Even if you have the same brand/model tires, the new tires will have more traction. (after initial break in ...200miles) Therefore, if you drove the car hard, your car will understeer more than the car that has four tires that are equally worn.

 

My week 34 build, page 93 is a section divider (black page). I have NAV, so maybe that changes the page ordering. On page 147 in my 2007 manual, it states what MisterC's manual has. That is the only place in the manual it mentions tire rotation, and says not to. it doesn't mention a 3-4k interval. Seems like BS to me.

Common sense says to rotate them. I don't see any harm if you keep directional tires pointed in the right direction.

 

Mini Nashville charges $84 and change for rotation & balance Don't know about simple rotation price though.
I do not think "balancing" is a routine function, so unsure of how often it should be performed.

Rotation is so much cheaper than buying new tires, and it will definitely increase tire life!

I usually perform my own rotations, at about 5K. I have used Sears, and the price is right (free rotations for life if you buy their tires) but I do my own now so that I can clean the brake dust on the inside of my white 5-spokes and nervously inspect rotors and pads.

Remember if you do it yourself you will need an appropriate torque wrench. If you shop it out, you will need to return to the shop in about 35 miles post-rotation or buy a torque wrench, either way, you need to retorque at about 35 miles. I just throw my wrench in the back and torque it at work, before coming home (allowing the wheels to cool)

 

For safety reasons, the best tires should always be mounted at the rear. For FWD cars, it makes no sense to rotate tires because the fronts always wear faster and if they were to be rotated, the tires with less tread would wind up at the rear.

So just buy two new tires whenever the fronts need to be replaced. The tire shop will move the partially worn rear tires to the front and will install the new tires at the rear. Repeat ad nauseum.

 

Discount Tires will rotate your tires for free, regardless if you bought the tires there or not.

 

I rotate the tires myself when I take the winters off and put the summers back on... it also allows me to check to the rotors, pads, lines, flush the fluid, and check bushings and suspension pieces...

with this schedule, I have not seen noticeable wear between F&R when I rotate, but that's just me...

 

What an interesting debate - been had a zillion times before - you should NEVER have a BAD or BALD tire on the front of ANY car - especially FWD... e.g. if I had belts showing, I'd move that tire to the rear pronto if I had to drive a few miles on it to reach service or civilization... if a tire fails, the last thing you want to lose is steering control...

That said, the argument for the best traction on the rear of a FWD is pretty sound - but on most of my tires, the grip gets better as the tire gets more wear, as long as it has enough tread to not hydroplane in the wet...

 

I rotate mine every month - at the Auto-x track =)

 

Who said to wait that long to replace them? That would be stupid and irresponsible.

To a close approximation, when you can see the top of Abe's head, you need new tires, no matter what your rotation philosophy...

 

Certainly you didn't say to. But people do it anyway. Some out of ignorance vs. either stupidity or irresponsibility. But blanket statements like "always have your best tires on the back" can be misread by people who don't have high standards or a lot of knowledge about tires... that's my only point. Otherwise it is, as you say, philosophy, for the most part.

 

I have a 2007 Mini S and searching for either traction or snow tires for mountian driving. Does the Mini Cooper make such tires?

 

Yes I know I am retreading things that were mentioned before (see what I did there?) .
But..

From the R56S Online Manual (around page 93 or so).

Winter Tires:
Special characteristics of winter tires
The manufacturer of your MINI recommends
winter tires for driving in adverse winter road
conditions. Although all-season M+S tires pro-
vide better winter traction than summer tires,
they generally fail to provide the same levels of
cold-weather performance as winter tires.

Snow chains*
Only certain types of fine-link snow chains have
been tested by the manufacturer of your MINI,
classified as road-safe and recommended. Con-
tact your MINI Dealer for more details.
Only attach snow chains in pairs to the front
wheels with the following tires.
> 175/65 R 15 M+S
> 175/60 R 16 M+S
Observe the manufacturer's instructions when
mounting snow chains. Do not exceed a speed
of 30 mph or 50 km/h.
Do not initialize the Flat Tire Monitor if
snow chains are mounted, otherwise the
instrument might issue an incorrect reading

Tire Rotation:
Swapping Wheels
The manufacturer of your MINI recommends
that you swap the front wheels with the rear
wheels and vice-versa at intervals of 3,000 to
4,000 miles/5,000 to 7,000 km. This will counter
the varying rates of tire wear at the front and
rear axles, which will have a positive effect on
the handling characteristics of your MINI. The
direction in which the tires rotate should be kept
the same.


However the paper copy of the R56S Manual with Navigation (around page 147 or so) states that MINI does not recommend rotation of tires as it could degrade handling characteristics.
So I guess the Navigation system alters the handling characteristics enough to alter the tire rotation directions.

Someone has got their wires crossed. The only thing that concerns me is that the Navigation manual has a newer printing date than the non-navigation one. So I submitted a question to Mini directly. This should be fun.

 

There's no need for special tools or jack. Just put the regular MINI jack under the front mounting point and keep lifting until both the front and back wheels are off the ground. Swap the wheels and lower the car. Easy! Just make sure the handbrake is on hard and the car is in gear to make sure it doesn't move.

 

And the MiniUSA response is.... That the Navigation manual is correct in stating that MINI does not recommend tire rotation as it can adversely affect handling characteristics.

 

That's amazing. No other explanation? How rotating tires that are identical size could affect handling in a bad way is beyond my common sense. Assuming you are rotating them at low intervals; 3-5k mileage, the tread depth difference would barely be measurable. If the fronts are worn out and then rotated to the back I understand that affect handling, but not with tread depth about the same when you rotate them.

 

Think about this for a while folks. Your dealer wants to sell you more performance robbing run flats. They arent covered by the factory maintenance program,So they naturally tell you not to roate them knowing that you will burn the fronts off first.

I used to rotate MIB's tires every 5K miles. The best part was a floor jack at the front jacking point would lift the entire side. So crack both tires lug bolts and then jack up. Swap tighten and lower. Tork with the tires just touching the ground.

 

+1 at 3000 miles

I stick a block under the rear jack point while it's up because the tires are off the car several minutes while I clean the inside of the wheels.

 

+1 They'll rotate your tires no questions asked. Because of that and their aggressive pricing I have bought 5 sets of tires from them.

 

Exactially, its the same as them saying you need to use the MINI specific oil, only available at the MINI dealer for $7 a quart. Pffft!
The front tire do all of the acceleration, turning and 90% of the braking. The rears are pretty much just along for the ride. Rotate them and you tire life will be greatly lengthened.

 

$7/qt? $5.60 qt at mine a week ago. Less than $10 for a filter too.

 

Yes they wanted over $7 a quart when I did a oil change a week or so ago. If it was ~$5 a quart from MINI here I would have used it. The filter was $12.

 

I paid $5.40 at MINI of Mountain View just a few weeks ago. Don't know where I could get an A3 oil any cheaper.

 

I just rotated my tires at 5300mi. The flat tire warning indicator came on, has this happend to anybody? It does appear that the front tires have a bit more wear than the rear. I know that FTM looks at the number of rotations between tires.
Oh I only torqued to 80ft/lbs is that OK?

 

Did you reset the FTM after rotating? Maybe the diameter difference due to the tread depth change was enough to set it off.

 

You should torque the lug bolts to 103 ftlbs (140Nm)