Tires (Summer/Winter/All-Season)

The Energetic Yellow center caps are essential! I bought a set to authenticate my used Loop Spoke wheels.

 

Yeah, someone else recommended I do that. I ended up not doing so because of the cost to remount 8 tires ($160 I think), and also because I figure that warmer weather is when I'm most likely to be going on extended drives and so I might as well have the lightest possible wheels for that, and in Winter I probably won't be going as far and would have less impact from the slightly heavier wheels.

 

I was surfing the 'net for MINI Cooper SE parts and found the MINI Cooper SE page on this BMW/MINI parts catalog website: realoem.com. Their MINI Cooper SE parts list appears to have been last updated in 2019, so the SE's signature rims are called Corona Spoke not Power Spoke. Here's their page of MINI Cooper SE rims. I'm not familiar with the MINI 497 "Seven Spoke" rims--are they missing a spoke? The black rims didn't make the list.

 

I have only seen those wheels called "Rail Spoke".

I believe the black rims are "Cosmos Spoke" (which are also available in silver).

 

Yes they are. Clicking on those shows both black and silver available.

 

I thought the Revolites were also available in black, but I guess I was wrong.

 

I've been waiting months for the under-hood sticker that lists the refrigerant used in the SE's AC. I can live without that sticker, but I hope your grey Electric Revolites get here soon. Did you also order the special SE wheel centers with the Energetic Yellow ring or will you remove those from the wheels on your SE? I ordered mine from Germany last July and they arrived in just 2 weeks.

 

I thought center caps were a separate item because MINI offers so many varieties. Time to call your dealer (be sure and tell me if I was wrong).

 

My Energetic Yellow-ring center caps came from Germany just three weeks after ordering, but the Air Conditioning refrigerant sticker for my replacement hood was ordered in August and nada. Did you confirm with your dealer that your Electric Revolites come with center caps?

Here's a set of Loop Spoke rims on ebay. They're $400 cheaper than the used Loop Spokes I got on ebay from Germany to use as my winter wheels. I like how they look on my SE. They're the same size as the Electric Revolites in case you want to swap your winter tires off them and onto your Revolites if they get here before Winter 2021. Then you can re-sell the Loop Spokes.

 

Light weight and skinny = best for winter and best for MPG(e).
If you can find a set of forged wheels in the 16x6 size about 10-12 pounds, you might recoup that mileage that the cold takes away. I'd like to keep that 6.5-7" 17" setup for summer when the Mini performance matters.

 

Interesting (to me, anyway) tire story, in progress.

I sensed Jessie (the SE) was pulling to the right, so I scheduled a service visit to my dealer to check the alignment. Sure enough, after scheduling a week in advance and receiving half a dozen text and email reminders about my appointment, when I arrived the dealer I discovered that, because my SE was a new model, they did not have the software installed on their computer alignment rack that contained the SE specs, and, because it was a Saturday, they couldn't reach the tech support people to get the numbers. Wasted trip.

Two weeks later, they had the SE specs uploaded and invited me back. The car tested within spec, but their senior technician could feel the constant left stick I had to apply to maintain straight and level. They cracked open the suspension parts to try to get the alignment "perfect," i.e. right in the dead center of the acceptable specification ranges. They did that, tightened everything down, and test drove it, again. Still pulling.

*Astute readers may remember that I installed 15mm spacers, fore and aft. The service guys and I agreed that a) since they were all the same size, and b) amounted to the same thing as choosing a different rim with 15mm less offset (not a big deal in any car I've ever owned), they were probably not a factor.

So, the senior tech decided to try road force balancing my tires. This was new to me, as I had never heard of road force balancing, during which the wheel is balanced while being "weighted" down on a roller, kind of like a dyno pull with a tire balancing at the same time. The specs for the Hankook Ventus S1 evo3 205/45R17 that came stock on Jessie were less than 20lbs. drag per tire. Mine were 18L and 42R on the forward wheels, and 27L and 27R aft. So, 3:4 over spec, and the front right was way out and probably causing my right drift (and may have been exacerbated by my spacers, given the now slightly longer moment arm of the axle).

So, they gave me a loaner (a 4 door S) and called Hankook for tire warranty. Hankook got four new tires in the mail. When they arrived, their drag was 5/5/5/22. So, I've still got the loaner and Hankook is sending another tire. I've had the loaner 2 weeks and about 600 miles. I'll check back in, after the next step. I also wonder if the new, less draggy tires will increase my range appreciably.

Anybody else with Hankook tires experiencing drift/alignment issues?

 

Let's see: a total drag force of 114 lbf with the old tires, versus (ideally) 20 lbf or less, with measurements made at 1200-1400 lbf vertical load per tire. Each wheel on your Mini is carrying about half of that, so at, say, 30 mph, that's a difference of about 4 hp. It will be interesting to see if that has any noticeable impact on either your range or performance.

 

This is all new to me. So if the new tire tests at 19 lbs everything is within spec and they'll send you on your way with 5/5/5/19? I assume the 19 would go on the rear to prevent the original problem? How can the 3 tires be so much better than spec?

 

I had the same question. But, after screwing up by not having the alignment machine programmed when I got there the first time, MINI is bending over backwards to get this repair right, so they are not wanting to use, say, my original "18" tire, even though it is barely in spec.

Interestingly, my advisor told me they did exactly as you suggested, putting the new 22 on the RR with the other new 5/5/5s, and the car did not pull. But, they're getting me another new tire to try to make everything as close as possible.

 

BTW, I also learned that the window for initial alignment warranty complaints closes at 2,000 miles, so speak now or forever hold your peace. I was at about 1,600 miles when I ran the flag up.