Just happened to look down at the left front tire of my '14 MCS with a little over 18k miles on it and saw this tread damage on the original Cinturato P1 195/55 R16s.

Almost looks like someone cut sideways into the tread with a razor blade. After a quick look, the other tires look better, altho some seem to have very small chunks missing from parts of the tread.

Also noticed that the rear tires have more tread, so I wonder if the dealer has been rotating the tires.

 

How hard do you drive it? Those are 'economy' tires meant for normal street driving. That chunking you see is pretty normal if you push that type of tire hard and overheat them. Doing a single AutoX type event on that type of tire is usually enough to rip large chunks out of the tread.

It gets even more pronounced usually if you run them at high pressures (again, common in AutoX), which also makes it frequently chunk a bit inboard on the tread like you have there, as the higher pressure causes the center to raise out a bit from the sidewall.

You can google tire "chunking" and you'll see lots of discussions about it, but the general rule will be pushing a tire past its heat limit with hard side loads.

 

Normal city driving with occasional miles on the Interstates. I would guess that our roads in Florida are in somewhat better shape than Northern roads with their potholes and winter damage.

I assume the tires are still safe, but this damage is a real surprise!

 

Yeah, if you don't do any 'spirited' driving where you're pushing the car in corners, you shouldn't have that issue as long as you've kept them inflated properly. Plausible that you did just hit a rock or road debris/etc, but that sure looks like chunking from hard cornering.

That's almost the kind of wear I'd expect on a tire that's been driven on gravel and hooned around a bit.

You could try to contact the manufacturer and see if they have a mileage warranty on them, if you kept your receipts. You might get them replaced. Unfortunately with it looking like hard driving they might give you hell. Won't know unless you try though.

 

While I try to keep the tires around 35psi, I've seen them at 32-33 at times. No autocrosses or anything like that, I pretty much drive how I have driven all the other cars I've owned in recent decades. Never any tire problems.

Just checked the paperwork for the two dealer visits where the dealer does the normal inspections and oil changes, and see no mention of tire rotation. Unless I missed it, that's not in the owners manual index either. I'll bet those front tires have never left the front.

 

Honestly I would expect 35psi to be a bit low in the front, 32-33 is very low - but your damage is on the middle, not the outside, so I don't think it was a pressure problem. With low pressure you'd expect unusual damage to the outer blocks, inner generally is too high pressure.

Tire rack says there's no tread warranty at all on the Cinturato P1, unless it is the "P1 Plus" which has a 35k warranty. It does state tires must be rotated every 5-7k miles though, and tread must be evenly worn.

https://www.pirelli.com/tires/en-us/.../tire-warranty

You can always contact them and see what happens. Wouldn't hold my breath though! That's also not a failure from lack of rotation though, so may just be you got a low life out of 'em.

 

35psi is the recommended pressure for front and rear.

I wonder if the control arms, bushings, etc. that the dealer replaced this March contributed to the tire problems.

I have always thought that the typical routine dealer service included tire rotation, but I don't think it was ever done. Wasn't mentioned to me, and I can't even find it mentioned in the owners manual.

I'm also curious if the car is safe to drive with this tread problem. If I replace the two front tires, do they have to be the same brand/type as the rear tires?

 

Rule of thumb, tires on same axle should be identical.

 

Generally it is when the customer is paying for it.

MINI is a rather strange bird touting "boot to bonnet" coverage which only include oil changes every 10K (or yearly if driven less) and a set of wipers if you mention that they are streaking. Brakes too if I recall but unless you really drive the car hard brake will likely not replacing for the first 36K. (Rather like including piston rings, timing chains and valve jobs in the first 36K) - you'll likely not going to need them, but they look good on paper and make you feel like you're really getting something).

Don't get me wrong, I love my Mini and will get another one, but touting boot to bonnet is kind of a joke in my opinion.

I expected tired rotations, a radiator flush, and a tranny drain and re-fill to be included during the boot to bonnet coverage. It is not.

$36.21 for a tire rotation is the MINI fee and yes, all tries should be rotated every 5-7 K if you want to get the most mileage out of them. Most other tire places (Kingdom, Plus, etc) have rotations for $19.99.

I'd run the car to a regular tire store and have their guys look at them. Most will try to help you if there is a warranty issue involved. Personally, if my tires looked like that, I would not be driving on them except to get a new set installed.

Go to the Tire Rack website and read the reviews on tires for your Mini. there are so many options with a choice of performance or high mileage tires. All have warranty and wear coverage info. Take their pricing to local store and look for a price match. BUY THE ROAD HAZARD COVERAGE. It's cheap compared to a new tire and will cover you when you pick up that roofing nail that WILL be in the shoulder of your tire.

 

That damage looks very specific to me. Like you drove over something that caused the damage. I very much doubt the tires are faulty.
Maybe a pothole or one of those steel plates they use to cover holes in the road.....

 

Looks like road damage to me. I'd guess you drove over something to cause that.

 

I just showed the picture to the guy at the Goodyear store, and he said it looked to him like "dry rot."

OE tires on a '14 MCS.

 

Looks like you drove over some sharp rocks and dry rot. Are they old?

 

They came on my '14 MCS I got in April 2014. The car is garaged. I have never seen tires on my cars look like this after 18k miles -- or however many miles.

 

Neither have I. It looks like you accelerated hard or drove on something you shouldn't have. I always thought pirelli's were a decent tire.