Tires (Summer/Winter/All-Season)

I ordered my SE with the 17"x7" Roulette Spoke wheels, which came with 205/45R17 Hankook Ventus S1 evo3 ultra high-performance summer tires. (I find it interesting that TireRack doesn't know about this size for that brand & model of tire.)

I love the look of those wheels, but I wish they weren't so darn heavy. My usual preference is:

1. Lightweight wheels with ultra/high performance summer tires.
2. High performance all-season tires on the stock wheels (since we usually get more weeks of spring and fall than summer here).
3. A third set of "minus one" sized wheels with winter tires.

That takes up a lot of garage space, but it sure is nice to perform a wheel swap myself to ensure the best combo when the seasons change.

Since the stock wheels came with ultra high-performance summer tires, and I can't bring myself to spend money to replace those tires immediately (or deal with the logistics of doing that plus moving these tires over to a new set of wheels), I recently decided to take a different approach:

• I'll keep those tires on these wheels while they're still usable, and replace them with all-seasons when they're due for replacement.
• Meanwhile, I will get some lightweight wheels and put all-seasons on those. (Especially since fall is upon us now.)
  • Still trying to decide on wheels. The front-runners are the NM Engineering RSe05, which are 17"x7.5 and weigh in at 16.5lbs.
  • For tires, I'm considering either Michelin Pilot Sport All Season 4 or Continental ExtremeContact DWS06.
    • I'm currently leaning toward the Continentals, as they are 3lbs lighter than the Michelins in this size.
• I will skip getting dedicated winter wheels + tires for this year. This will help defer some cost, plus I already have a good set of winter wheels + tires for my wife's car. When the weather warrants that kind of equipment, we can just take her car instead.

 

Which wheels did you get? I suspect that certain wheels were mounted with certain tires.

 

I read that the Power Spoke wheels are the lightest 17" wheels MINI makes. I'll report the weight of the Power Spoke wheels with the same Hankook tires when I take them off soon. I've never had a car with high-performance summer tires before and I'm very impressed by these Hankooks. I'm amazed how hard I have to push them before they start squealing.

I've not come close to the Hankooks' ultimate cornering limits because I'm chicken. However, for the first time ever, I left the stoplight on William at Main St, rocketed around the corner from William to 4th, and was easily able to make it through the Packard stoplight at a normal speed before it turned yellow. Twelve seconds of drama, yet in near silence. What tires and what a car!

I'll be putting the Power Spoke wheels into storage soon. I can't stomach the grief I would feel when I curbed them, losing the thin Energetic Yellow stripe around their circumference. I'll put them on just for special events (there will be more events some day, right?). I bought some used 16" MINI Loop Spoke wheels with an older model Hankook performance tire. After I put them on, I'll feel I can let friends try driving my SE. Also, I'll finally risk letting the car park itself. My MA told me it's a "terrifying experience."

I'm planning to put some Michelin X-Ice winter tires on the Loop Spoke wheels when it's time. Then I have to figure out how to hypnotize my wife into not noticing when I buy a still-to-be-selected set of 17" MINI wheels for everyday use next summer. I was planning to get another set of these wonderful Hankooks for those wheels, but didn't realize that they are unheard of in US tire stores. Can MINI get replacements? I'm so inexperienced with summer performance tires that I'd likely be just as impressed by highly rated competitors. I'll be bummed if they squeal easily, however.

 

I am also looking into NM engineering RSe05 with the Michelin Pilot Sport All Season 4. If I remember correctly, in Michelin's comparison it has 10% more grip in snow than the DW06 where it always had the edge compared to other tires in its class. If its efficiency you are looking for with lighter tires, the DW06 has not been shown to efficient in multiple tests over the years and any difference would be likely fall in the realm of statistical error. All tires within the ultra high performance all season category have high rolling resistance per consumer reports and are not efficient.

 

Also, fair warning on the hankooks and kumhos of the world. These are wanna be premium tires and their big draw is that they are cheaper than the Michelin's and Pirelli's. They are great during the first half of their warrantied life but become noisier with lower wet grip (the most important metric for a commuter tire) as the miles pile on.
Consumer reports has a great article on the topic with test results on multiple tires comparing their new and worn down performance.

 

Tech Forum's Matt Shumaker got Hankooks on his Signature Plus and I got them on my Iconic. It's unclear to me which cars get the Goodyear F1 tires. The cars loaned to journalists all had the Goodyear F1 tires. It would make sense to put the best tires on the cars being tested by journalists.

 

Since @insightman got Hankooks with his Power Spokes, my theory is shot. It's probably just basic manufacturing pragmatism, where they spec'd multiple suppliers for the same component, then buy the option with the best price/availability when stocking up for assembly.

 

Okay, I think I will pull the trigger on these wheels and have Neuspeed install the Michelins (and TPMS) for convenience.

I'll have a net weight savings of 1.9lbs which ain't a lot, but it ain't nothing (and better than gaining weight). I'll be exchanging heavy wheels with light tires for light wheels with heavy tires...for now, at least. When the time comes, I can put lighter summer tires on these wheels and maybe lighter all-seasons on the stock Roulettes.

 

Reducing unsprung weight is always a good thing. Do any tire stores list the weights of the tires they sell or is there a tire-weight database somewhere?

 

TireRack will show you the tire's weight and much more data. Scroll down to the Description, then select the "Specs" tab. That table will even show you the specs for additional sizes.

 

Thanks for doing all the hard work and sharing your expertise.

 

I'm an engineering type who enjoys overthinking things and understanding them. Might as well share if others can benefit.

 

Yeah, it looks like the available Hankook high performance summer tires (non-run flat) weigh in at 19 or 20lbs for 205/45R17. Slightly heavier, but not terrible. I would guess the evo3 weighs 19lbs.

TireRack has the previous generation Honkook Ventus S1 evo2, but only the run flat version which will weigh more due to the additional sidewall reinforcement (21lbs).

 

Yeah I was really hoping for the Mini black spoke wheels for winter. I guess that's not to be... Looks like I'll be shopping for rims at tire rack and getting the lightest black alloys I can.

 

Call me old-fashioned, but a narrow heavy tire with studs (if allowed in your area) is preferable over something light that is better suited to spirited summer-driving. (hell, I still fill my tractor tires for winter for that extra little bit of traction)

 

The BMW Blog wrote:
> The CATL battery allegedly offers about the same
> capacity [as the i3 battery] in a more compact
> package and MINI says it is less prone to
> cold-weather range-reduction than the i3’s
> Samsung battery.

The arrangement of the SE's battery presents less surface area to the cold environment than the slab-style i3 battery and the SE's battery is more exposed to the warm interior of the cabin than the i3's battery. I suspect that even if the CATL batteries are better than the i3's Samsungs, the arrangement helps minimize the SE's cold-weather range-reduction.

It will be interesting to watch how the SE's Guess-O-Meter adjusts its full-charge range estimate to compensate for lower temperatures. So far I haven't seen a direct correlation.