16" "comfort" tire recomendations ?

[sbonney]

Not your usual performance question I beleive, but...

My wife's 2003 Cooper with standard sport suspension (purchased of the lot) came with 16" 5-spokes and Goodyear Performance Runflats. We really like the look of the 5-spokes, and have the mini-spare in the back. She has asked if we could soften the ride by replacing the runfalts. In SE Michigan we have very poor roads, with lots of small and large imperfections.

She is not concerned about ultimate cornering capability, but would like a noticable improvement in ride comfort. The tires need to be all-season as well, but the car is not driven much in deep snow.

I've read that Yokahoma AVS ES100's are a nice upgrade...but I believe they are not all-season tires.

Again she would prefer a smooth and comfortable ride over ultimate grip. Treadlife is not a concern, she only drives about 3000 miles a year. Cost is somewhat of a concern, about $300 to 400 total mounted cost would probably be O.K. if we felt the improvement was noticeable.

Thanks in advance for your ideas...also please describe the level of improvement that we may observe. Her last car was a 1991 BMW 535i with 16" Performance Goodyear NCT's, but she also thought that they were too harsh for our level of roads.

I drive a 2002 VW GTI 24V VR6 with 17" Pirelli P6000 all season tires and find the softly sprung ride much more compliant and comfortable than her MINI. Of course the VW with 200 hp and a 6 speed is a lot faster than the 115 hp MINI Cooper but not nearly as much fun in the twisty bits ! It would be nice to morph the two cars into one vehicle someday.

Scott

[ezrally]

Anything non runflat or even maybe a 60 series tyre would be better for what you want.
And alot of others...

[sbonney]

I just lowered the tire pressure of the runflats from the delivered 35 psi maximum load inflation setting to 30 psi, which is the minimum 2 passenger setting. Seems to have helped somewhat....how much better would non runflats feel ? any specific brands to recommend to optimize a smooth ride ?

[ezrally]

I only have heard of people switching to regular 2o5/45-17 tyres and they said they ride better.
Also we have 185/65-15s on 15" wheels for a snow setup and the S rides totally nice. I am considering putting a good performance 195/60-15 tyre on my winter wheels for the better ride myself and giving up the "style" of the 17s.
Try Tire Rack, on their web site they have alot of answers you are looking for.

[ezrally]

Also, we are not the only ones thinking the MINI is a better handling car w smaller wheels.
This months EVO (April) magazine says they think a Cooper w the standard 175/70-15s bring out the best in the car.

[HarryHBMCC]

195/55R16 is a fairly rare size. The Dunlops and Goodyears that come on the MINI are some of the few that are available on this side of the pond. Firestone Firehawk GTA 02's are available in H speed rating and are fairly cheap, $68 each (also available in 215/50R16 for $87 each). If you move up to 205/50R16, there are Goodyear Eagle RS-A's for $97 each or BFGoodrich Radial T/A's for $92 each.

Removing the stiff runflat sidewalls will likely help but unfortunately, so would finding a less performance oriented tire. The BFGoodrich Radial T/A tires are only S rated so they might be softer than the other tires which are mostly H rated and higher in this size.

If you want a taller sidewall you'll have to ditch the 5-stars but you like them (and so do I) so it would be a shame to get rid of them. If 30PSI on the runflats isn't good enough, try some non-runflats -- I haven't used any of the ones I listed but perhaps a search will yield something.

Harry

[noahe]

Try putting on a tire that emphasizes a smooth and quiet ride. There are numerous tires out there. These are the sizes that I think will fit your rim (check rim width, as allowance varies by manufacturer). Call up a tire shop and ask what they have with a smooth ride. Maybe one of these widths will be more common?

215/45-16 | 23.62in (599.9mm)
195/50-16 | 23.68in (601.4mm)
225/45-16 | 23.97in (608.9mm)
205/50-16 | 24.07in (611.4mm)
195/55-16 | 24.44in (620.9mm)
215/50-16 | 24.46in (621.4mm)