Hi,

I came out of work today to find a flat right rear tire. I managed to get to the closest tire dealer who said it couldn't be patched because the screw was too close to the sidewall. Not having much choice, I replaced both rear Hankook Ventus Prime 2 tires (original with only 20k kms) because I know you should never run two different brands on the same axle. I bought two Michelin Primacy 3 tires (and probably overpaid a little) because the place didn't have Hankooks or Toyos, which I ran on my other Minis. I also noticed that the Hankooks on the front are rated 87W while the Michelins are 87V.

My questions:

1. Do the different speed ratings make a difference?
2. Does it matter that I have two different brands on the front and back?

TIA

Well, as far as speed ratings, it means you shouldn't go over 149 MPH on your rear tires and 168 on the front. I wouldn't worry about the different speed rating or brands as far as safety goes, as long as they're both the same type of tire. You don't want to be running all seasons on one end and summer tires on the other.

As Vetsvette noted, I wouldn't worry too much about it, as long as they are the same size. With a 2WD vehicle, having slightly mis-matched tire diameters isn't as critical as with an AWD. The stability control/abs system shouldn't have fits either unless they are really different in diameter. With only 20K clicks on the clock your OEM tires still likely have more than 1/2 the available treadwear left on them.

Thanks. So I guess my OCD will have to deal with the mismatched brands for a while.

As long as you have 2wd, it's fine. With All4, any difference in diameter will cause stress and wear on the center differential.

Sorry but I don't see why people keep referring to different tire sizes. I'm running 195/55/16 all around. The only difference is brand and speed rating, hence my question.
Thanks for all the input though.

With AWD the slight difference in rolling circumference caused by the different wear levels (2 x Pi x difference in radius) is said to be a potential cause of some very potentially expensive failures.

Years ago I bulged/damaged a sidewall hitting a kerb while rushing into a KFC drivethrough in my AWD Subaru. That chicken sandwich cost me $808. $8 for the big crunch and $200 per tire to replace all 4 tires:(

If you are driving a FWD mini then you are just fine with the different brands and wear amounts front and rear, as long as your OCD can cope with it.

The O.D. of the new tires will be larger than the currently worn tires, hence the reference. Also, even though they are the same labelled size, the tire diameter does vary from manufacturer to manufacturer as well as between models within the same manufacturer. Not every 195/55R16 is 24.44" in theoretical diameter when new and they you have to take the amount of sidewall 'squat' into that equation to get the true rolling radius/diameter of the tire. Yes, I have spent way, way too much time researching these kinds of things over the years.