Dunlop SP9000 or Goodyear Eagle RS-A EMT or ???

[BENJ]

I currently have a Cooper S with the 17" Bullets on the Dunlop SP 9000 DST (205/45) tyres and the front tyres are coming up for replacement (done nearly 12k miles - is this good?).

This winter the tyres have been absolutely hopeless in the snow and I have been looking on mytyres.co.uk and the tyre test gives these tyres a bad score in the snow. I am considering replacing them with Goodyear Eagle RS-A EMT (run flats) as the tyre test does give them a better score overall and was wondering if anybody had any experience of these tyres (wear, grip, etc) or any other choices on the market must be the 205/45 R17.

Thanks

[Stevie B]

Quote: Originally Posted by BENJ

I currently have a Cooper S with the 17" Bullets on the Dunlop SP 9000 DST (205/45) tyres and the front tyres are coming up for replacement (done nearly 12k miles - is this good?).

This winter the tyres have been absolutely hopeless in the snow and I have been looking on mytyres.co.uk and the tyre test gives these tyres a bad score in the snow. I am considering replacing them with Goodyear Eagle RS-A EMT (run flats) as the tyre test does give them a better score overall and was wondering if anybody had any experience of these tyres (wear, grip, etc) or any other choices on the market must be the 205/45 R17.

Thanks

These tires are not even in the same category. Your summer Dunlops (same as mine) are horrible in the cold and equally bad in the snow. That's why they are summer tires. Any all-season tire will give you decent performance in all conditions, but they're like a F-16 fighter jet--jack of all trades, master of none. The best solution is to use 2 sets of tires per year. The Dunlops are great for the warmer weather (and winter will be over soon for this year), but no summer tire will get the job done over winter. Best to have a second set of wheels and dedicated winter tires. Luckily, many MINI drivers dump the heavy S-spokes or stock X-lites so many are available used. Pick up a set and mount winter tires and you'll have the best of both worlds. And think of this, because you switch the tires semi-annually, they (both sets) last a long long time.