he uses/d them.
i could be tempted by the toyos cos i know people who have used them on other cars (325, RS turbo(!), rs clio)
it's a difficult one for me cos it's our only car and it's used by the missus everyday so the runflats are actually kind of 'appropriate' for us...
To be fair - i'm not an average driver (not to sound like a complete w**ker) and I just expect as much out of a car as possible (and a bit more)
So run flats are fine for most uses - apart that they seem to puncture far more that a normal tyre
Very useful for people who can't change tyres - but crap if you like a little bit more grip
Toyo's are great - really impressed by them - initially i was put off because they're the boy racer favoured tyre - but they just supply so much grip and traction. In fact you'll have to adjust yr driving to accomadate the extra grip - turn in is so much more immediate and generally understeer is far less. It's more Kart like than before
Run flats were ditched on our car soon as possible; obviously the fronts went first so I had an intersting few months with PZero's up front and runflats out back - grin a minute as long as you knew what was coming 
Have been running PZero's all round ever since - handling much improved over standard, the car just feels a bit lighter on its feet, more responsive to steering and throttle inputs with more subtely detailed feedback. All round a big dynamic improvement. FWIW car is now showing 45k miles, with runflats (maybe 10k miles fron, 15k miles back) we had 2 'punctures', subsequent to going to PZero's we've had one.....
Have been running PZero's all round ever since - handling much improved over standard, the car just feels a bit lighter on its feet, more responsive to steering and throttle inputs with more subtely detailed feedback. All round a big dynamic improvement. FWIW car is now showing 45k miles, with runflats (maybe 10k miles fron, 15k miles back) we had 2 'punctures', subsequent to going to PZero's we've had one.....What`s the point of run flats, it is most unlikely you will ever have a instant blow out on a modern tyre, even if you did, with power steering and the low centre of gravity of a mini you would just slow down and stop, it`s not like the old days of cross ply tyres. So the safety angle is covered, in any case you can buy a mini cooper from new with standard tyres therefore BMW can`t be to concerned over the safety issue. We have a 2007 cooper with standard tyres and the rubbish stop/start, I have disabled this device, I don`t want my car starting thousands of times unnecessarily just to improve BMW`s carbon footprint.
To continue, most mini owners are covered by mini recovery for the first 3 years, after that all insurance policies offer recovery at a small extra fee,that covers the problem of mending your own tyres. You might have to wait a while for the recovery vehicle but surly this is better than it costing between £140-£200 for a new run flat each time you have a puncture, run flats cannot normally be repaired if driven any distance. Another point is that it appears it is unsafe to have a new run flat along side a well used one, therefore one puncture could cost you 2 run flats.
A normal tyre is half the price or less, it can be repaired even after the tyre gunk is inserted as long as the gunk is water soluble and it also gives a better ride and possibly better grip.
4 normal tyres say Falken ZE512 cost £240 fitted/balanced and 1 Slime puncture repair kit is £25 ( bottle of repair fluid + 1 mini compressor) does the trick, if you have a puncture the cost is £10 for a repair.
Rob.
To continue, most mini owners are covered by mini recovery for the first 3 years, after that all insurance policies offer recovery at a small extra fee,that covers the problem of mending your own tyres. You might have to wait a while for the recovery vehicle but surly this is better than it costing between £140-£200 for a new run flat each time you have a puncture, run flats cannot normally be repaired if driven any distance. Another point is that it appears it is unsafe to have a new run flat along side a well used one, therefore one puncture could cost you 2 run flats.
A normal tyre is half the price or less, it can be repaired even after the tyre gunk is inserted as long as the gunk is water soluble and it also gives a better ride and possibly better grip.
4 normal tyres say Falken ZE512 cost £240 fitted/balanced and 1 Slime puncture repair kit is £25 ( bottle of repair fluid + 1 mini compressor) does the trick, if you have a puncture the cost is £10 for a repair.
Rob.
For the record I too agree they are rubbish!!!!!yep yr right - they will
I've just put on a set of Dunlop SP Sport FM 901's on
The Toyo proxies i had were good and they were a massive improvement on the run flats - better grip, fuel economy etc etc
The Dunlops blow the Toyo's away - just a whole new level of grip
The best tyres I've ever had on a road car
Not sure they're generally available in the UK but if u can get a set, do !
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