New Tires - all 4 or just 2?

[SBJester]

So I've come to a tire dillema. The stock front tires on the MINI are cooked, but the back ones are in great shape. Would it be crazy to get non-runflat kumho ecstas on the front and leave the dunlop runflats on the back? Or should I just play it safe and get all four matching tires (either get two new dunlop runflats or 4 new kumhos and sell the back run flats)? Any advice would be much appreciated!

Oh and sadly four kumho ecstas cost the same as two dunlop run flats!

[Austin MC40]

It is probably not recommended to have a mixture of runflats and regular tires.
What I would suggest is to buy only 2 runflats and put them on the front.
In the future try to rotate them more often to even out the wear.

later,
Richard

[biggripper]

New shoes! Get an all new set. Ditch the RF's. Pick up a Slime Kit/Compressor. Call it good.

[scandune]

new shoes and lighter tires you can sell the 2 runflats to discount tire or to someone else or just use them as a spare if you have another rim

[Austin MC40]

So it sounds like this all depend on how deep your pockets are doesn't it.
My suggestion is as follows:

Use runflats in town and when out in the hills. I don't carry all the tire repair stuff. The heavy stock wheels I feel are a bit stronger and can take the abuse you might encounter in the hill country. If you do get a flat just drive it home and deal with it later. Yes the ride is not as good and probably the performance is down a bit but are you really driving that close to the edge on city/country roads? If so there is a good chance you will eventually be needing more than a tire patch kit to get home. More than one Mini has bit the dust out West :eek2

I have another set of lighweight wheels and tires I use for the track (and I have a spare). With those you can play with compounds, tire pressure, and brands, pricing, etc. If you can't quite afford lightweight wheels there are plenty of Stock Mini wheels in a variety of sizes in garages for not much money.

This technique will also help to extend the life of the run flats. You have plenty of opportunities to rotate those tires when changing from track to street tires. I got 54K miles on my Goodyear and only replace 2 of them during that time (due to tracking them)

I'd really suggest taking your Mini to the track to get a feel for what you, your car, and tires are capable of before you terrorize the public :)

Good luck,
Richard

Check it out:
www.thedriversedge.net

[SBJester]

Great feedback guys! I enjoy terrorizing the public in my MINI, but maybe I should try my luck at a track.

I think I might run the front tires down a little more and then just buy 4 kumho ecsta ast tires and probably sell the back two for really cheap. Since I can buy 4 kumhos for the same price as 2 runflats, i think financially it'll be easier to get away from the runflats. Plus the MC has a spare, so even if I get a flat, I should be ok...knock on wood.

For all the other MC owners I've gotten some recommendations to get 205/50 16 tires, instead of the standard 195/50 16. Just a suggestion though. Any experience/confirmation on the tire size working well/badly on the MC?

Thanks again for all the feedback!

[Austin MC40]

Great feedback guys! I enjoy terrorizing the public in my MINI, but maybe I should try my luck at a track.

!


Well that is great. The next track weekend is Nov 10-11 at Texas World Speedway (College Station). It would be great to get some of the SA Minis to come back to the track.

I did not realize you had a Cooper. That is nice that they have a place for a spare. As for the Kumo's, quite a few of the track cars up in the DFW area are running Kumos. Mainly I think due to price. You might go to Metroplexmini.org and search for tire discussions to see what the active crowd from DFW are suggesting in the 16" range.

You might check with Rich at the Mini Center. When I was there late last week he had a new owners card that wanted to sell his wheels and tires (new). They were 17 inch and probably the same price as buying/mounting/balancing/taxes on new tires.

The next set of runflats I am planning on trying are the new Kumos that have a a list price of 150 each. That is a big difference from the Goodyears for 320!

Happy terrorizing :D
Richard

[weezer2282]

205/50/16 is a good choice. I am currently using that size. :thumbsup

[scandune]

i wish i could use 205/50 /16 but i have to use 215/40/18 :(