Your right, the right front is a BFG G-FORCE T/A KDW NT and the right rear and left rear are not (can't tell about the left front from photo). This is not a good idea to have two different tires

Earl

 

Wow, scary. I don't mean to hijack - but I put new tires on my front and they couldn't match the rear falkens on short notice. So I got some Cooper tires. I've noticed the car seems to "drift" sometimes (scary). I guess I need to change the rear tires too?!

 

Yes, immediately would be a good time. Not everyone knows how seriously this can impact vehicle dynamics and handling.

It's a real shame this happened. Fortunately everyone came out without serious harm. Without beating anyone up, we should use this as a learning experience to prevent future incidents of this type.

 

The poor MINI! I bet the experience was a real wake up. Just wondering what it was like to have the airbags deploy in your face. They spook me. Also notice that you have California plates and wondering what back road you were on. Road conditions change drastically in the coastal hills, can be tricky. I was out early Sunday near Santa Cruz and came in to blinding fog in the dips and had to watch it. Glad that there wasn't any human carnage in your case. Thanks for posting.

 

wow.. glad everyone is OK! poor mini!

-Josh

not to seem morbid but is it possible for you to remove the center speedo face?

 

Maybe next time you should read the WHOLE thread before posting

Yes, the car would have been safer with the stickier tires in the back. Acting as if all brand mixing is a sin is just rediculous.

 

No it's not, .... and it's importaint for Mini owners to know this. Mixing ANY tires is a huge mistake, no matter how similar they are. Just don't do it and expect all to be just dandy.
This thread should be a good warning to all that are doing so or thinking of doing so.

 

Glad you are both okay!

I'm curious, did you have DSC and was it on?

(I can't recall, if you don't have DCS you have ASC by default right? can that be deactivated as well and if so was it?)

Just wondering if that was a factor and whether stability control was ineffective under those circumstances or if it was off.

Take care and be sure to follow up with the doctors

 

just wonder why people are mixing tires... From the wheels I can tell it is not about budget (only afford 1 pair at a time). But many times I see people driving with unmatched wheel on the street (either a pair in front, and back. Or a pair in left and right). Any reason behind that? Or they believe it have better traction?

 

All I know is I worked at Sears when Michelin first came over and we were told by Michelin not to sell anyone just two of their tires. Sears would turn people away that insisted on just two.

Also there was a video clip on here a while back about this very thing showing what happened when tires were put in the wrong position.

As far as reading the WHOLE thread before posting -- I'M REALLY SORRY , however, I started typing my post way early, got busy, and finished it way late.

Look, the last thing I want to do is start a fight/battle/war with anyone on here. Earlier today I read where someone gave their opinion and someone else said something like "you don't have enought posts to have an opinion" this is NOT A QUOTE but the general idea. It is getting to the point that when I read someone bashing someone else and it starts a back and forth I give up and go to another thread.

Earl

 

VERY SORRY TO SEE UR CAR IN THAT CONDITION, BUT VERY HAPPY TO KNOW THAT YOU AND YOUR FRIEND ARE BOTH OK.. CARS CAN ALWAYS BE REPLACED.. HOPE YOU THE BEST AND GOOD LUCK WITH YOUR NEXT MINI..
I'D ALSO LIKE TO KNOW ABOUT THE DCS..?

 

As for me it was just circumstances. The fronts were shot and I was going out of town. I HAD to change the fronts immediately ( a bout of heavy rain made that obvious). The place I got the previous set from only had a certain kind available on short notice. I didn't know it was an issue and they never said anything.

I was just noticing today how much the car drifts. I'm glad we have this thread or I might never have known...

 

If the rear end came around, is that because of the tires or sounds like oversteering to me and unable to pull out of the skid

 

thank goodness you were both ok...
cars can be replaced...people cannot --

 

First of all, that's a real bummer. I am glad you're okay.

Now to my question: I noticed you painted your S-Lites Black or a dark gray. (Or was it powdercoating)?

Could you comment on how much it cost to do all 4 rims, did you encounter any major hurdles?

Thanks for your input!

 

I am guessing of course, as I was not there. Yes, it was oversteer due to a situation that the front tires are a better gripping tire as opposed to the older rears. This combination alone creates a ton of oversteer. I don't know his other suspension mods, if he had any, but depending on what else may have been done, it could have made it that much worse.
DSC is a good question, as it certainly should have kicked in. The fact that the tires were possibly of different diameter, the DSC may have shut down. Would like to hear more about this from the driver.



Wonder why the driver side rear wheel is like this.
Looks like the upper control arm has snapped. Did this happen because of the collision or prior too? No damage on the side as I can see.

 

Thank you.

I kind of figured because I would fear that the average MINI driver might have a hard time recovering from a 180 if they havent experienced the tail end coming around before ...

tks

 

If you are driving the car hard it is bad to mix tires. In your case the BFG's should of been on the rear. That way you get a nice warning in the form of a push that you can hopefully pull out of. I wasn't able to that one time.

That LR is intresting, if that broke it should of been very sudden thought. Basically you still wondering what the hell was going on when you hit that concrete enbankment. It didn't sound like that so I doubt you broke something, before the impact anyway...

Tires, driver ability, unfavorable conditions.

 

I'm no expert, but everything I've read on this forum indicates that runflats handle very differently from non-runflats, which could be a huge factor in this kind of situation.

Ditto the relief that everyone walked out of this accident under their own power... from the looks of the car, misfit03's story could easily have ended very differently. I don't think anyone's posted pictures showing all 6 "airbags" deployed before.

 

Time to answer some things I see :P

I had auto-up windows with dsc-off. So DSC was OFF.

Rear drivers side rim is bent under because after hitting the embankment we got airborne and landed at an angle onto that rim. I never looked closer to see if the control arm snapped or anything along that line.

As for the airbag being scary question, I wouldnt know, I lost memory from the last skid to when i got out of the car.

Oh, and about salvaging parts off of it, I talked to my insurance and they said they don't want me to take anything from it. Unless I have the oem part to replace it. Soon they are going to sell the car to a salvage yard of some sort, I can post up the address when I get it.

 

Geese Misfit, sorry to hear and see your poor Mini Like that. I'm glad you and your friend were ok.

To me it seems that He wasn't speeding excessivly.. Having 2 diff types of tires on a car, any car, can do that espically one as short as a mini. My last car the same thing happened to me and I was doing 5 miles under the speed limit of 55 so I was doing 50. I took a slight turn and bam my back wheels spun out from under me and I ended up in a ditch. Lucky enough no damage to my car, but sometimes were not so lucky. Doesn't matter if you have dsc or not either. If the tires can't grip the ground then there is nothing that is going to stop you. I'm Just glad that no one was hurt!! Good luck with your next mini misfit.

 

"I slammed the throttle to the floor trying to get weight to the back, at the same time I turned the wheel to straighten out"
How was this manuver suppose to correct an already bad situation with poor visibility and bad road conditions? I just don't get it but maybe it's just me being stupid While mixing tires may not be a good idea it would not have mattered what tire set up you had on the car given what you did under those conditions.

It's amazing you both walk away safe and sound, did this knock any sense into you

 

Say, I felt a bit sorry about what I wrote in my last post about misfit03's manuvers although not totally sorry so I apologize ........... sort of

I'ts easy for all of use to point out the mistakes misfit03 made however I think most of us have probably forgotten what it's like to be 18 years old. I know I probably never would have owned up to the reasons why I made a mistake like that so it took a lot of guts for him to lay it all out here and for that I give him credit

Hopefully a lesson has been learned while no one got hurt

 

The different tire compounds will give the car unpleasant handling characteristics.

BUT the same effect can be had when two new tires are mounted on the front and worn on the rears even if they are the same brand, size etc.

I think Michelin put out a good short documentary detailing the how's and the why's of this type of situation.

 

Seeing as there are over six billion of us on this planet, I'm inclined to disagree.