I'm looking at used Minis and I have a minor dilemma regarding year-round driving up here in Massachusetts. I don't plan on autocrossing or anything, this car will basically be a fun DD. Most used MCS's I'm looking at have 17" rims and some have OEM tires which are near the end of their useful life, or they've had the tires replaced. I'm told the run flats are loud and hard-riding, something I don't need. So... is there an all-season tire that will "quietly" provide 25K without the RF function? Or would I be better off getting a set of winter changeovers?

 

Depends on what your pocket can afford.

Check out Tire Rack.

Looks like the Goodyear Eagle RS-A is the only 205/45-17 runflat, all-season.

 

I'm running Toyo proxes all seasons never a trouble in the snow

 

Well, the 2008 MCS I bought solved the problem... came with two (2) complete sets of 17" wheels (BBS and ASA). Kuhmo Ecsta AST's are on the car right now, and the Winter tires are a near-new set of Michelin Pilot Alpin PA2's which were bought from Tirerack in December 2009. All eight tires are pressure-monitored, no run-flats as the PO hated the ride. I'll probably get two "seasons" out of the Kumho's before they need replacement alternating the Michelins for the Winter.

 

I had the AST's and got near 40K out of them

 

I had them on my wife's 328i ragtop because all the M3 guys were raving about them. They were excellent all-seasons, exceptional in the rain, not too noisy, and appeared to have great tread life. We sold the car to a friend who had been pestering me for a few years bc he wanted it for his wife LOL. Mine look good, and the minimum I expect is two seasons. We'll have to see how they look then.

One tire I will definitely look into down the road would be the Michelin Pilot Sport A/S Plus. I put a set of these on my wife's current E500... by far the quietest tire I've ever owned, seems to be wearing well, and since she has 4Matic... they are on all year and work pretty good in snow too. Plus I think they are a little "sticky" so they might be nice on a performance ride too.