I pulled my newish NM rims (RSe 10 19") shoed with Nitto INVO 225/40R19 tires last weekend and noticed an unusual wear pattern on the front tires only. The center of the tread shows more wear than the edges. Tires checked regularly @ 32 PSI, nitrogen filled. Rears are still flat across the center. So my question is, anyone seen this on a tire before? Tires have about 8K miles on them. Is this a byproduct of the asymmetrical tread perhaps?

 

Appears to be classic under inflated. Isn't door sticker spec 35psi? ( did a Google search. Don't have a cm ). The 3 lbs with the added tire dimensions may have something to do with it?

Just me guessing.

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Door sticker is 32psi for 17"' don't know what happens with 19"

 

Owner manual says 16, 17, 18, 19 are all 32psi below 100mph with stock suspension. Nitto specifies 35psi for a 2013 Countryman S with 225/40-19 INVOs.

http://www.nittotire.com/passenger-t...formance-tire/

 

hsautocrosser, thanks for the link.

I will readjust my pressure, move these to the rear and see what happens.

 

My other thought is what is the width of the wheels?
They may be too thin which would change the contact patch profile.

 

My concern is that its alignment related. see what the tire mfg says, and have a good alignment shop look at it.

 

Thebestbear: Rim width is 8". NM recommended 225 or 235 on this rim. JCW 19" rims spec the same size tire, but on a 7.5" width.
Gjxj: A professional alignment was done within 50 miles of having the tires mounted. This was with the lowering springs and new adjustable rear control arms added.
Nitto does spec a higher pressure(35psi) than the stock tires/rim (32 psi), which I failed to notice. I still think that a mere 3lbs of difference of tire pressure can't explain the wear fully. We will see in another 5k miles or so if it was just pressure.

 

More wear in the center means its actually OVER inflated, as the center balloons outwards. Adding more air\nitrogen will make it worse. I also believe that its because of the size\setup your running, higher sidewall=more conforming contact patch, so weird wear patterns are mitigated, running such low profile exposes these little issues much more.

my .02 cents.