I have an 09 Mini Cooper S. With 38K miles I am looking at my 3rd set of tires! Is this normal? I do not run the car hard. I get the normal rotations, balancing and alignment done. I am looking for recommendations on something that gets more mileage. With runflats I am not sure that is possible! My current ones are Pirelli Euforia. Please help!

 

Tires are like brake pads....
Best is different for everybody....
About 30,000-40,000 miles is on par for most performance tires...especially runflats from what I have been hearing.....a "touring" tire (ok for some, but not others)can get you more miles per tire, say 50-60,000, but less feel...tires that go above that range tend to feel pretty numb handling wise...
Since you have averaged 20,000 miles...sounds like you push the car pretty hard? Or maybe replace the tires at a deeper tread depth than minimum legal depth( I usually do)?
For a few suggestions, I might suggest you describe both how you drive, and list your tire size....
Did your prior tires wear evenly? Or more on the edges?
Switching to "normal" tires might be an option, just buy a spare, toss it in the trunk...and always mount it on the rear....

 

anything, well almost is better than run flats.

 

Your tire wear is a bit faster than usual as most owners can get about 15,000 miles on a full set of runflat tires, sometimes more if wheels are rotated every 4000 miles even if MINI says not to do that.

Front tires wear faster than rears. You can probably get better tread life from non runflat all season tires. Your 17x7" OEM wheels will fit 205/45-17 and 215/45-17 tire sizes.

Even if you don't really need All season tires for cold weather they work well in dry or wet and give decent comfort and lower noise.

With tire life as a priority:

If you still want good handling then-

In Ultra High Performance All Season tires (215/45-17)-
Continental ExtremeContact DWS $122 each, 540 treadwear
Goodyear Eagle Sport AS $122 each, 560 treadwear

Or if ride comfort is a priority then-

In Grand Touring All Season tires (215/45-17)-
Pirelli Cinturato P7 AS Plus $143 each, 700 treadwear
Michelin Premier A/S $146 each, 640 treadwear

 

Yes, tire models are designed to meet different needs for different drivers. Treadwear, noise, traction, wet, snow, etc. I really like the Continental DW tires for a "summer" tire that doesn't have to deal with snow but they are only a 20-30,000 mile tire. Do yourself a favor, go to TireRack.com, look up your existing tires, read all the specs, ratings, and reviews, then search for other tires in the same size (assuming you want to stay with the same size).

One more tip... Example, the DW tire has a 320 treadwear rating... Add 2 zeros and you have 32,000. This is approximately the treadwear/mileage you can get out of these tires in the best-case scenario. Most (aggressive) drivers will get less, but it is an easy way to compare.

 

This may be obvious but there is no "perfect" tire. There are tradeoffs. More dry grip means more wear. More wet/snow grip means more noise. But the tire compounds and designs are always getting better so today you may be able to buy a tire that has more grip and is quieter than 5 years ago.

Tirerack has a TON of good information to read about tires in general as well as on specific tires. You might try the following pages there:

Selecting the Right Tires
Tire Tech
Performance Categories
Tire Decision Guide

 

fwiw, I got 48k miles out of a set of the Conti DWS. When I bought them, they came with a 50k tread life guarantee - not sure whether they still offer that.

Currently sitting on 24k miles on Bridgestone 970AS. Based on wear, I'm projecting I'll get 35-40k out of them.

 

2500 miles on Rivals, but two track events and numerous Canyon runs...weekend car! It all depends on the compound of the tire and how you drive it...Look on tire rack and read the reviews, soft compound turns the car into a different animal!

 

Just put a set of Michelin Pilot Sport A/S 3's on my 2011 MCCS. Absolutely love them after 1400 miles including a couple runs on the Dragon and the surrounding roads. I had the Continental DWS previously and got 44k out of them. Could probably have gone another 3k or so. However, I knew the Dragon was waiting and so I got the Michelins. I got 24k from the OEM run flats.

 

I have Bridgestone runflats on my 2004 S. So far I have 38000 on them and still have a lot of tread.

 

Which Bridgestone model?

 

For me tires wearing like iron isn't a good thing. It means they are rock hard & don't stick well. If I can get 20K or so out of a set of tires I'm happy with them. I lean on my tires & they are just another consumable part like brakes.

 

Properly inflating the tires and checking that weekly will help get the most out of your tires. When I was lazy about that the tires, no matter what brand would be short lived. That in a nutshell is the important point.

 

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires....omCompare1=yes

tires: Hankook Rs-3's.
Rims: 949 6uL's (RMW edition) 15x9/15x8 rear.

I 've run these for a little over 16k miles. I still have substantial tread left on fronts and rears. I believe my fronts are 245 wide however and rears are 225x45x15. ( ONLY CMABER WEAR IS PRESENT ). I have set -1.6 front and -2.0 camber rear. Sitting on Lowered coil over suspension.

I drive rather spirited and have 254whp ( can spin both front tires in second on roll with long gear box (2nd goes to 80mph)) and these tires are holding up much better than i ever expected. however, My R53 is only 2480lbs w/o me in it... which might contribute to these lasting so long.

I bought these originally as a track set up to negate any understeer and make the car stick much better in mid-apex track settings. However, I just left them on.

***edit*** I also have them inflated to 32psi fronts and 45-50 PSI rear.


http://www.caranddriver.com/comparis...us-r-s3-page-7
Note the bit on dry auto-course/track and stopping distance VS. overall price.

 

http://www.bridgestonetire.com/tire/...ard/205-45rf17

 

38k miles on Driveguards since they were announced in May?

 

Bridgestone Potenza 205/45RF 17 84W. Got them from Tire Rack, had them shipped direct to my mechanic. I think it's the only RF Bridgestone offers.

 

see
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/TireSe...erformance=ALL
Tirerack lists six Bridgestone Runflat tires in 205/45-17 for the MINI.

Max Summer tire

Potenza RE050A RFT V and W speed rated, 140 treadwear, about $214 each

Ultra High Perf All Season tire

Potenza RE960AS RFT W speed rated, 400 treadwear, about $180 each

Grand Touring All Season tire

DriveGuard W speed rated, 460 treadwear, XL load rated, about $159 each

Performance Winter Snow tire

Blizzak LM-60 RFT about $184 each