For cost effective yet ultra high performing tires that won't scare you if it rains the Nitto Neo Gens are my favorite..everyone that rides in my MINI knows I love to drive fast and hard. The RE01Rs are wonderful but after 3 autocrosses, they are pretty worn. Though if your wheels are the right size, I really wanted to try the Nitto Invos which are known to be ultra quiet and sticky but have limited sizing.
Eurotuner just did a review of the Continental ExtremeContact that includes all season tires. They sound like they are a pretty good all around tire. You can read about it here: Continental ExtremeContact Tires Review - ETech - Eurotuner Magazine
This is what I ended up putting on the car. Because they are "all season," the sidewalls are a bit squidgy (compared to extreme performance summer tires, anyway) but for daily driving duties I'm very happy so far.
I've ran two sets now of Falken RT615's and have been very happy with the performance and treadwear has been between 10 and 12k mostly hwy driving. I'm really satisfied with these although I dont ever really see anyone mention them in any of the Mini forums???? Anyways, so many of you are talking about these NeoGen's and they have been getting great reviews so I'm asking: Should I continue with the Falken's ($114) or try something new and get the Nitto's ($92)?? I dont track the car or autocross but I'm really trying to make an effort to at least get to an autocross this year and maybe even one track event (first timer). That's leaning me more towards the Falken's but I'm so curious about the Nitto's. decisions, decisions!! Help please, Steve
I was going nuts reading all the reviews and hearing all the opinions. I'd make up my mind only to have another review take me in another direction. I ended up going to Consumer Reports and they were very high on both Falken's and Nitto's. I went with the Nitto's because I understood they were a little better in cold weather and wet conditions. Haven't tested the cold weather but they are very good on dry and wet conditions
I just ordered a set of Dunlop Direzza Sport Z1 Star Spec (215/40/17). $118/each. I will post a review after they are mounted (hopefully this weekend). I went with General UHP the last time around trying to get a little more mileage out of a set, but promised myself to never do that again. The performance hit was more then I was willing to live with. Slightly off topic, but what sort of mileage is everyone getting? I usually manage about 8k on 280-300 wear tire. Also, what pressure does everyone run on the street? I usually go about 34 PSI, but I am starting to get a feeling that it might be a bit too low.
I can speak directly to this. I have a set of Rt615's for the MINI that I have run on the street extensively. The Azenis, as you know, are a notch below R-comps. They do retain every flavor of an R compound tire though, such as fast response, good feedback, so-so wet performance (no monsoons, please), lots of tire noise on the highway, road comfort is besides the point, and evil evil snow or ice handling. The Neogens are much more the all-around tire, which is both good and bad. Wet performance is much better (so I hear - no rain in the desert since I put the tires on), cold weather performance will be much improved, tire noise is way down, and road comfort is comparatively awesome. The ultimate grip for the Neogen is surprisingly good - five years ago it would have been an eye-popper for a competition tire, in fact. BUT. The Neogen is much "squigier" than the RT or any R-comp. The impression is that the sidewalls are much softer, so the steering response is much delayed compared to, say, a Nitto NT-01. Once you are used to this, you can work with the tires and enjoy the drive. Right at first, though, it can be unsettling. For my purposes (daily drive, mostly highway, very little traffic) the Neogen is working very well. I got the 205/40-16 size for $77 each at Discount Tire Direct, and I'm loving it.
I have 17k on a set of Dunlop Star Specs (215/45/17), which includes 3 track weekends, highway commuting, and spirited club drives. They're great in the dry, great in the rain with more than half tread, and absolutely terrible in the snow (yeah, I tried). I'll probably get another track weekend or two and 3-5k miles on these tires before they're slick. On the track, they have tons of grip and release very predictably. I had a set of Potenza RE050As that I wore down to the wear bars, and they were good, but they weren't as smooth around the ultimate grip point of the rubber. With the Star Specs, it seems like they have a ton of grip even when the car loosens up and starts to drift, which makes it very easy to rotate the car and apply power before the apex. I ran the Star Specs in the rain somewhere between full and half tread, and they were fantastic. I was keeping up with a prepped E36 M3 on rain tires at VIR under the bridge, up the esses, and through Oak Tree, but he left me on the back straight through the puddles. Bottom line: great grip in the dry, great grip in the rain, noisy on the highway, not so comfortable, and terrible in the snow. I ran these at 38-40 cold on the street and 44-46 hot on the track. These tires love pressure. PS- I've never driven on R-comps, so I can't make that comparison.
thanks for the help....i think the NeoGens at $92 from discount tire can't be beat saving me almost $90 over the RT615 and probably not sacrificing so much as I havent been to the track or autocrosses yet to even know how well the falkens CAN perform. I know Blimey has been running the NeoGens at the track fairly successfully, how about autocrosses? It may be a last minute thing for me to attend one and will just have to use the neogens. They'll perform pretty well? How much of a loss will it be from the falkens?
First autocross? You won't notice the difference between Neogens and Falkens. You might want to think twice about autocrossing on brand new tires, though. That's an easy way to tear some chunks out of the shoulder.
hmmm so do you think when I get my new tires installed I should hang on to my old RT615s?? They are pretty much wasted but I could put those on my s lites temporarily for autocrosses until I can get another set of lightweight wheels. They are pretty bald, maybe 1/32 left of tread.
You're talking about using NeoGens as daily driving tires and using them at autocross? Should be fine. Definitely not as effective as having a second set, but I spent the last season autocrossing on Kumho ASX.. they were aweful (420 treadwear) but they got me through it while waiting for my new wheels to get here. I've had NeoGens before, they'll do a lot better than my Kumhos did. No excuses: start autocrossing
Go ahead and start dicing up some cones. Definitely season the tires with a couple thousand miles if possible, but you'll be fine on the NeoGens.
Get new tires on new wheels, and keep your baldies for autoX on your old wheels. Once they're corded, reverse the process and put new street tires on your old wheels and autoX on your oldies... gives you a new look every time! Or just use your baldies for AutoX and replace them with autoX tires when they're done. Generally, figure about 1.5 seconds more per 30 seconds of autocross time (street tires at 31 sec, autoX tires at 29-30 on the same course). You'll have just as much fun though. There are some good reasons to autoX on street tires, since that's how your car will react on the street and autoX can prepare you for that... but street tires aren't as fast, naturally.
I have Kumho ASX all seasons on both my MINIs and, while they are not a track tire, they have seen Spring and late Fall HPDEs at Mid Ohio. Yeah, the ride is a bit soft and yeah, they are not great in heavy snow, but they hold the road well in rain and in light snow. They are my daily driving tires and were cheap from Tire Rack. In Summer, I run Azenis RT 615s, and in Winter, the Blizzaks go on. For the price, the Kumhos are hard to beat, especially if you are looking to use them as I do as mostly a daily driver with some track days thrown in for good measure. They are in their 3rd year of use and are about due to be changed out sometime by the year's end. BTW, the Cooper uses 195-50-16, and the MCS is running 205/50/16 tires. Both are set at 35 psi.