I just purchased my second R56. This time around I went for the 16" inch wheels instead of the 17". The manual shows 33lbs all the way around for a full car. Do any of you run slightly lower in the rear when only the driver and one passenger are riding in the car?
Thanks, Don

 

Nope. WIth my 17's and rft's I run about 38. 33 will set off the TPMS system.

 

You could get a range of answers on this one. It comes down to tire, habits, and preferences. Somewhere between 32 and 38 lbs. Start with what the tire manufacture suggest. Trail and error after that.
Justas' and Justa type drivers will prolly suggest equal all around. Weekend trackers and fellas that live above 4k might lean toward a front/back variation.
I would like to see a lot of feedback on this one.... just to see if I am right.

 

People who like low rolling resistance will put more pressure in their tires. Up to the maximum pressure shown on the tire sidewall is generally considered safe, but the ride will get harsher. In many cases cornering grip will noticeably improve (depending on the tire and suspension and more). In some cases acceleration and braking grip will be slightly reduced, but usually hydroplaning resistance will improve.

If you're just doing every day type driving, and you want to maintain the stock handling and comfort of the car, go with what it says in the manual.

If you're going for ultimate grip, you'll have to do some testing. A big empty parking lot works for that. Start with max sidewall pressure, then let ~3 PSI out of the front tires and try again. If the car understeers more than it did with the max pressures, lowering the pressure decreased the grip on that end. If the car oversteers more (or understeers less) than before, letting the pressure out helped the grip. Now let about 6 PSI out of the back tires and test for the balance of the car.

You would start with max pressure because it's a lot easier to let air out in a big parking lot than put it in.

 

Before changing to 205/50/16's I had the 195/55/16's and seemed to get the best ride and mileage at 33 pounds. My 205's seem best at 35 pounds.
Sometimes you have to experiment a little to find the best ride feel and wear limits.

 

Thanks for your replies. I noticed on my Audi s4 avant that the recommended tire pressure was for a fully loaded car. I checked in the manual and found that indeed the pressure for normal loads was much lower and the ride improved a lot. I was just wondering whether or not that would be the case for the Mini.
This is my second Mini R56. My first had 17's and I couldn't stand the ride or the way the tires would catch road irregularities. When I switched to non-runflats, the problems went away. On my new car, I have 16's and the ride is similar to the 17 non runflats. And by the way, I am running 33lbs all around.
It just seems odd to me that on a front wheel drive car that the tire pressure wouldn't be higher on the front than the back.
By the way, I really appreciate the improvements on the 2012.
Don

 

Back in the dark ages when I started driving and for awhile after then, I recall that the recommended inflation sticker on vehicles listed two different pressures: One for ‘normal’ driving and one for a fully loaded vehicle.
The difference between Normal and Fully Loaded in the stickers that I recall was little, if any, air was added to the fronts and the rear often had a substantial increase in pressure between Normal and Loaded settings.
This stands to reason as most of the weight would be added in the trunk/back seat area.
At some point, the ‘Normal’ settings were dropped and now only Loaded Pressure recommendations are given.
I do not recall for certain, but this may have had something to do with tire failures due under-inflation on Ford Explorers, but may have been before this.
In any event, I’ve found with the MINI, as well as other front wheel drive cars I’ve owned, that setting the rear pressures approx 2# lower than the fronts produced better overall ‘normal’ handling.
I do bump up the rears if I’m going to really load down the car.
As others have written: Pressures can vary between tires/wheel sizes/driving styles/personal preferences
I’m running 38 Front, 36 Rear on 215/45x17 Michelin Pilot Super Sports on 7” wide wheels while the Continental DW tires before this liked 40 F, 38 R on the same wheel.
Experiment some to see what you like best.
Good luck

 

I've got 205/50-16s on mine, so the 33lb recommendation doesn't totally apply. I try to even out the wear, and I come up with different pressures for different tires. As a first approximation you can measure the tire temperature and try for an even temp across the tire. After running a while I can measure the wear.

I've used pressures from 32 up to 36 for different tires, and the fronts tend to need a lb or 2 more than the rears.

 

I have the 18" Bridgestone Dueller H/P Sport RFT on the CMSAll4 and I run them on 40lb. I can feel every ripple w/o a doubt but I like advantages of running them hard around town and of the highway. Steering is definitely much more precise and tight turns are effortless...