Mini Cooper tyre wear

Just wondering if anyone has any info on Mini Cooper (not S) tyre life.

A friend of mine bought one with 4k on the clock, and it had 2 brand new front tyres fitted. She has done another 4k in it now and the tyres are bald. Not just on the wear indicators but proper bald! The wear is pretty even, with no sign of shoulder wear or other tracking type problems. It is going back to the dealer for a check tomorrow, but they have already told her that "low profile tyres only last 3-4 months" so I want to head off any of the usual garage attempts to confuse her (she is not technically-minded).

The tyres are Dunlop SP Sport 01 DSST 205/40R18. Even the Cooper S hooligans I can find on the web seem to get much more than that, and my friend drives nice and steadily!

Any thoughts gratefully received!

Nick

My wife drives a Mini Cooper with the basic wheels. She doesn't drive a lot, but the tires are still fine after about two and a half years.

Either she's driving it hard or those tyres are very grippy (and very soft). Maybe a harder compound is required?

I got 16K out of my front tyres on the clio (contisports). What tyres are currently on it?

Just changed the rears last weekend at about 29K.

Edit: Sorry you posted what they were in your post.

Check the tread wear numbers on the sidewall.

Might want to get a better number on the next set.

She doesn't drive hard at all! Certainly nothing to warrant this kind of wear.

The current tyres are Dunlop SP Sport 01 DSST 205/40R18. I found this - http://www.tirerack.com/survey/SurveyCom...P+Sport+01+DSST (Sorry the URL link doesn't seem to work in my browser today) - which isn't very complimentary!!

Treadwear rating is 280, which isn't particularly low.

Hopefully, Mini customer care will acknowledge some endemic issue and replace them free of charge with some non-problematic ones, but I suspect that may not be the first offer!

I wonder if the run-flat nature (that is the DSST I believe) has some longevity side-effects on this one....

Hmmm I thrash my wee civic vti and the front tyres are now 2 years old and look fine (Dunlops). I thinkshe must have sporty/soft tyres which do wear faster or those tyres are just simply bad (I think the latter).

Not being rude but why would BMW change the tyres for free? Its not a new car, not on original tyres and not BMW's fault the tyre is poor.

Quote:
Not being rude but why would BMW change the tyres for free? Its not a new car, not on original tyres and not BMW's fault the tyre is poor.

Fair point! I probably didn't give enough history.

The car is now 8 months old. First "owner" was the dealer she bought it from, who put 4k miles on it and then changed the front tyres. So it is still under warranty. 2 sets of tyres in 8 months/8k miles seems unreasonable wear to me, so I would be expecting the dealer to handle any replacements at this stage in the car's life.

Tricky area, I grant you, but I'd be miffed if it was my car

Nick