I run both summer and winter tires.

Last fall I take the car for servicing and they tell me that the summer tires are shot. I'm thinking impossible the tires don't have much miles on them. I get the car back and didn't do anything since it was time to change to winter tires anyway. As I swap the wheels I was shocked to find the inside corner of the Michelin PSS completely worn out and starting to shred pieces.

Now I don't know what to do as far as new tires, but I need to replace them as soon as possible so we don't drive on winter tires too long.

I love the PSS but 16,000 miles is just too short especially when the middle of the tire is perfectly fine for another 15k... it's just a waste.
I am going to have the shop check the alignment, camber, but in the mean time I need to pick new tires asap.

Any suggestion please?
I'd like to keep some good summer performance but I don't think I need the PSS performance especially if this types of tires don't work well with these cars suspension geometry. I like tires that run smooth, quiet if possible, are naturally well balanced, grip well, last around 25-30k miles, price is not as much of an issue (IF it last a bit longer than 16k miles of course! otherwise I might as well go cheap)

 

I have heard a lot of good things about the Nitto Neo Gens. I have Michelin PSS as you do. But I am not having the wear issues. I would seriously consider (if you haven't already) getting an alignment.

-Rich

 

I also have Michellin PSS on my '06 MCS for about 7K miles now and don't show any wear issues. Alignment or possible warranty claim through Michellin? Good luck either way.

 

Front tire wear can be faster than the rears so rotating tires is worth considering, about every 4000 miles helps.

Outer and inner treadwear on fronts is the place to watch and check alignment for imbalance in toe settings, use the OEM specs. It's not hard to knock alignment out of specs by hitting a pothole or by driving on bad roads.

If you care about good tread wear then do alignment with new tires.

For better treadwear you can also consider Ultra High Performance All Season tires like Michelin Pilot A/S 3 or even go to a Grand Touring All Season tire like Michelin Premier A/S. You'd still need to rotate and check for wear on a regular basis.

 

Thanks guys.
I hate having to say goodbye to the pss
I'll have them do an alignment and see what's going on.
I didn't rotate the tires as often as I should have but the rear were starting to show a similar trend so I could have stretch it but not by that much...
I'll take a second look at the A/S3+ and check out those Neo Gen so I am bias towards Michelin mostly because they have a superior natural balance to them

 

You guys have to let me know later when you'll have more miles. I'm very curious about this!

 

I'm at about 12000 miles. I've rotated them twice. All look just fine.

-Rich

 

Thanks Rich.
In a way this bugs me a bit. Not you of course, just the idea that something isn't right with my experience and I can't quite pin point the issue. I guess I'm just going to have to be patient until my next service I have to schedule.

I wonder if an alignment is part of the 3 year free service if something isn't right?

The tires were rotated twice in their 16,000 miles life span but I must admit I drove on them too long without rotation last summer (2015) as we were on a 2,500 road trip in addition to the regular driving average. Essentially 2.5 summers on those tires with the last summer season with maybe 7,900/8,000 miles without rotation. Usually I rotate between seasons. I have to do better with tire rotation!

I do take a spirited drive once in a while too. Nothing near where close to track use, but speedy-ish on winding roads, so maybe that's just it

 

I'm almost to 20K on my Michelin PSS, including a couple of track days, and they are wearing evenly though the outside corners are showing the most wear. I have camber set to -2 all around, I rotate them every 4-5k. A lot of those miles are my daily highway commute though I hit the on/off ramps pretty hard and have fun in the twisties whenever I can. If your inside corners are worn out either there's something wrong with your alignment, or maybe you had them under inflated last summer.

 

Thanks, this helps.
And definitely not under inflated. I'm pretty good about that. If anything I tend to push a little the upper side on the inflation... The roadster S inflation is higher than most car I've owned. The manual calls for 41psi for a 205/45/17 tire size

 

BTW, while under warranty, go to the dealer and make them check out the alignment. It should be covered I would think. Don't wait until the next service. If there is an issue, it needs to be addressed asap while under warranty. More time to see if issue gets resolved. Once warranty is up, your on your own, financially speaking.

-Rich

 

The Conti DW (not the DWS) and the BFG G-Force Comp 2 (not the A/S) are good solid summer tires.
The treadwear is 340, not much higher than the PSS's 300, but may be
more conservatively rated.
Looking for treadwear in the 400s or 500s will lead you away from a true summer
performance tire. One exception might be the Dunlop Direzza DZ102.


Agree on check alignment and rotation. Maybe if there's something correctable there,
the PSS is still your best choice. Check your tire gauge for accuracy just for completeness.

 

Continental DW are an excellent performer, but their tread wear is about what you got on your set of PSS. Biggest differences are that they are quieter, smoother riding and don't turn in as precisely as PSS. That last part about turn in would be true against any maximum performance street tire, to be fair.

BF Goodrich Comp 2 drops the grip level, but will bring your tread wear as mensioned.

I'd suggest, if the DZ102 is appealing to consider a Sumitomo HTR ZIII in 215/45R17. This tire is quieter and has the possibility of 20-25k miles. The Sumitomo also has noticeably more dry grip.

 

I am running the Cooper RS3-S and I am very happy with them so far. They seem to handle about as well as most of the other comparable tires for a lot less money. I got the 215/45R17 from Discount for $352 shipped to my door. They may not last any longer than the Michelin, but for half the price if the grip is good who cares.

 

TG i found i had to run higher tire pressure with the michelin PSS

i borrowed a tire pyrometer from a racer buddy and between that and watching the tires and rotating every 4k miles, i ended up at 42 psi front and 37 psi rear (cold)

if i have rear seat passenger and a long drive, then 42 psi rear

at about 20k miles now and measures just under 1/2 worn, all 4 worn the same amount and even wear across the tread

 

thx BMWR606. I will inflate the new set a little more as you have.

I decided to get a new set, have the car alignment checked after the new tires are mounted, and I will be paying way more attention to tire rotation. Every 3,500/4,000 miles sounds about right.

Now here's what the tires look like. I finally took some pictures after they were in storage all winter. No they are not going back on the car

Both oriented the same way.
Front (inside corner to the left)



You can see that the wear is evenly slanted. Now I do know these tires have a different compound between the inside vs outside corner. I don't know if that plays into.

Rear (Inside corner to the left)



This is what the rubber shreds look like:

 

On a stock alignment the inside of the rear on the R58 and R59 tend to cup more then the R56 , The toe from the factory is out a bit. Rotation early helps this. With MINI's, tires dont seem to last long in general.

 

The shoulder blocks all peeling the same way would reveal the crossing to the other side of the vehicle when rotating would have been helpful early on. I agree though, escaping the toe settings that make the car so fun to drive, but cause this wear pattern is not possible on a stock car.

 

Alex, I'm not sure I follow this last part?

Also, is tire wear of a specific tire generally different on different cars? Or said differently, are there certain tire brands and models that better fit certain cars than others?


FYI, for clarity of the picture I posted, both front tires have the same amount of wear, and both rear tires have the same amount of wear. The pictures shows one of the front and one of the rear. Well the way they were last mounted before taken off prior to last winter. I usually rotate the tires by always putting the front to the back. And once every other year by crossing front driver side to rear passenger side, and front passenger side to rear driver side. But obviously I need to rotate more frequently.

 

Unbelievable! talk about bad luck... I just got the new tire mounted this morning.
I go to the grocery store, just 5 miles round trip.
Come back and half way back... psssssssss



Who in the world throw their keys on the road! . . . well it could be in the lot of the grocery store or at the gas station I stopped to on my way back.

 

the photo of the front tire looks like under inflation plus spirited cornering probably combined with heavy braking to the corner apex ... i get faster lap times by braking early before the corner and powering all the way thru the corner ... it is much easier on the front tires too

Michelin suggested rotation pattern for AWD is to cross the rears to the opposite front and move the front straight back on the same side

 

All good advice :thumbs:


I couldn't resist. There is the culprit

 

Quick question: I mounted one of the winter wheels for the time being, until I get the tire fix, hopefully very soon.

I reset the low tire pressure indicator but it still shows as low tire pressure.
Do I have to drive for a while for it to go away?

EDIT: Never mind. I didn't do it properly the first time. You have to wait for the reset message to go away by itself before doing any thing else.

 

After driving a few minutes, the set inflation
pressures in the tires are accepted as the
target values to be monitored.

 

Sorry to hear about your misfortune but glad you posted pictures.

Goes to show all of us that nearly anything metal can be a hazzard to your tires.

When we drive at the track or in a parking lot for autocross we are constantly looking for debris that will damage tires or cars.