Inherited Mini R56

[bobski1]

The Mrs' Mini 57 plate cooper has just had it's first MOT & service since I inherited it as my step car.

The rear tyres are getting low on tread, for some reason she has run flat tyres on the rear & non run flats on the front. There is no spare tyre so I am inclined to fit run flats all around however I have never had them on a car before, much more expensive & from what I have read don't handle as well, although these were old threads.

My question is do I just go for run flats for an easy life if she was ever to get a flat, if so which brand? Goodyear Excellence £78 a corner.

Or go with some Toyo T1-Rs for £49 a corner but what could I get to use in case of a flat?

[skoff]

Mrs Skoff has a R53 and has moved away from run-flats to regular tyres as the ride on the RFs was atrocious. She has a tin of the tyre weld stuff instead of a spare (the Cooper S has nowhere to put a spare). I can't comment about on the limit handling as the car doesn't get used for track days, but I can't say it handles badly with regular tyres, still quite a hoot to drive.

She changed the fronts first, which made a huge difference, and waited until the rear RFs were low to swap them to normal tyres. Again an improvement, but not so much as when changing the fronts.

We really wouldn't go back to RFs now. Tyre garages sometimes complain about fitting regular tyres as that isn't the manufacturer standard fit, we have even been asked to sign a disclaimer form, but I don' think regular tyres = instant crash, so I think we will take the risk.

[bobski1]

skoff said:

Mrs Skoff has a R53 and has moved away from run-flats to regular tyres as the ride on the RFs was atrocious. She has a tin of the tyre weld stuff instead of a spare (the Cooper S has nowhere to put a spare). I can't comment about on the limit handling as the car doesn't get used for track days, but I can't say it handles badly with regular tyres, still quite a hoot to drive.

She changed the fronts first, which made a huge difference, and waited until the rear RFs were low to swap them to normal tyres. Again an improvement, but not so much as when changing the fronts.

We really wouldn't go back to RFs now. Tyre garages sometimes complain about fitting regular tyres as that isn't the manufacturer standard fit, we have even been asked to sign a disclaimer form, but I don' think regular tyres = instant crash, so I think we will take the risk.

It seems that people fall into 2 camps, one who replace RF with regular tyres for the better handling/ride & second are one who keep the RF due to the convenience of being able to drive with a puncture.

I have driven the step car a good number of times & it doesn't handle that bad on the regular tyres but have no experience of the fronts being on RF & not sure if the mrs would be able to use the tyreweld in case it is required. but might give it a go given the £30 per corner difference.

[mike9009]

Hi

I have had my R56 for 5 years and almost 50k miles and also owned an R53 for two years (also had a MINI One R52 for five years but it had non RFs as standard) - so I have swapped between RFs and Non RFs a few times. It is always a difficult 'direct' comparison because you are often comparing new versus old rubber ... obviously newly balanced wheels 'always' feel better.... but here is my opinion.... (I do not drive on track but have a 30 mile A road/ B road commute daily)

RFs suit the characteristics of the Mini better. The grip is better with non-RFs and the ride quality is better. I find non-RFs 'numb' the steering feel and dull the dart-y feeling the car should have. Therefore, even with my 'bumpy' commute on poor roads, I prefer RFs. So this year, I have put RFs back on all four corners (Pirelli P Zeros) and it has reconfirmed my opinion.

Also, I get the security of being able to drive on with a flat - touch wood not needed to in my many years of MINI ownership!

Mike