R56 front tyre choice ?

R56 front tyre choice ?

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Discussion

crankedup

Original Poster:

25,764 posts

250 months

Friday 7th June 2019
quotequote all
Our newly acquired mini cooper (2009) will need new front tyres soon. We have good Cinturato verde on the back, question is which front tyres to go for. More interested in improving comfort than outright high performance. Thanks.

Miglia 888

1,002 posts

154 months

Saturday 8th June 2019
quotequote all
What size wheels & tyres does it have?
How old are the Pirelli's on the rear? (check the DOT code on the sidewall)

crankedup

Original Poster:

25,764 posts

250 months

Saturday 8th June 2019
quotequote all
Sorry should have said the car runs on 15” , was going to fit Michelin PS4 but found they don’t make the tyre in 15” fit size.
The rear tyres are fairly new with loads of tread wear on them, recently fitted by previous owner.We purchased the car from them earlier this month.
Dot code tells me the fears are two years old.

Edited by crankedup on Saturday 8th June 12:44

E-bmw

9,979 posts

159 months

Saturday 8th June 2019
quotequote all
15" doesn't really narrow it down a lot, different tyres are available in different sizes.

Let's try the same question again shall we? wink

What size are your wheels & tyres?

crankedup

Original Poster:

25,764 posts

250 months

Saturday 8th June 2019
quotequote all
Ah right’O then 175/65/R15 are the current tyre size fitted

E-bmw

9,979 posts

159 months

Saturday 8th June 2019
quotequote all
OK, if you are on tyres as tall as 65% ratio (assuming not RFT) then you aren't going to get much more comfortable really.

As above are they RFT?

Uniroyal RE3 allegedly have a soft sidewall & are cheap as chips at around £41+ fitting with a reasonable following.

More expensively Conti Premium Contact 5 are also soft ish side walls but more expensive at around £65+ fitting.

crankedup

Original Poster:

25,764 posts

250 months

Saturday 8th June 2019
quotequote all
E-bmw said:
OK, if you are on tyres as tall as 65% ratio (assuming not RFT) then you aren't going to get much more comfortable really.

As above are they RFT?

Uniroyal RE3 allegedly have a soft sidewall & are cheap as chips at around £41+ fitting with a reasonable following.

More expensively Conti Premium Contact 5 are also soft ish side walls but more expensive at around £65+ fitting.
Thanks, I will have a look at these tyres, it’s wifes car and she has complained Other than that happy with the car. No they are not the RFT.

E-bmw

9,979 posts

159 months

Saturday 8th June 2019
quotequote all
The issue with new Minis in general is that they have very short wheel travel & so to prevent permanently hitting the bump stops the ride is firm at best.

The generally accepted "sweet point" to keep handling but get reasonable ride is 16" wheels with 50% tyres but obviously you already have more tyre height than that anyway, so that doesn't help you.

What are your tyre pressures?

Have you checked the front strut tops for "mushrooming" as many suffer with it & that won't help.

twokcc

883 posts

184 months

Sunday 9th June 2019
quotequote all
Old thread on cooper s wheels may be worth you looking at.

https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...

Selling my R56 Cooper S on black 17" conical wheels but have a set of 16" R115 Rib spokes with Michelin Energy tyres which will be up for sale once car sold.

rosejem

187 posts

120 months

Sunday 9th June 2019
quotequote all
I used to have a standard spec Mini Cooper ( 2013 ) with 15inch wheels & found the standard Michelin energy tyres were excellent . When I sold it there was still about 3 mm of tread after 40,000 miles on the front. I ran them at 33 psi .

caterhamboy

568 posts

205 months

Sunday 9th June 2019
quotequote all
Hi crankedup,

we've got a 12 plate clubby with the 15" wheels 175-65-15

originally it came with premium contact 2 and we then put uniroyal rainexperts on ,and have recently put a new set of michelin energy savers on.

The premium contacts gave the best outright grip wet and dry but worst comfort and last about 18,000 rotated.

the uniroyals gave good wet weather grip and comfort but weren't great in the dry and not great turn in. lasted about 15,000 rotated

the michelins offer good wet and dry grip with good comfort, only marginally less grip than the premium contacts. wear seams good after 6,000 miles.





CoolHands

19,471 posts

202 months

Sunday 9th June 2019
quotequote all
I fitted 4 Goodyear EfficientGrip Performance to my cooper s on 16” as the price etc suited against all others at the time. I like them, and I was looking for comfort. They seem soft enough.

crankedup

Original Poster:

25,764 posts

250 months

Monday 10th June 2019
quotequote all
Thank you all posters, some really excellent real world advise from experience. Once upon a time tyres were simply round and black but now days, as pointed out, can make major differences to how a car feels and handles.

Darren93

151 posts

112 months

Friday 14th June 2019
quotequote all
Has anyone got Kumho PS71s? Lohen sell them but they seem to have mixed reviews on balancing...

Drekly

831 posts

65 months

Friday 14th June 2019
quotequote all
Darren93 said:
Has anyone got Kumho PS71s? Lohen sell them but they seem to have mixed reviews on balancing...
I was on the verge of buying a set for my Cooper S, but like yourself, read a few user reviews that said they need constant rebalancing. And even the pro reviews weren't all that favourable.

In the end I plumped for a set of Hankook Ventus V12 Evo 2 K120 which had a special offer on black circles, so even undercut the Kumhos on price a little. So far so good, seem a great allrounder.

Another vote here for ditching run flats and and going from 205/45x17 to 215/45x17 at the same time, much better ride.