Tires (Summer/Winter/All-Season)

Love it! I was gonna mansplain exactly this suggestion. Around the time I tore down my smart cabrio and swapped for the coilover suspension, I scored a used set of rims from one of BRABUS’ OESes, but without any BRABUS badging. I originally got the decals from China and they looked pretty great for a couple of years, before I found a NOS set of real BRABUS centre caps on eBay for a song. Your rims look awesome!

 

Snapped a picture here at work, so here's the MSW Type 27's with Continental Extremecontact DWS 06 Plus on my SE:

 

From the multiple versions I saw online, you chose the best MSW Type 27s. They bear a resemblance to the used MINI Loop Spoke rims I bought on ebay for both my summer and winter tires (except mine are silver).

 

I have some shiny black German Autec Bavaris 6.5x16 rims in my basement waiting for discounttire to get my Nokian WR-G4. Pictures when they are on the car.


Felgenoutlet.com has a decent selection of European made wheels to fit, if you can handle the German. Best website to find euro options, if not buy them. 5x112s in mini offset are a bit thin on the ground.

They also have weights. Mine are specced at 7.65kg, but my luggage scale says 8kg or 17.5lb. still almost 2lb lighter than my Victories, though they didn't lighten my wallet too much at $595 total. Have a search on eBay for 6,5x16 5x112. Use a comma, not a full stop to get European sellers. Mine came from tunershop Germany. Stock offset on F56 16s is 54, you do not want to go higher or your front tyres are liable to rub. Up to 10 less shouldn't affect steering much. Some Mercedes and Audi wheels are suitable.

 

Those wheels need bigger brakes!

 

For any Canadians who picked up new winter tires, or are about to do so, RedFlagDeals has a roundup of all mail-in rebates available. I’ll be getting a $90 Visa gift card thanks to my Nokian Hakkapeliitta R5s.

 

I believe a few of us have Nokian WR G4 now - curious of anyone has similar experience to me. They are quite loud, which I expected over the stock summers.

That odd part is it gets much worse when accelerating. Sounds as if it’s losing traction or as if I’m driving on a gravel road. Punching it for a little burst does it every time (ex. starting at 20mph hit it until I reach 30mph.) Nice easy acceleration throughout has no issues, but where is the fun in that?

 

That is really strange--I'm sure the SE won't let the tires slip, so the sound must be from tread-flexing.

In slippery snow, I'm amused when I floor the accelerator and the SE just creeps forward because that's as quickly as it can accelerate while preventing wheel-spin.

I put the Nokians (model name starts with "H") back on our Clarity yesterday, but for fun reasons, I'm delaying putting my quieter Michelin winter tires back on the SE until I have actual evidence the snowy season has arrived.

 

This was my line of thinking too. They said they started with a winter, then made it all weather so it could be a side effect of that. Maybe softer sipes flexing up under stress. The behavior goes away above 40mph. Hard to tell if SE is pulling less or the tires are spinning fast enough that it doesn't happen. It's not an actual traction issue as you point out, it just sounds like one.

 

I’ve found over the years that Nokian [tyres that sound like clearing a loogey] and Blizzaks (even more prominently) make a fairly loud squishing/squirming sound under acceleration. It’s less noticeable on dry asphalt and really there on wet concrete.

 

I've noticed they can be a little noisy. Couldn't really tell about acceleration noise on my R53. The header and JCW exhaust drown everything out.
Still waiting on my SE WrG4s

 

For those of you who know, how much louder are the WRG4 tires compared to the Nokian R5 tires? I’m in the Vancouver, BC, Canada area, so mostly rain with a couple or so months when it snows for a few days at a time .I love the summer tires, which will stay on for 7 or 8 months. So which would be better for me WRG4 or R5? I don’t go into the mountains. I would like quieter tires if possible. Thanks

 

I can’t speak to the WRG4 but I find the R5’s are very quiet and smooth and are quieter then the Blizzaks on our gas Mini.

 

Hey I searched before posting, anyone got this winter set yet? JCW PRO 17 INCH STYLE 505 BLACK COLD WEATHER WHEEL AND TIRE SET
https://www.shopminiusa.com/PRODUCT/2182/JCW-PRO-17-INCH-STYLE-505-BLACK-COLD-WEATHER-WHEEL-AND-TIRE-SET

Seems to come with run-flats which is less that ideal. But the track spoke set is $2400 and I'm worried the 508 radial spoke set will not really be great either for NC since winter snow is limited and 5.5 inch wide tires seems like too little for everyday driving.

 

The SE is the only MINI that doesn't come with run-flat tires. Run-flat winter tires will reduce your SE's EV range and make for a less-comfortable ride.

 

Yes, not much snow down here. The SE is also no lightweight, so I'm going for 195/55r16 winter tyres on aftermarket rims. You should also be fine with 17s if that is your thing.
I'm also in NC. I have some Nokian WRG4 on order. I should get them this week. Those are all weather. They are a notch more wintery than all seasons but not as good as full winter tyres. For NC, I'd suggest either decent all seasons such as Continental, or all weather. Both in any standard 'summer' size, with a preference for 16, if you can bear the look!
I have a set of WR G4s for my r53 and really like them.
Wheel choice is a little limited for the F56. I went for some German Autec wheels that are mini-specific. There are others out there.

 

Which Autec wheels did you choose? There's an unwritten forum rule (ignore the fact that I'm writing it): discussions of wheels must be accompanied by photos or a link to photos (a link to photos with prices tells us how much you liked those wheels vs OEM MINI wheels).

 

Thanks for the reply. I was having troubling finding an aftermarket wheel i liked, seems like they all have a smaller offset and I'm not really wanting to run spacers.

Looks like another set just popped up on their website today. 494 16" wheel set, might be the route I go. I don't mind the 16 inch in the winter for a bit of efficiency improvement against the temperature hit and the 6.5" wide tires will look a bit better hopefully.