Uneven rear tyre wear

[Bazza 2174]

Last 12 months or so I've had a droning sound from the tyres (on a 53 plate MCS) which has come quite unnerving at speeds of 50+ mph.

Yesterday it went for an MOT and an hour later I got a call to say that the inner edge of both the rear (Yoko's) were worn although (obviously) the tyres looked ok when I dropped the car off.
They put on some 'Budget' tyres which I've never heard of called VQS or QSV or something like that. The noise from the tyres seem to have stopped.

My questions are..
1) Any idea what causes the tyres to wear like that on the back and is it worth getting fixed?
2)Am I ok to drive with these 'Budget' rear tyres? They are Z speed rated. I have Toyos on the front and the garage described the new rears they put on as being Budget tyres "like the fronts"..

Any thoughts much appreciated

[DanGT]

No to the tyres. With a good tyre at the front and cheep tyres at the back if you start to slip the back end will come out (Very hard to control on the front wheel drive car). The other way round is better but not ideal.

The rear on all new minis can be ajusted. This can be done by BMW or some one with the right equipment.

[gonzales]

Bazza I had a similar problem with my R53 MCS when I took it for its first MOT. The rear tyres, whilst from the back of the car looked fine, were down to the thread on the inner rim. The BMW service guy says it happens a lot on MINIs because the chassis is so stiff when you corner it puts more pressure and therefore wear on the rear inner edges.

As far as cheap tyres on the back and expensive stuff on the front, I wouldn't be too worried. Just because the tyres are cheap doesn't mean they are dangerous. As with all new tyres lay off hard cornering and sharp acceleration until they are bedded in and then see what you think.

[Bazza 2174]

Thanks guys

Re the Budget tyres I feel relatively relaxed as I only use the car to drive to the station and back (a 52 mile round trip) and as it's usually in traffic there's not huge potential for skidding off.

I might try swopping the fronts and rears over after a year or so to try to minimise the inner edge wear.

[Eviltad]

I'd have thought your Toyo fronts would wear as quick if not quicker than the budget rears. It might just mean you can switch all four when the fronts are worn down.

[DanGT]

There is nothing wrong with cheep tyres. The Toyos will have a lot more grip then the budget tyres. More grip at the front than the back is bad. On a rainy day round a round-about the front will go round and fell like there is nothing wrong and the next thing you will leave the round about back first. I have had this on two cars. One a racing mini we did this set up to get fast times with the tyers we had. Even knowing this the car was hard to control. The other a road car I had just got with bad weather I had a big slide (I had the other half in the car so was not going that quick). I just got it back in line in time.

At the end of the day its up to you but you have been told.

[dandarez]

Budget tyres called VQS or QSV ? Thought I'd heard of all the budget tyres, never heard of anything like that.

Sure they didn't say NS2's
(Nankang NS2) - just look on the tyre sidewall to see what they are.

And Toyos (depending on which ones) are looked at by some as budget, they're not expensive and in the budget to mid range price.

Edited by dandarez on Sunday 17th October 22:06

[Bazza 2174]

Will check tonight and let you know

[Bazza 2174]

Checked this evening They are VSP tyres.

Is that good or bad?

[dandarez]

Bazza 2174 said:

Checked this evening They are VSP tyres.

Is that good or bad?

German!

However, you'll probably find, if you look hard on the sidewall among the smaller lettering, they are 'made' in Indonesia.

Means nothing. You can bet your bottom dollar many are made under licence in other countries.

I just bought some Falkens (Japanese tyre, like Yokohama). Some call them budget, dealers call them mid range as they command mid range price.
Many I have checked are made in Thailand!

You'll find many of the Chinese and Far East tyre makers have European tyre engineers at the helm!
Wouldn't be surprised if they are not made in better factories and stricter conditions.

I'm not advocating people buy budget tyres. Buy what you need and can afford. BUT you need to look after them too. That means regular pressure checks and visual tread checks.

I do, yet even i was caught out. One of my 'expensive' £160 Dunlop runflats, still tread legal, had steel cords visible in a small (half inch) area of the 'inside' of the tyre. Only noticeable by removing the wheel!
If it had been a 'budget' tyre, bet you I would have got 'serves you right, buying cheap tyres!

I'm gonna run my Falkens in gently for 500 miles, then see exactly how they handle and grip.

Edited by dandarez on Thursday 21st October 15:27