I have a standard Mini Peper white (which I love).
It's two years old. Just over the first year I had to put new tires on. I said, hey, they propably put soft, cheap tires on.

So I got all new 4 tires, 150 each, 60,000 mile warrenty.

It's been 8 months. Back tires are great. Two front tires are horrible.

I put about 17,000 miles a year. I do drive hard. I corner hard.

They are both smooth on the, 1 inch on the top outter sides. I just assume from corning hard, but last night I looked closer. The front left is half balding. The right right seem more even but also way down.

So I need new tires. But also does anyone else have this problem going through tires like this.

Is it a bad balance (no shaking though). Or an alingment problem?

Thanks in advance.

 

Did you rotate them every 5000 miles like you should? Did you have the car aligned?

 

No I did not. By the time I hit 5,000 they looked at them and said that because of the wear on the outer edges they suggested not doing it.

I have never had the car aligned to my knowlege. I know this is going to sound stupid. But I though you only did that if they car tends to go left or right on it's own.

I'm not upset about getting new tires, I just want to make sure I get a couple years out of them. Any suggestion....alignment maybe?

Should they cover this under the 60,000 mile warranty or are they going to use the no rotating as a way out?

 

Rotating would have been a bad idea in your case. You don't want your rears to have less traction than the fronts.

I'd suggest turning the traction control back on, but I don't know if you turn it off.

What kind of tires did you buy? That could help a lot in determining the problem. If you bought performance-type tires (not all season type) they'll wear faster on purpose when you drive hard.

Alignment is necessary for a lot more than just pulling. If the steering wheel has a little shake in it, or it's pulling, or even tracking right and stable, but the tires are wearing unevenly on the sides (assuming you make a fairly equal number of left and right hard turns) then you are out of alignment, and your tires aren't going to last very long at all. Get that checked when you get your new tires.

Buy 2, put them on the rear, and move the rears to the front.

 

Warranty is generally for defects, not wear, use, or misuse.

I think just driving it hard, is going to chew up any tire in 15-25k. An alignment an keeping on top of tire pressure may help.

How are the brakes doing?!? If you are using up tires you are probably using up brake pads too...

It is such an easy car to drive harder than most.

 

There are no tires that will last very long under hard use.

 

Yup, that's the reason .....although early and otherwise timely rotation would have helped some.

I went through my first set of tires in about a year. Second set is lasting longer because I'm rotating them more deliberately and also not driving as hard.

The good news here is that there's probably nothing wrong w/ your car or with your tires either.

 

I know they will upset some people....

I drive HARD - But must say, I drive 30 and under in residitual areas...

I take corners wicked fast, I driveabout 80 on the highway. I hit over 100 at least once week. In the city streets, when the light goes green, I go as fast as I can to about 10 over the speed limit.

I have 36,400 miles as of today. I had my front break pads done at 28,000 if I remember right. The back ones will be done on next oil change.

The tires I got were to be all season (I'm in chicago) but high-performance.

It also sounds that the air pressure is huge deal. I'll be honest, never check it. Now lookking back, bad idea. Got the tire when it's warm, went through winter (Chicago Winters), then now warm again. I have to assume this is a huge factor.

So if my wife Audi A4 shakes a little in the steering wheel is this balancing or alignment. Sorry for typos, at work, typing fast.

Once again, thanks. Learning alot. Mostly if I try the Mini the way it was meant to be driving (fun), then I may just have to get tires every 12 months or so. Also thanks on the advice of putting the new tires in the back.

 

Tire pressure and rotation are the keys to getting good life out of a set of tires. I replaced my runflats at 23,000 miles, btw another user has them on his car now so they probably have about 26,000 now. I replaced them with Yokahama avs e100's. These do need to be replaced in the next month though. I have 40,000 miles now but in the 17,000 miles I've ran the Yokohama, I've ran them hard, few up and down trips on the Dragon and one Phil Wicks event.

I keep mine at 35psi and make sure to rotate them within 5000 miles. They could probably go longer, like my originals, but I don't care for driving in the rain so I like tread when it is wet.

 

ToeKneeC67,
Given your hard driving style (speed isn't as bad as fast cornering), lack of checking air pressure (major problem), lack of regular yearly alignment (done each time you replace 2 or more tires), and lack of tire rotation (every 3000 miles might work better), you got about as many miles from that set of tires as would be expected of any All season tires.

High performance requires regular maintenance or you will wear through parts and such at a much faster rate than your average family car.

If you want maximum tread life from your tires:
Drive the posted speed limit.
Accelerate smoothly and evenly.
Brake smoothly and evenly.
KEEP tire pressure to about 33-37 psi at all times-check monthly.
Do four wheel alignment with tire replacement- mostly to set toe to factory specs- this keeps wear on your tires to a good level- hitting potholes and bumps throws alignment out of specs within 6 to 12 months.
Don't overload your MINI- less weight means less tire wear.

OK, but the MINI is so fun to drive? Yes, but you can still do most of these things most of the time.

Personally I am happy to change my tires once a year if I have even the slightest of excuses but I use my tires for street, some autocross and track occassionally. So they will get alot more wear than with just street driving.

What rims are your using and what tire size do you have now?
15x5.5" stock rims?
195/55-15 tires?

 

Great advice. This is my first true fun car to drive (the Audi A4, that my wife has, is a great car, and fast but not as fun as the mini).

I guess I just have to budget for it. I did't know you should get an alignment when you change tires. They just ask if it goes left or right on me and I say no.

I'll do better about the air, I have to assume riding hard air creeps out? Because the Audi the air pressure is about the same every year (about 2 psi down).

So should I just get the front alignment done or all four. On a different note, what is a good cost for this so I don't get ripped off. And any major chains you can recommend (discount tire, firestore dealer). If I go to the Mini dealer I have to assume it would be double?

 

ToeKnee,

Easy Big Dog. If you like driving hard, take better care of your equipment (your life, but more importantly the lives of innocents) may depend upon it.

Rule #1 Always keep your vehicle in top notch condition. This REQUIRES regularly checking tire pressure, rotation, balance and alignments. Don't be playin' Grand Prix with faulty or poorly maintained equipment, you're asking for an accident. If you've made the choice of driving a MINI, do the minimum and keep it in great shape.

I keep a tire gauge in the car at all times checking pressure weekly; and rotate my tires every 4,000 - 5,000 miles in my garage, takes twenty minutes tops. I have a shop align my car once a year (more if I think it necessary) and check my tires for proper balance every six months.

MGC

p.s. I've gotten almost 25,000 on my Pirelli Runflats and they're probably good for another 5,000 miles before replacement.

 

By the time you change 2 or 4 tires you have driven a fair number of miles and sustained some travel over bad roads. This wear and tear on your suspension results in gradual changes on the camber and toe settings. Even small changes in toe will affect how your car performs and how quickly your tires will wear out. Therefore, doing an alignment with new tires installed helps to ensure that tire wear will be maximized and ride handling and smoothness will be excellent.

For more on loss of air pressure in tires see
http://www.rimex.com/custom/rimex_technology.html
"A tire itself will not lose air. Air loss occurs as a result of poor manufacturing tolerances of rims and components or, through the o-ring seal, tire bead seating areas, or by any external damage done to the tire.
The movement and flexing between side rings and the rim base leads to excessive movement and damage in the tire's sidewall and sole. This causes air loss, which contributes to premature tire failure.

With the increased traction of a radial tire, movement between the bead seat band, o-ring and lock ring is very common. This movement is a major cause of air loss and premature tire failure on standard rims."

Costco in my area uses Nitrogen in tires to reduce changes in air pressure over time.

Also note that tire pressures need to be checked when tires are cold, using a good reliable and accurate air pressure gauge.

For alignment I like brake and speciality alignment shops because I think they do a better job than your average Midas or Sears. Rates will vary from about $60 to $90. You're using stock settings so nothing special unless you have an 05' MINI which allows for some adjustment of the rear negative camber. All you are setting are toe for the front and rear.

Now if you really like performance driving and you don't mind a bit more wear on your tires you can ask the specialty shop to do an autocross alignment for quicker turn in. Front toe set to 1/16" out and rear toe set to zero compared to stock settings which are toe in for the front and rear.

Info on what toe is-
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tirete...e.jsp?techid=4

Have fun.

I love buying new tires- It's like getting new shoes for a runner!
But my wife doesn't understand why I keep 6 sets of tires in the garage?
They're for backup- of course!

 

This has been great. For the record, sorry for driving so hard without doing the proper hardware checks.

On that note, I'll be going to the tire store. I wish I knew who I can can trust to do a proper alignment in North Chicago Subs.

It does also look like most people get about 20 to 25 thousand miles on the Mini's. If I drove with the same Tires on a Saturn I might get 10-15 thousand more

I have copied this info to a word docuement and save it in my Mini folder for future use.

 

This is exactly what happened to me, too. When I got my MINI, I was more accustomed to the long line of normal* cars which preceded it. To be honest, the whole tire thing just kinda snuck up on me and all of a sudden it was too late....time for a whole new set. Okay, fair enough, I learned a lesson...one of many I've learned in since owning a MINI. I've had to process a whole new set of skills for the care and feeding of my MINI (with the help of NAMers and local MINIacs) and I'm lovin' it.

Truth be told, I never had so much fun going through a set of tires ever. No regrets.

ToeKnee, best of luck w/ those new tires buddy!!!!

_________________________________________________


*mundane, boring, yawn-inducing

 

I'll just start sticking to two new front tires every year. Put them on the back, put the back on the front, get an alignment. Check my air alot
This should be under 400 a year :( But fun to drive I agree.

 

This is not a bad strategy for some. Realize that the two pairs of tires that you have are different with respect to handling capabilities. The best pair of tires should go on the rear axle so rotate the older tires up front. The front tires will steer where you want and the rears will need to be good enough to resist hydroplaning when wet-thus staying safe. If you worn tires are on the rear and your good tires make it through the wet followed by rears that hydroplane and loose traction you might loose it.

It's not easy to wear all four tires out at the same time, especially if you have directional tires. I'm happy if I can get 2 or 3 to wear pretty well. Also if the tires are worn their ability to perform well is impaired so handling will be negatively affected, road noise will increase, etc.

If you are in the Chicago area why not ask Gabe Bridger or one of the local MINI clubs to recommend an alignment shop for you to go to?

Which tires and what size are your using now??

 

KEEP tire pressure to about 33-37 psi at all times-??????????????????
Try 38 pounds front to rear even 40 if your having where problems 33-37 way to low and will cause tire wear JMHO

 

For alignment I like brake and speciality alignment shops because I think they do a better job than your average Midas or Sears. Rates will vary from about $60 to $90. You're using stock settings so nothing special unless you have an 05' MINI which allows for some adjustment of the rear negative camber. All you are setting are toe for the front and rear.

Unless you have an 05 Mini or if you have already purchased adjustable rear bars, the only adjustment you can make is front toe. My understanding of the 05 is, there is some small adjustment for rear toe, not camber. Am I correct?

 

I would hate to be the next owner of your car.

 

I have a set of OEM Dunlops I am trying to get rid of for very short $; they are sitting in basement taking up space and have lots of tread. They are 16" runflats. If they can be of help to you, plz contact rngrady@comcast.net

 

Why don't you go to the track, get it out of your system some? Those who spend time at the track driver slower on the street, and are better drivers all around.

Second, and this is not directed at just you... Maybe it's just me, but, why does anyone complain about having to replace tires after 2 years of driving fun? Spending $600 every couple of years is cheap fun compared to most hobbies. In fact, it's peanuts. Heck, I spend $2,000 a year on tires (motorcycle track days) so $600 sounds like a joke to me.

I figure, if I can get two dry seasons out of a set of 4 performance tires on the Mini, I'm doing damn good. If it was just one season I'd still be happy.

Tires are cheap. Enjoy driving the car with spirit and forget all the worry about how many miles you get on your tires. Life is too short.

But yeah, maintain the car and tires properly.

 

ech, who cares. That's why we buy new, yes?

 

you should check what the max pressure is for your particular tire.. Some tires have a max pressure of 40 lbs..