My first Mini roadside service experience

Ouch! VERY sorry to hear about the mishap, @GvilleGuy, but I really appreciate your sharing your experience with MINI Roadside Assistance with us! It’s an encouraging report — sounds like we’re in pretty good hands with them.

And glad you enjoyed the New Year’s Eve show! Hope concern about your car didn’t put too much of a damper on your night out.

 

That's what the tire goo that comes with the SE is for, or run flats. MINI doesn't do spare tires anymore, I don't believe. And thankfully most everyone has gotten away from those dangerous mini spares.

The tire goo may not have helped with your particular damage, but run flats would certainly have allowed driving it to the dealer. I've always used run flats on my ICE MINIs, but the greater noise and lower efficiency may not be ideal for the SE.

Glad to hear everything worked out well.

 

June 21 L2 in UK.
Just received mail from dealer recalling car for reprogramme of encoded data. Seems if emergency call is triggered to the Control Centre the drive type of vehicle is not transmitted which will not highlight the special features and needs of the Mini that the rescue services would require. Evidently a 2 hour 'pit stop' to update. Maybe this is just a UK / release issue, but it might apply in other countries.

 

What is "run flats"?

 

My first MINI was a 2002 Cooper S. It came with Pirelli Euphoria RunFlats. They were stickier than Gorilla tape but with that sort of grip, it comes with a reduction of tread life. Typically, I went thru a set of those in 25,000 km (15,500 miles). At $400 a tyre, I switched after 3 sets to regular tyres and some tire goo but I never did have a flat.


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I got the same recall notification on the Mini App on Sunday .

 

It's fabulous luck that your wheel didn't suffer any damage! I hope your dealer won't have any trouble getting a Hankook replacement tire right away.

 

Run flats (or run on flats) are tires with reinforced sidewalls that can be driven on even when the tire has no air. BMW and MINI (a subsidiary of BMW) use them a lot.

 

I believe the SE is the only MINI Cooper that doesn't come with run-flat tires, for which I'm very glad. Well, I'm glad my SE didn't come with run-flats, but I don't care that they're exclusive to the SE.

 

I’m not really sure why anyone in an electric car would be more likely to want to be stranded along the road with a flat tire. I don’t really understand the BMW logic by not including run flat tires on the SE or at least making them an option.

My first mod was upgrading my SE’s tires to Pirelli P1 run flats. I have approx 5K miles on the tires and have not observed any appreciable degradation of range.


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The theory is that reducing unsprung weight will increase the range, but I don't know how well that holds up to reality.

I wanted run-flats for my winter tires but tires are so hard to find right now that I ended up going with conventional tires. A lot of people complain endlessly about the harsh ride of run-flats, but they've never bothered me personally.

What is most bizarre to me is that they don't let you spec all seasons.

Edit: and as for EV owners being more willing to be stranded, just look at how many threads there are on here about how to maximize range!

 

It's good MINI can deliver that tire. I just checked Tire Rack (again) and they don't sell the Hankook Ventus S1 Evo 3 in the SE's 205/45R17 size.

While perusing Tire Rack, I saw a tire I didn't know about, the Hankook Ventus S1 Evo 3 EV, which they also don't carry in the 205/45R17 size. I assumed MINI chose the Ventus S1 Evo 3 instead of one of the run-flat tires they put on all non-electric MINI Coopers because it offered low rolling resistance. Does the EV version offer lower rolling resistance? Was the EV version not sticky enough for MINI?

 

I think it's more the thicker sidewall required for run flats to work, the weight is just a side effect of the extra sidewall rubber.

As the tire goes around, some energy is put into deforming the rubber sidewall of the tire (and turned into heat) and thicker sidewalls require more energy to deform meaning they are less efficient.

The sidewalls on the 16" OE tires are incredibly thin, I can compress the unmounted tire with just one finger! Probably one of the reasons they're so efficient.

 

If all of that is true, wouldn’t it be just as true for an ICE car? All cars are being designed to maximize efficiency, not just BEV’s.


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If MINI really cared about efficiency, their Hardtops would look like my gen-1 Insight instead of a couple of boxes. The reason they care more about efficient tires on the SE is because it has such limited range. The company assumes people driving ICE MINIs are willing to trade efficiency and a better ride for the ability to drive on a flat tire.

 

I had a relatively good experience using the tire puncture kit that is included with our Mini's. I was the lucky recipient of a 4 inch wood screw in the drivers rear tire. Did not get the tire pressure warning until I got home. Proceeded to pull the screw out and follow the instructions in the manual. Quick tip to get the sealant the fill the puncture.

Position the puncture so its positioned toward the road/ground that way the sealant will collect toward at the bottom of the tire toward the puncture. I still had to drive back in forth a few feet to distribute the sealant in the tire but the sealant quickly stopped the leak. The compressor that is included in the kit is actually really powerful.

Alfa Guilia's use the same kit.