Tires (Summer/Winter/All-Season)

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When I shopped around for new tires I didn't find my MINI dealer charging significantly more than anywhere else, and it's been very convenient to have them replace tires and get an alignment check. Of course one is limited to the tires they sell, although I brought some Nokians to my dealer and they kindly mounted them (for a fee). Others may have different experiences.
And I know they were Nokian Hakkapeliitta with AI helpful spelling for winter tires for SE
 
I am still hoping to find a good all season tire in my SE's original equipment 195/55-16 size. My hope is to find something that won't kill range too much, would be okay in cold weather and light snow, and will still be fun to drive. We use the SE mostly for around-town driving. It gets out on the interstate from time to time.

Discount Tire has surfaced the following 87V tires that rate at least 3 out of 5 on their EV Range scale:

Grand Touring All-Season:

- Falken Aklimate all-weather (640 B A, 20.1 lbs)

- Firestone WeatherGrip all-weather (640 A A, 20 lbs)

- Toyo Extensa A/S II (580 A A, 19 lbs)

- Kumho Solus Majesty 9 TA91 (560 AA A, 18.4 lbs)

Touring All-Season:

- Hankook Kinergy PT H737 (800 A A, 18.4 lbs)

Ultra High Performance All-Season:

- Toyo Extensa HP II (500 A A, 20 lbs)

Do you have any experience or thoughts on these tires that you could share? Both Tire Rack and Discount Tire rank the Falken Aklimate pretty high on their lists. Although I'm not sure how well those overall rankings reflect the needs of a particular driver with a particular car.

Thanks for any thoughts you can share.
 
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I've decided to not go to a seasonal tire rotatio approach and am giving all seasons on my OEM 17 inch wheels a try. For this I need cold weather compatible (say a little 25F driving), want to minimize range impact, and I don't want run flats. In the Mini 205/45R17 size, PIRELLI CINTURATO P7 ALL SEASON. and MICHELINPILOT SPORT ALL SEASON 4 pop up, The P7 being EV tuned, and Michelins Eco Focus, and near the same $210 range.

From comparison reviews the Pirelli has a significantly better EV range rating, both are competently sporty, the Michelin getting a slight edge. I haven't read much here about the Pilot Sport. The P7 comments range from hockey pucks (I think those were run flats) to a smooth quiet sporty tire that may wear out before you think. However, when one says P7, they could be referring to any of a half dozen different tires. Anyone here driven these on a small car and have any comment on better/worse. The dealer says they either have stock or could get either one.
 
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The Nokian Surpass AS01 looks like an interesting all-weather tire, but not available in the 195/55-16 size.
That tire is NOT all weather tire is all season tire which is big difference a Nokians WRG-5 Remedy are all weather tires with snow flake on a tire and they both come only in 205/55/16 size as I install 10 mm. Spacers on my SE to accommodate wider tire and use them only below 40 F and for 1/2 a year back to Hankooks bc I have 8 of them on 16” rims .On Subaru Forester I run them all year around they exelent in my opinion.
 
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Thanks for the reply @ColdCase.

I have been wondering how meaningful the manufacturers' Eco Focus labels are. In Europe there seems to be data available for all tires to support the Eco claims. For North America, manufacturers can label a tire as Eco but it doesn't seem like there is much hard data provided. Based on reviews from owners it seems like the Eco label doesn't necessarily result in extended range or better MPGs.

When I saw that Discount Tires now provides an EV Range rating for many of their tires, I thought maybe I could use that as a filter when searching for tires in my size. I set a cut-off of 3 to come up with my list above.

The Continental TrueContact Tour 54 and Yokohama Avid Ascend GT are a both a 2.5 on their 5 point EV Range scale. They don't rate the Bridgestone Ecopia EP422 or Continental Contiprocontact, perhaps because they are a little older and were evaluated before the EV Range metric was added.

I wish there were more options for the 195/55-16 size. At least we are better off than the BMW i3 owners. They apparently only have one choice of tire.
 
I've decided to not go to a seasonal tire rotatio approach and am giving all seasons on my OEM 17 inch wheels a try. For this I need cold weather compatible (say a little 25F driving), want to minimize range impact, and I don't want run flats. In the Mini 205/45R17 size, PIRELLI CINTURATO P7 ALL SEASON. and MICHELINPILOT SPORT ALL SEASON 4 pop up, The P7 being EV tuned, and Michelins Eco Focus, and near the same $210 range.

From comparison reviews the Pirelli has a significantly better EV range rating, both are competently sporty, the Michelin getting a slight edge. I haven't read much here about the Pilot Sport. The P7 comments range from hockey pucks (I think those were run flats) to a smooth quiet sporty tire that may wear out before you think. However, when one says P7, they could be referring to any of a half dozen different tires. Anyone here driven these on a small car and have any comment on better/worse. The dealer says they either have stock or could get either one.

When I bought my 2023 SE new last March, it came with Pirelli Cinturato P7 summer run flats, but because I did not want to have 2 sets of tires, summer and winter, I decided to try the same Pirelli's only in the all season version, same 205/45R17. I did go through this past winter with no problems, had up to 8" snow for a period of time (Vancouver BC) along with a cold spell, so icy side streets etc., my SE had absolutely no issues at all! Went up snow covered/icy hills forward and backwards, I was really surprised!
I was also quite happy with their summer tires, so with the all season, so far I am very happy with them......they are M+S rated, which is a minimum requirement between Oct/Mar here.
David
 
Yeah life is full of compromise. Everyone needs to be aware of the compromises involved and some are not.

The all season tread compound tends to harden in cold weather. Unlike max performance summer tires that tend to break up. On one hand they say all seasons are suitable for light snow, which may be 30F, but then they won't stick to a dry road as well below 45F or so. On the other hand (in my first hand experience), above 45F all weathers have much less traction than all seasons and good winter tires (e.g blizzaks) are dangerous on highways during those mild winter days. So to be safe, in this area seasonal rotations aren't as optimal as daily rotations as the weather changes..... Instead of rotating tires, I've have a daily driver more suitable for nasty weather and another more suitable for the summer. The spouce has something in between. So instead of swapping tires, I've been swapping vehicles based on today's weather.

What marketing says vs how tires actually perform can vary and is up to the testers and interweb to sort out.

I typically put Defenders on my transportation appliances, winter tires on the pickup. I'm not driving the mini in snow or ice, just may have to occasionally drive the mini in cold weather and don't want to damage tires. I won't flog the mini in cold weather. Ill take the truck in nasty weather, and not worry about it in warmer weather. I'm retired so I can just say home when the weather outside is frightful :) but thats just me. So an all season type tire seems a decent compromise for me.
 
I get that. Those couple of early mornings in late October when we may get into the upper 30s aren't enough of a threat for me to swap off the F1s, I just know to take it easy and keep my distances. And the reverse in early spring. I'd rather wear out the Hakka R5s quicker than eat some wobblebottom's back bumper.
 
I ended up with a set of Pirelli Cinturato P7 All Season Electric (UTQG: 500 A A). Local tire shop had a $150 off sale and it ended up $950 mounted and balanced. Dealer priced these at $1200. In the same ball park as a good tire shop without the sale price. These have a M+S label but no rating. Dealer pushed a similar, lower cost Falken ZIEX ZE960 A/S tire ($850) or the run flat P7s ($1350). Reviews indicate the Falkens are a good tire but also higher rolling resistance.

These Pirellis are nice tires and are electric tuned. Responsive, balanced well but, as expected, on a 80 F day not as sticky as the OEM Ventus (UTQG: 320 AA A ). Quieter than the 20,000 mile Ventus, however. i now easily notice the hum of a bad wheel bearing. I don't notice a mileage hit but the data set is small.

I need to get the bearing fixed and an alignment before more reporting. The warranty expired three months ago and my local BMW/Mini repair shop can't get at it till late next week. I'll see if Mini has any goodwill tomorrow.
 
Will be nice as members will describe if is a front or rear bearing problems to liseaning what is wrong but as I’m very good with mechanical aspect of a cars is for sure a front axel bearing as they work much harder steering a car as rear do nothing as those cars have low milages is obviously something wrong with axel hub and bearing assembly as they last on my previous front wheel drive cars 125000 miles Ford Esxorts 3 of them they last as I sold them
 
I ended up with a set of Pirelli Cinturato P7 All Season Electric (UTQG: 500 A A). Local tire shop had a $150 off sale and it ended up $950 mounted and balanced. Dealer priced these at $1200. In the same ball park as a good tire shop without the sale price. These have a M+S label but no rating. Dealer pushed a similar, lower cost Falken ZIEX ZE960 A/S tire ($850) or the run flat P7s ($1350). Reviews indicate the Falkens are a good tire but also higher rolling resistance.

These Pirellis are nice tires and are electric tuned. Responsive, balanced well but, as expected, on a 80 F day not as sticky as the OEM Ventus (UTQG: 320 AA A ). Quieter than the 20,000 mile Ventus, however. i now easily notice the hum of a bad wheel bearing. I don't notice a mileage hit but the data set is small.

I need to get the bearing fixed and an alignment before more reporting. The warranty expired three months ago and my local BMW/Mini repair shop can't get at it till late next week. I'll see if Mini has any goodwill tomorrow.
Will by nice what climate you drive to be specific you went for P7 and a price with ballancing for $260 a piece is rip off
 
low milages is obviously something wrong with axel hub and bearing assembly as they last on my previous front wheel drive cars 125000 miles Ford Esxorts 3 of them they last as I sold them

How does those car's weight compare with the SE? I've had more front wheel drive rear bearings fail than front, more front bearings fail on rear wheel drive cars. But is a small data set.

Yes Pirelli tires tend to be expensive, but it varies by size. The next size larger is $60 less money each... and based on previous experience I would never use wheel spacers to fit tires. I would use a wheel with more/less offset.

There are more low rolling resistant options in the 16 inch size.

I live in New England, -10 to 110 F, feet of snow, ice, sand, hurricanes, inches of water, twisty roads, high speed highways, a couple friends at the end of long dirt roads. The A/S tire suits our SE use well, I have other cars/trucks for weather extremes.

By the way, the mini uses the same wheel bearings as several BMWs, its a BMW part. The BMW shop down the street routinely replaces them.... but getting off topic for this thread.
 
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How does those car's weight compare with the SE? I've had more front wheel drive rear bearings fail than front, more front bearings fail on rear wheel drive cars. But is a small data set.

Yes Pirelli tires tend to be expensive, but it varies by size. The next size larger is $60 less money each... and based on previous experience I would never use wheel spacers to fit tires. I would use a wheel with more/less offset.

There are more low rolling resistant options in the 16 inch size.

I live in New England, -10 to 110 F, feet of snow, ice, sand, hurricanes, inches of water, twisty roads, high speed highways, a couple friends at the end of long dirt roads. The A/S tire suits our SE use well, I have other cars/trucks for weather extremes.

By the way, the mini uses the same wheel bearings as several BMWs, its a BMW part. The BMW shop down the street routinely replaces them.... but getting off topic for this thread.
As you live in New England obviously if you use SE in winter you need winter tires AS Nokian Happellita as in NY. My Nokian WRG - 5 Remedy only available in 16 “ and width only bigger with 205 I use spaicers as I use them for 1/2 year below 45’ for 1/2 a year but not average owner of SE going to that extreme as me have fool sets of tires for mild winter in NY. And in 2022 as my car I purchase I was lucky to buy extra wheels with Haankook for $400 with 2000 miles on it. Now I have 8 Hankooks and Nokians all weather tires as they shoud last for me forever
 
As I mention before, instead of seasonally rotating tires, I chose to rotate cars.. often daily as the weather changes.

I don't use the Mini all year round, but I wanted more drive time than max performance summer tires give you and compromised a little. The Mini is not suitable for snow/ice on my driveway regardless of tire. AWD is a minimum, and even that can be a drama.
 
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As I mention before, instead of seasonally rotating tires, I chose to rotate cars.. often daily as the weather changes.

I don't use the Mini all year round, but I wanted more drive time than max performance summer tires give you and compromised a little. The Mini is not suitable for snow/ice on my driveway regardless of tire. AWD is a minimum, and even that can be a drama.
As you said in extreme Winter conditions my mini sleeps in heated garage as my snow mobile Subaru Forester on Nokians all weather is used all around and SE I use only when is dry cold no snow below 45’ on all weather Nokians
 
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