[MGB Boy]

Sorry in advance if this is well-travelled ground for some, or if this specific issue has been addressed before and I just plain missed it. None of this is too important really, I'm just curious. As we all know from playing with the MINIUSA "build your own Cooper S" tool, when you choose the 17" wheels (either alone or as part of the Sport Package), the system asks you if you want performance tires or all-season tires. Not too long ago, I recall a consensus forming on this board that if you ordered 17" wheels and opted for "performance tires", you got the Pirelli Eufori@. If you got the 17" wheels and opted for "all-season tires", you got the Dunlops.

Well, when I ordered my S, I asked for performance tires. My window sticker even says "performance tires". The tires on the car are Dunlop SP Sport 9000 DSSTs. Rather odd, I thought. I took a look at the tread pattern and said to myself "there's no way that's an all-season tire". There's no "all-season" or "M+S" designation on the sidewall either, so I did a little homework online. The Dunlop website doesn't make any reference to the 9000 DSST being an all-season tire (it does for other tires in their line), and both Dunlop themselves and Tirerack classify it as a "max performance" tire. The full Dunlop and Pirelli line-ups:

Dunlop

Max Performance

SP Sport 9000

SP Sport 9000 DSST (Run-flat)


Ultra High Performance

SP Sport FM901

SP Sport 8000/8000E

SP Sport 8080E

SP Sport 2000


Ultra High Performance All-Season

SP Sport 5000

SP Sport 4000 A/S


High Performance All-Season

SP Sport A2


Performance All-Season

GT Qualifier T


Standard Touring

D65 T Touring

D65 T Touring Elite


Grand Touring

SP Sport 270


All-Season

SP40 A/S


Winter

Graspic DS-1

Graspic HS1

Graspic HS2

Winter Sport M2

----------------------------------

Pirelli

Max Performance

PZero Rosso

PZero System


Ultra High Performance

Pirelli eufori@

P7000 Summer

P6000

P700Z


Ultra High Performance All-Season

P7000 SuperSport All-Season


High Performance

P6000


High Performance All-Season

P6 FOUR SEASONS

P4000 Super Touring


Touring

P6000 Sport Veloce

P4000 Super Touring

P400 Touring


Winter

Winter 210 Snow Sport

Winter 240 SnowSport

Winter 210 Asimmetrico

Winter Ice Asimmetrico



The bottom line is that the Dunlop is a Z-rated "max performance" tire and the Pirelli is a V-rated "ultra high performance tire". Tirerack considers neither an all-season, and neither is described as such on their respective websites. So my question is; which one (if either) is MINI claiming is the "all-season" tire, or is there a third option? Has anyone requested all-seasons, and if so, what did you get?

Again, this is purely for my own curiosity. Regardless of what MINI considers my tires to be, they will be coming off to be replaced by proper snow tires this winter...

-Ricardo

[MINIAC]

Here's the tires that have been reported as being fitted to 'S' models:

205/45-17 Dunlop SP Sport 9000 DSST      21.8 lbs 
205/45-17 Pirelli Eufori@                23.0 lbs 
205/45-17 Goodyear Eagle RS-A EMT        30.4 lbs

All these tires are V [149 mph] rated.

If you order all-season tires on your 'S', you'll get the Goodyears, otherwise you get either Dunlops or Pirellis.

As far as the MINI is concerned, Tire Rack offers the Pirellis, but you can only get the Dunlops as a [Z rated] conventional tire. Interestingly, Tire Rack lists the Pirellis as Ultra-High Performance All-Season.

[rjwhittington]

I run the SP Sport 9000's on my Audi A8 Quattro and I don't rate them as a performance tire.

They are the closest Dunlop has got, which isn't much. They are a directional tyre so they are not brilliant on the back and not to responsive on the front either.

But guess what - they are cheap!

Mind you I've given a few rear wheeler's a fright trying to follow me around some tight corners - just accelerate into the corner and and accelerate out and watch them fighting to keep their back in - LOL

D i c k

[mblotto]

When I ordered my mini, I too opted for the performance tires, but the dealership would not guarantee which tire I would actually get. They said that cars tended to come in with different tires at different times, I guess depending on what tire was available when the car was shipped. I spoke to a guy I know at a tire shop regarding the Dunlops you have, and he said that they were considered a 'performance tire'.

[MGB Boy]

Quote:

Originally posted by MINIAC
Here's the tires that have been reported as being fitted to 'S' models:

205/45-17 Dunlop SP Sport 9000 DSST ........ 21.8 lbs
205/45-17 Pirelli Eufori@ .................. 23.0 lbs
205/45-17 Goodyear Eagle RS-A EMT .......... 30.4 lbs

Ah, therein lies the confusion. I thought that the Eagle RS-A EMT was the 16" runflat that comes standard on the S. And maybe it still is. But when had I read about that, I guess my mind just said "the Goodyear is the 16" and never considered it might be on the 17" too...

-Ricardo

[MINIAC]

195/55-16 Dunlop SP Sport 5000 DSST is all-season tire for 'S' with V-spokes

I believe that Cooper with 5-stars comes with either of the following summer tires:

195/55-16 Dunlop SP Sport 3000 DSST
195/55-16 Goodyear Eagle NCT 5 EMT

Sorry, but I don't have the weights on these