After 25K miles on my 06 R53, I found the insides of the rear tires severely worn, almost to the wear bars, while the center and outside are 8/32. I haven't rotated the tires because my SA said not to.

As I live 100 miles from my dealer, I took the car to a local alignment shop where they found the rear wheels at -2.5 deg camber and 1/8" toe in but had no specs to set it to. A second shop found the wheels at -2.5 deg and 0 toe but set it to -1.0 deg and 1/16" toe in. They said the specs were +1 to -2.5 deg camber. Yeah, right! At least the lesser negative camber should help tire wear...

I have searched the web for alignment specs with no success. No problems with the fronts. Will anyone help?

 

Well I don't have the alignment specs handy (but am interested for that answer, agressive settings can probably be found in the AutoX area), but the roating the tires thing is bull if you do it every 5k or so so the tread wear stays realitvely close.

It stems from BMW often running larger tires in the rear than the front so BMWs can't roate and MINI simply over looked it, and the dealers try to charge $300-$400 for a single tire. I just do front to back every 5k no issues from that after a few sets of tires (with seasons and flats) and 77.7k miles.

 

I wore out the inside of my first set of tires in less than 20K miles (and rotated front-to-back every 5000 miles)...

My current pair, I'm running the pressures a bit higher, still rotating front-to-back every 5K, and when they start showing heavy wear on the inside (probably at 15 or 20K) I'll have the tires unmounted the "flipped" - this then allows the tires to be switched left-to-right and makes the "inside" the "outside" - effectively almost doubling the wear you can get... just can't wait TOO long to do the flip...

Negative camber is part of what makes MINI handling great... but it sure does wear out inside edges...

 

You need to know when to not believe your SA. Not rotating your tires is one of those times.

 

The best place to ask this question is in

Suspension Forum
or
Wheels tires and brakes Forum

For a stock MINI MCS your rear camber is excessive. Did you lower your suspension? If so that is why you rear camber is that much. Normally rear camber should be about -1.0 to -2.0 degrees. Front camber is not adjustable and usually -0.5 degrees and doesn't change much with lowering.

Stock alignment for 2002-2006 MC or MCS
Front camber -0.9 to -0.1 degrees
Front toe 0.11 to 0.19 degrees or 1/8 to 3/16" toe in.
Rear camber -1.0 to -2.0 degrees
Rear toe 0.13 to 0.27 degrees or 1/8 to 1/4" toe in.

Toe settings will be toe in front and rear for stock.
Aggressive street settings would be-
Front zero toe to 1/16" toe out. Use 1/8" toe in for street use only.
Rear 1/16" toe in to zero toe. Use 1/8" toe in for street use.

Front camber -0.5 degrees
Rear camber about -1.0 to -1.5 degrees will be fine. More negative in the rear increases understeer.

Your model year MCS has a small adjuster at the bottom of the rear suspension to make camber a little adjustable.

Any alignment and brake specialist shop will have the stock specs for the MINI (usually the R50). You can set alignment to factory specs for street use only. Many times we do set alignment to more aggressive specs to help handling for track or autocross purposes. Tires will wear a little faster but not too bad if you don't drive more than 10,000 miles per year. If you do drive long commutes and more than 20,000 miles per year then factory specs would be best.

see
https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...d.php?t=113001
Links on post #10

 

Thanks, minihune, for the great discussion and information. Sounds like my current settings of -1 deg and 1/16" toe in on the back are just about right for street and spirited driving. As I went from -2.5 deg and 0 toe to -1 deg and 1/16 in, can I expect less understeer than before the change? My Webb rear bar took care of most of the factory understeer but I still really notice it with power on.

 

I've had -2.4 degrees in the rear after installing H-sport springs and it wasn't smooth riding at all. I've also had -0.7 degrees in the rear and did fine for street driving.

Your current rear settings are fine for daily driving. Be smooth when increasing power and your suspension will react more predictably. Too stiff on the rear swaybar isn't always best.