I'm jealous. The stuff is $1.17 CDN per litre in the Vancouver BC (Canada) area. But it was $1.75 per litre in the summer last year.
Replaced the MINI OEM tires (on the left) with 215/40-18 Michelin Pilot Sport AS/3 (on the right... non-runflat). "And now for the rest of the story." One of my OEM Pirelli P-Zero runflats (205/40-18) had a slow leak (1 psi a day). I couldn't find a nail, so I took it in to Discount Tires to see if they could find a leak (perhaps the stem, I hoped). One of their guys destroyed the bead while removing the tire. They offered me a free exact tire, but it would take 3-5 days to get it in. I'm on a road-trip tomorrow, so needed a different option (there aren't very many in the OEM or +Zero size). I asked for the best deal on a set of Goodrich G-Force Comp 2 tires. Discontinued. The ONLY tires they had nearby were Hankook Ventus(?) or the Michelins. They offered me a 50% discount on the tires, and I took them up on the offer. And yes, the tire shown on the left is my temp spare I had them put on so I could run errands waiting for the new tires to come up on the truck from San Antonio.
Glad you ditched the runflats and got some decent tires. But boo on the guy who broke the bead on your original tire.
The Pirelli P-Zero runflats were actually VERY good tires, with the only operational shortcoming being the STIFF sidewalls (not all bad in a low profile tire, IMO). The other faults of most RFs were absent (dartiness, excessive road-noise, and poor directional feel). They came on the OEM JCW 18" wheelset I got a couple of years ago. The original 17" Dunlop OEM runflats were a disgrace to a once-proud name.
Back tonight after a nice 696 mile drive in the Countryman with Patty and our Golden Pup. We drove down to the Great Sand Dunes National Park, played in the sand and snow and did an overnight in Alamosa, CO. It was flat zero this morning but great blue sky. The CM fired right up. We drove back the back way up San Luis Valley, it is cold and pretty with some tall mountains on both sides, good motoring in 12 degrees with a 75 mph average, great road. We celebrated our Anniversary in a small Italian diner in the center of Alamosa!
Today I washed the last month's worth of road crud off the Porker... Worked a little bit on the intake box for Isobell, and cleaned up the guns that are going to the range tomorrow with Erik and Teresa. Now its off to the nephew's B-day party for a little while, before I go cut some 1/8" aluminum plate in the garage.
Took the wife and dog for a ride in her S. She went shopping for a bit and then we took Pepper for a walk before heading back here, about 70 miles roundtrip. My S is sick and it's off to another mechanic Tuesday to see what is ailing it.
Today I finally installed my OC3 mat sensor simulator and it worked perfectly. No more airbag light code when I scan my car. YAY If you have an R53 with an airbag light on 9 times out of 10 the passenger OC3 mat is bad. This will fix it in 10 min and all you have to do when you are done is scan the car and clear the code. They also make these for the R56. This is the exact one I ordered from the same seller. [ame="http://www.ebay.com/itm/Bypass-For-Mini-Cooper-R50-R52-R53-R54-Seat-Occupancy-Mat-Sensor-Airbag-Emulator-/161292351640?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&fits=Model%3ACooper&hash=item258dc5f898&vxp=mtr"]Bypass for Mini Cooper R50 R52 R53 R54 Seat Occupancy Mat Sensor Airbag Emulator | eBay[/ame]
Drove out to New Albany for MoM Donuts with some of my MoM friends. Decent turnout, hot coffee and fresh donuts.
Put new brake pads on my wife's Countryman. Just replaced them 20K ago. I think she likes to use the throttle more than she lets on!