i was surprised to get only two threads on a search for the term "sipe" in this forum.

what's the current wisdom here on siping tires for the MINI?

i had my tires siped for my infiniti and my trooper in the past, but neither were driven nearly as aggressively as my MINI is.

does siping really offer the traction and temp reducing benefits the tire dealer claims, and is there a drawback to siping new tires?

just got new kumho asx's, didn't have them siped but i am still considering it.

 

i don't do it. especially not after the incident i had last Sunday...

 

sorry, ken, been out of touch for months. what happened last sunday?

link if its covered in another thread.

 

He had just installed a set of new Bridgestone tires on his G35 when after a few minutes the tire tread separated and the tire had to be replaced.

Tire siping is supposed to improve traction and not the tire (just don't go much deeper than half of the total tread depth.

Few owners know about siping, we discussed it in a thread in the past and I don't think that Alex@tirerack recommends it for the average driver.

See
http://www.madsci.org/posts/archives...3309.Eg.r.html
and
http://www.4crawler.com/4x4/CheapTri...reSiping.shtml

I'd say that most tires that are installed on a MINI don't need siping. Maybe if you were going on a track or for driving school you could make use of it.

 

My snow tires (Nokian Hakkapellita) are siped from the factory... that's all I know about it though.

 

See post #6
https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...highlight=sipe

Some have tried siping for winter or 4x4 use.

I personally won't do it. If it improved handling that much without affecting tire wear then WHY would the manufacturer not do it themselves through research on tread design- do they know something more?

 

the story is that in manufacturing, it would add an extra step to CUT the sipes rather than mold them in, and the effect is not the same, and the manufacturers can't cost justify it.

?

 

OK, cost can be a factor certainly.
Makes more sense now.