Tire rotation every 1000 miles

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I own a front-wheel drive 07 MINI Cooper S with high performance tires. This car eats the front tires very fast. I never rotated the first set of original factory tires that came on the car because the owner's manual specifically recommends against it. The original factory front tires lasted only 12k miles without any rotation. I just got a new set of wheels with new high performance tires couple of months ago and I have been rotating the new tires every 1000 miles so far. Given my fairly aggresive driving style and the relatively short life of performance tires, I figured rotating every 1000 miles may give me longer tire life than rotating every 3000 or so miles. Could there be any side effects of rotating every 1000 miles?
 
Wow that's a lot of work. Something is wrong with the front end, or you're one very aggressive driver that is hard on tires, and probably very hard on the front end as well.
 
Are these directional tires? Can you get a second set of rims/tires, and use them to rotate? With running shoes alternating use of 2 pairs can last 3x as long, so occasional non use of one set may well help. If this seems expensive, you will eventually buy another set of tires anyway, this just makes it earlier. Also may like changing the look of car with different sets of rims.
 
Yes, the tires are directional. I really like the look of the current set of wheels on the car, and getting a second set of the same wheel would be quite expensive at this time. But I like the idea of using 2 pairs to extend the tire life 3x longer!

Also, the wheel alignments look good, so I don't think there is anything wrong with the front end. First set of front tires wore out pretty evenly. I just like to drive this car hard whenever possible!
 
Geez, that sounds like the NSX. That car eats tires for breakfast, with no apologies from Acura. From what I remember, it was new tires about every 8 to 10k miles, that's
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You can buy just 2 rims that are the same as the other 4 for a total of 6, this can save the cost of 2 rims. Often can get buy 3 tires get 1 free deals, with 6 rims can buy 4 tires and get 2 free. Observation: to wear at this rate you must be smoking the tires a lot, this looks/sounds cool but just a waste really none of it is hooking up to the pavement otherwise much quiter. At a race track the fastest lap times sound slow because the car/driver hardly ever wastes/looses power and time with squeals and smoke. Performace tires are often a bit soft, improves grip but also wears faster, perhaps can find a set with better wear numbers.
 
Thanks for the tips! I will see what I can do.

Actually, I don't smoke or spin the tires that much. I just like to do quick accelerations and drive fast whenever it is safe to do so. The engine has about 200 foot-pounds of maximum torque, which is put on the road through the front tires.
 
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Soft compound V,W, or higher rated tires usually only last 10-15,000 even with rotations-a slightly lower, harder compound tire would last a LOT longer-if you can give up some handling performance to get the extra mileage. With the Mini's low center of gravity, & reasonably low HP rating, IMHO it'd be fun to drive w/any tire on it!
 
Originally Posted By: hate2work

Geez, that sounds like the NSX. That car eats tires for breakfast, with no apologies from Acura. From what I remember, it was new tires about every 8 to 10k miles, that's
crazy2.gif



Rear tires of Honda S2000 usually lasted about 6k to 12k miles.
 
Sporty cars have a certain cost to them. Do other owners have tire wear that is similar? rotating the tires lets you replace all 4 tires at once.
 
Originally Posted By: Steve S
Sporty cars have a certain cost to them. Do other owners have tire wear that is similar? rotating the tires lets you replace all 4 tires at once.


some of us have cars where you have to replace all 4 at a time, unless we want to replace expensive AWD components.
 
That hot FL pavement wilts tires. Skip the soft performance tires for all-seasons. Post your size and people can take a look at what's available. I would not rotate unless it was to intentionally burn up a pair on front.
 
Originally Posted By: bdcardinal
Originally Posted By: Steve S
Sporty cars have a certain cost to them. Do other owners have tire wear that is similar? rotating the tires lets you replace all 4 tires at once.


some of us have cars where you have to replace all 4 at a time, unless we want to replace expensive AWD components.

Is the Cooper 4wd?
 
A couple of thoughts:

First rotating tire more often isn't going to change the rate of wear - it is what it is. But there is a difference in wear rate front to rear and that's why folks recommend tire rotation - so the tires wear out at the same time.

Then again, there's no disadvantage either - other than wear and tear on the lug nuts.

Second, you should be aware that the more rapid the acceleration, the faster the wear. Believe it or not, high rates of acceleration are the result of small percentages of slippage. Maximum accelleration (and braking, too!) occurs at about 20% slip.

Not to mention that cornering is caused by slip angles in the tire - a difference between the direction the tire is actually going and the direction it is pointed towards. The more severe the cornering, the more rapid the wear.

Plus if you combine the 2, the effect is more than additive!

I've never understood why BMW recommends against rotation. I've heard their arguement about it changing the handling of the car, but this arguement seems insignificant compared to the tire wear argument. But I suppose this is because BMW sees tire wear as strictly a tire manufacturer's issue and doesn't offer any sort of tire warranty or guarrantee on any sort of tire issue.

And on top of that, they dial in quite a lot of camber, which is a recipe for odd tire wear - further aggravating the issue.
 
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I am running 205/40/R18 tires now. I have 18-inch wheels and this is the recommended tire size for the Cooper S. I think all tires available in this size are performance tires! I would have to go to 17-inch wheel size to get all-season tires.

Frankly, I am not interested in switching to all-season tires at this time. Performance and handling are more important to me than tire life, but I would like to increase my tire life some more by rotating them more often. The front tires wear much faster than the rear ones. Without rotation, my front tires will last only 12k miles. So I figured rotating the tires at every 1000 miles might double my tire life from 12k to 24k.
 
If they wear on the front they also wear on the back, just less. From zero you say 12k is half gone, then put on rear, where they wear less but still some and replace on the front, you now have less than 12k due to wear while on the rear end. You may get more life but not 2x as much.
 
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