[jcwiseesq]

how many miles can I expect to get on my run flats? the dealer thought 15-20,000 was the tops. anybody wore out a set yet?

[BruceK]

It seems to vary greatly by which runflat manufacturer (Goodyear, Pirelli, Dunlop) as well as the model of tire (for example there are several model Dunlop tires fitted to MINIs). In the 17 inch sizes, the Pirellis are said to be stickier in the dry than the Dunlops, at the expense of a shorter tread life (and poorer wet weather performance).

You would also have to factor in driving style (mild vs. agressive), owner-selected tire pressures, different types of surface on roads the car will frequent, etc.

Having said all that, my car has the 17 inch Dunlop SP Sport 9000 DSST tires and at nearly 9000 miles the front tires apprear to be less than half worn and the back tires look brand new. So, I expect the fronts to last until at least 20K miles if left alone and the backs to last indefinitely. (yet some MINI owners with Pirellis have reported even tread wear front to back without tire rotation)

If I rotate the Dunlop tires front to back I think I could get 35K - 40K miles out of the 4 tires.

[noahe]

Neither my Pirelli Euforia summer tires, nor my Dunlop WinterSport M3 tires are showing a front/back tread life bias. Dead equal when measured with the ultra-accurate coin technique.

Honestly, looks like I can expect 21,000+ miles on my Summer tires. The Winter tires have not worn anything measureable yet.

MINI does not recommend tire rotation on the MINI. That's not to say that the front will not wear faster on the front, but that the amount of uneven tire wear across the tread face of the tires is negligable. Since you do not need to rotate them to even-out each tire's wear, you will either consume front tires more often than rear tires if you don't rotate, or four tires less frequently if you do rotate. Since the wear is even across the face of the tire, there is no pre-mature tread failure. So both examples could potentially cost about the same in terms of tires.

For example: (not even an estimate, just a random guess for illustration purposes.)

No rotation. Front tires replaced every 18,000 miles. Rear tires replaced every 26,000 miles.

Rotation. Four tires replaced every 22,000 miles.

The arguments for rotation or non-rotation could easily BOTH be right. Do you want to pay for tires 2 at a time or 4 at a time. 2 at a time is less painful on the wallet. 4 at a time can yield a quantity savings. A rotation and balance every 10,000 miles can also cost a bit.

For me, I'm gonna stick to the manual, and not rotate. That said, I'm watching for uneven tread wear: Feathering, side-to-side tread depth. Shoulder vs. middle wear. If I see a trend, in that my new, perfectly tracking, perfectly aligned car, is eating say, the inside shoulders of the rear tires faster, then I'll start rotating.

[HarryHBMCC]

My Goodyear Eagle NCT5 EMTs are wearing quite quickly, though that is likely due more to chirping starts and very hard cornering than anything else. After just 6000 miles (9000km) over 6 months of use the fronts are down to half (5mm or 3/16ths") and the rears are also down some (to 8mm). This summer I'll put them back on and will swap them so that I'll get another couple of summers out of them before they are illegal on dry pavement. So I expect to get just 18000 miles (27000km) at most off them but for performance tires driven with a performance style I think this is what I would expect.

I hear the Goodyear Eagles are expensive so I'll probably replace them with Dunlop SP 3000 DSSTs instead unless the pricing changes in the next few years as more cars get runflats (many 2004 cars now have them as NHTSA requires tire pressure monitors on all 2004 MY cars -- several 2004 Toyotas come with runflats on high end configs).

[cleverzippy]

My Euforia fronts have about 3mm left on them after 8K miles and the rears approx 4-6mm. I've just rotated them over and am considering putting on a set of non-runflats to see what happens to the ride and handling.

[BillK]

Quote:

Originally posted by HarryIndiBlue
My Goodyear Eagle NCT5 EMTs are wearing quite quickly, though that is likely due more to chirping starts and very hard cornering than anything else.

I have about 4500 miles on my Goodyear Eagles with very little wear, so I would agree that driving style and roadway condition is likely a major factor.