Tires (Summer/Winter/All-Season)

You mean as I see only outside on tires no arrow I can cross them for rotating . Thanks for clarifying this not only for me but for all members

 

Walmart says the ones they have are XL rated:

 

I look at my Hankooks where is XL on it ?

 

Yes, I'm familiar. But the XL (extra load rating) designation is not on the tire. They are 87W SL.... OE

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Interesting. I wonder if that's OE with current production. Mine is 87W OE, a 2022 model SE built last year. Would be interesting to see if efficiency is negatively affected with the XL. Hard to imagine they can improve on the already incredible efficiency of the 87W OE.

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As I was saving the Walmart ad I captured today, I saw that I had captured a Walmart ad on June 21st, too. 87W, and XL not mentioned:

 

Prime = Evo?

 

My Power Spoke rims came with the fancier 205/45R17 Hankook Ventus S1 evo3 tires. I assume they're better than the Ventus Prime tires only because they cost more.

I have no actual understanding of the myriad Hankook Ventus designations (evo, Prime, 87W, 91V). I'm actually driving on older Hankook Ventus Prime 2 tires because they came with the used Loop Spoke rims I bought on eBay from Germany. They've lasted 2 years despite bounding about roundabouts thanks to my Michelin X-Ice winter tires taking my abuse for part of the year.

Perhaps someday I'll achieve the confidence that I won't curb my Power Spokes and I'll be able to enjoy the evo3 tires more than one day a year. They ride harder due to their lower cross-section, but they do feel like they increase my SE's cornering ability. Ann Arbor claims they're going to repave the potholed, patch-upon-patched roads near my house this year--that will make the 205/45R17s more viable and prevent extra visits to the dentist.

 

I texted my tire guy this morning to reserve me a set of Hakkapeliitta R5s in the 195/55R16 size, and I’d drop off the Hankook run-flat-shod Victory Spokes one of these days, and he could get around to them “whenever.” He replied that the R5s in my size are in stock and he could get them tomorrow. I did some storm cleanup for an elderly neighbour, then loaded the winter wheels in the Crapolla and headed over after lunch. The Hakkas were already there! My tire guy is THE BEST.

The R5’s tread is substantially more aggressive than the R3’s, and the sipes look like they’ll channel more water to the shoulders. The shoulders are also more square than on the R3, closer to the shoulders on the Hakka 8/9/10. While I’m not looking forward to winter, I’m anticipating that these tires will easily handle anything a Montreal winter can throw at them.

 

My F55 is lowered on the correct springs You can adjust rear camber pretty close to OE. For tire wear I’d go easy on the toe all around. My car I did slight toe out front and toe in rear. I don’t really care too much about tire wear.

most horrid tire wear issues I see are caused by wacky toe settings.

 

As for my potential setup I’ll do the R5s as well with steel wheels because they are like 60$ each and if my wife hits a pothole (our roads are pure garbage here) I can repair it with a hammer !

 

Yeah, I found a set of pretty nice Victory Spokes on Kijiji in April for $300 which is cheaper than retail for steelies, so worth it to me.

 

…Yes, the SE (Energetic Yellow and black) center caps are on order from Seattle MINI, and I might do an EY ring around the lip, maybe pinstripe tape, or maybe RimBlades.

 

Hmm I think I’ll take the wheels off my F55 and put those on the SE when it arrives. Then in spring I’ll give some money to Handler for 18s on the F55

 

Chicago winter is still a few months away, but I'm starting to think about what I'm going to do. My SE came with summer tires on the 17" Pedal Spoke rims. I'm trying to decide whether I want to keep the same wheels year-round and have my tire place swap them out for me 2x year, or invest in a separate set of wheels. Any advantage to going with 16" from a range-saving perspective? I don't plan on much snowstorm driving as my wife as an Outback for those occasions, so I was thinking going with an all-season would give me decent enough traction and not destroy range as much as a true winter tire. Dunno. This Continental ExtremeContact seemed like a decent option if I stuck with the 17" rims: https://tiresize.com/tires/Continental/ExtremeContact-DWS-06-Plus-205-45R17.htm
Definitely open to suggestions on what to do here.

 

The real advantage of going to 16s is that there will likely be a better selection available used off the usual classifieds sites, and no doubt at a much lower cost than decent 17s — more than any savings you’d be sure to garner with the lighter setup’s extra range over the life of the tires.

 

How important is range and how much do you enjoy the cornering power of your summer performance tires? You'd lose both with all-season tires.

It would take you weeks to read this complete thread, but it's generally agreed that MINI chose some of the most efficient tires available--especially considering they're summer performance tires. I don't believe anyone has found all-season tires that can match the efficiency (ie. range) of MINI's selection of summer performance tires. Certainly, no all-season tire can be as much fun when going around a corner, which is what many consider a MINI's primary mission.

I believe winter tires can stop my car a few inches shorter (probably more) when the snow flies. Those few inches could make the difference between stopping in time or taking my SE to the body shop (or worse). That's why the expense of having two sets of seasonal wheels and tires is worth it to me. Also, I used to work on my own cars but with my SE there's nothing to work on, so swapping my wheels lets me use a few of my tools so I can feel involved with my car.

 

How much worse will the performance loss be from true winter tires vs all-seasons? I'm planning on switching tires based on the season either way, but thought going with an all-season option may be a way to make it less painful and still have decent traction in the winter.

 

There are at least three factors contributing to my winter range reduction:

• lower temperatures affecting the battery performance
• use of the heat pump and (shudder) the resistive heater
• the greater rolling resistance of winter tires

I can't control the temperatures without moving out of Michigan. I'm a creature of comfort so I won't be attempting bone-chilling, open-window experiments like @Puppethead. I really appreciate my Michelin X-Ice winter tires that ensure I can go and stop in the snow (as long as it isn't deeper than my SE's ground clearance). They're not as noisy as the Nokian Hakkdkskslkdlfa (too lazy to look up the actual spelling) winter tires I swap onto my Honda Clarity Plug-In Hybrid, but Michelin doesn't appear sell the exact ones I have anymore).

I wish US tire vendors would supply the same efficiency rating data as European tire vendors.

I enjoy the initially unnerving, but interesting high-tech experience of driving my SE in the snow with the default anti-wheelspin traction-control engaged. When I floor the accelerator in the snow, instead of leaping forward, as it does on dry pavement, and instead of spinning the front wheels, as my previous FWD cars have done, my SE just creeps forward--I assume--at the maximum acceleration possible given the available traction of my winter tires.

What does an SE with summer performance tires do in the snow? Does it just sit there, unmoving, while the traction-control refuses to allow any wheelspin whatsoever?