mark 2 cooper s .. tyre recommendations

[MW666]

Can finally get rid of the dreaded run flats and get some decent tyres ... any makes suit the car better than others?

[Bazza 2174]

I've just had a set of Toyo TR1's fitted and think that they're great.
Personal choice but I'm very happy wit them.
You'll not regret dumping the run flats

[Silent1]

Pirelli Pzero Assimetricos are very good

[briSk]

on my r53 i had vredestein ultracs which were a great wet tyre for the money IMO.

i now have two bridegstone re040s on the back and ultracs on front which i will son be replacing. i think i will go for some bridgestones either re040s - or something similar. I *think* 050s are available in the right size BUT you have to watch out that they aren't a version with uberstiff tyre walls which are meant for the jdm ctr (or something).

personally i am very happy with the 040s although to be fair i haven't run them as a set of 4 yet.

a nice thing about them is the hardcore reinforced sidewalls shich make kerbing less easy..!

[minimanAC]

I've got Pzero Neros currently which will need replacing within the next couple of months. They've transformed the ride and the grip levels, but they've worn really unevenly. The centre of one of the fronts was completely worn and needed replacement well before the other front tyre which still is legal. I checked tyre pressures very frequently and know that it was not over-inflated. Did some research on the net and found that various people seemed to have the same problem, which is a apparantly a trait of some pirelli tyres. They are good tyres with good levels of grip, but the uneven wear rate has put me off slightly. When my current set up finally wears out I think I will switch to Michelin Pilot Exaltos.

[beanie1983]

Bazza 2174 said:

I've just had a set of Toyo TR1's fitted and think that they're great.
Personal choice but I'm very happy wit them.
You'll not regret dumping the run flats

Ive just got these put on my cooper s too, pretty good so far only had them on a couple of days tho and both days its been sh*t weather, looking forward to some dry weather to see if they are any good, Knowing my luck ill end up stacking it in a ditch or summat ha.

[cannedheat]

minimanAC said:

I've got Pzero Neros currently which will need replacing within the next couple of months. They've transformed the ride and the grip levels, but they've worn really unevenly. The centre of one of the fronts was completely worn and needed replacement well before the other front tyre which still is legal. I checked tyre pressures very frequently and know that it was not over-inflated. Did some research on the net and found that various people seemed to have the same problem, which is a apparantly a trait of some pirelli tyres. They are good tyres with good levels of grip, but the uneven wear rate has put me off slightly. When my current set up finally wears out I think I will switch to Michelin Pilot Exaltos.

I think the Pilot Exaltos will be too grippy for the Mini. You'll lose the adjustablity. The sidewaals are pretty soft too IIRC so that'll affect the turn in, although the ride will be improved somewhat.

[minimanAC]

cannedheat said:

minimanAC said:

I've got Pzero Neros currently which will need replacing within the next couple of months. They've transformed the ride and the grip levels, but they've worn really unevenly. The centre of one of the fronts was completely worn and needed replacement well before the other front tyre which still is legal. I checked tyre pressures very frequently and know that it was not over-inflated. Did some research on the net and found that various people seemed to have the same problem, which is a apparantly a trait of some pirelli tyres. They are good tyres with good levels of grip, but the uneven wear rate has put me off slightly. When my current set up finally wears out I think I will switch to Michelin Pilot Exaltos.

I think the Pilot Exaltos will be too grippy for the Mini. You'll lose the adjustablity. The sidewaals are pretty soft too IIRC so that'll affect the turn in, although the ride will be improved somewhat.

Interesting thanks for that, what tyre would you recommend i replace my P zero neros with?

[GT TVR]

Has anyone tried the non-run flat Dunlop SP Sport 01?
Or are they just as bad as the run-flat version?

[MattOz]

We're running Goodyear Eagle F1's on our Cooper and they're excellent.

[cannedheat]

minimanAC said:

cannedheat said:

minimanAC said:

I've got Pzero Neros currently which will need replacing within the next couple of months. They've transformed the ride and the grip levels, but they've worn really unevenly. The centre of one of the fronts was completely worn and needed replacement well before the other front tyre which still is legal. I checked tyre pressures very frequently and know that it was not over-inflated. Did some research on the net and found that various people seemed to have the same problem, which is a apparantly a trait of some pirelli tyres. They are good tyres with good levels of grip, but the uneven wear rate has put me off slightly. When my current set up finally wears out I think I will switch to Michelin Pilot Exaltos.

I think the Pilot Exaltos will be too grippy for the Mini. You'll lose the adjustablity. The sidewaals are pretty soft too IIRC so that'll affect the turn in, although the ride will be improved somewhat.

Interesting thanks for that, what tyre would you recommend i replace my P zero neros with?

I think Bridgestone's have one of the stiffest sidewalls of non-runflats (either the RE040 or RE050/RE050A) so you still retain much of the sharp turn-in which the MINI is renowned for but they ride better than run-flats.

They're not the grippiest tyres either so you should still be able to adjust the car on the throttle.

I'll certainly be putting some Bridgestone's on when my current run-flats are worn out. I like to play with the car on roundabouts and adjust the car mid-bend using the throttle so anything too grippy will just push the speeds required even higher.

[minimanAC]

cannedheat said:

minimanAC said:

cannedheat said:

minimanAC said:

I've got Pzero Neros currently which will need replacing within the next couple of months. They've transformed the ride and the grip levels, but they've worn really unevenly. The centre of one of the fronts was completely worn and needed replacement well before the other front tyre which still is legal. I checked tyre pressures very frequently and know that it was not over-inflated. Did some research on the net and found that various people seemed to have the same problem, which is a apparantly a trait of some pirelli tyres. They are good tyres with good levels of grip, but the uneven wear rate has put me off slightly. When my current set up finally wears out I think I will switch to Michelin Pilot Exaltos.

I think the Pilot Exaltos will be too grippy for the Mini. You'll lose the adjustablity. The sidewaals are pretty soft too IIRC so that'll affect the turn in, although the ride will be improved somewhat.

Interesting thanks for that, what tyre would you recommend i replace my P zero neros with?

I think Bridgestone's have one of the stiffest sidewalls of non-runflats (either the RE040 or RE050/RE050A) so you still retain much of the sharp turn-in which the MINI is renowned for but they ride better than run-flats.

They're not the grippiest tyres either so you should still be able to adjust the car on the throttle.

I'll certainly be putting some Bridgestone's on when my current run-flats are worn out. I like to play with the car on roundabouts and adjust the car mid-bend using the throttle so anything too grippy will just push the speeds required even higher.

Interesting point, just looked at the tire rack survey results for all these tyres:

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/surveyresults/survey...

The Re040s are in this catergory:

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/surveyresults/survey...

41st out of 43 tyres, I think when my current set need replacing i am going to go with GSD3s. The idea of going for less grippy tyres for more adjustability, sounds good but how am I to tell which tyres will have just enough grip for adjustability and fun on roundabouts but not too little resulting in a car that requires me to give 110% attention whenever the road gets slightly greasy.

The RE050s dont look half bad, but the wear rate seems to be significantly worst than GSD3s/Pzeros etc.

[briSk]

surprised people don;t like the re040s..

___

they're/were a honda OE type r tyre iirc. generally well regarded i thought.

(i still think i'll get them for the front of mine to complete the set and will be able to have a complete picture view i think!).