I have autocrossed the mini 3 times on the stock all season tires just for fun, and finally have a set of holeys and old slicks to play with. The tires are A3S03 and pretty heat cycled. It was a fairly cold day here in FL and it was in the upper 30's during my heat. I started off with a split in pressure to have the back rotate. What I forgot about was that I could heat up the front tires much more quickly on that first run than the back.

After launching and going down the front slalom, I hit the brakes and turned in for the chicane. The car immediately swapped ends and had me facing the wrong direction. I finished the run and lowered the pressure a little.

On the second run I was a little more careful in the chicane, (but it was still a little slippery in the back) and got through decently, then spun the car in a similar situation towards the end of the run.:impatient

After that, I dropped all 4 tires to 30psi, fronts were reasonably warm and rears were cold. I thought this would correct the problem. Thankfully, I was right. The next 4 runs were better balanced, but the rear still stepped out a couple times only to be saved by turning into it and going WOT and staying aggressive.

Each time got quicker as I started to learn how to drive a FWD car on slicks (I'm used to a RWD SM2 car). I still have a long way to go to understand what the car wants for inputs and how to get the most out. We had 6 runs and in the end I thought I put up a respectable time, but was unsure if it was good enough to win the class. There were 4 of us in HS and one was a well-driven Mazda 3.

The Mazda ended up taking me by 0.23 on a 58.0 second course. I ended up 12th pax out of 57.

Not too bad for my first time on old slicks with this car, but I still have a lot to learn in meshing with this car.

 

Your handling problems are mostly related to old dead tires. they are unpredictable. As soon as you can get a new set, and you will be amazed at the improvement in performance.

With new tires start over with pressures, I ran in the mid 40's front and rear. Any lower in the front and Hoosiers will cord in a few runs. Kumho V710 will put up with lower pressure for longer.

 

I can see longevity wise that 40's would help, but grip is better as well? I would have thought you might be crowning the tires a little and reducing grip in the mid-40s.

Have you run the V710s on your car? What pressures did you settle on for a paved (and concrete) course?

 

I haven't run on the 15's in quite a while (Mid 05). but I ran the 215/40/16s at 45 front and 42 rear. I think I ran similar pressure in the 15's. I ran the same pressure for all surfaces, with some variance for air temp.

At lower pressure the tires develop a groove (groove of death) that seems to be from the tread surface flexing under g loads.

 

Thanks for the starting point of pressures.

I know I should really buy some new tires, but I am so cheap I hate buying slicks. I have been running used slicks on my SM2 M Roadster for a couple years now. I suppose if I was going to take it to a Tour or go to Naitonals, I would pony up a set. The last couple years I have been driving someone else's car at a couple Tours.