Run Flat Tires on Mini Cooper

The Mini Cooper is a great car for many reasons, one of which is the quirks it has. One such quirk is there is no spare tire since run flat tires are used on the Mini Cooper.

How do you make a small car go fast? From Formula One to go karts, the answer is the same. You try to get as much power from the engine as you can while cutting the weight of the car as much as you can. The Mini Cooper is a perfect example of these two principles. It takes a small 1.6 liter engine and produces maximum sustainable power by turbocharging it.

What about weight cutting? The Mini is designed with a lot of little weight saving features that you don’t notice until you really look at them. For instance, there is no center console to speak of between the driver and passenger seats. In the case of tires, the designers saved weight by going with run flat tires. Since the tires don’t deflate, there is no need for a spare or the rim it sits on.

What are run flat tires? They are tires that do not deflect when pierced. This simply means they do not collapse when they lose air and the rim does not sink to the ground. Instead, you can drive on them for another 50 miles or so at reduced speeds until you can get to a tire store to have the offending tire replaced. How do the tires do this? Well, there are three methods, but the most common is a tire with a thicker, ridged sidewall that keeps its form regardless of whether there is air pressure or not.

Run flat tires come on all Mini Cooper models. My 2008 “S” has Goodyear run flats. They made it about 25,000 miles before needing to be replaced. Of course, I put the lead in “lead foot”, so that might not mean much. Regardless, the tires seem to perform well, but there is a definite downside – the cost. They will run you at least a couple of hundred bucks a tire.

Many owners don’t care for the run flat tires on the various Mini Cooper models. If you feel strongly about the issue, you can always replace them. Just make sure you buy an optional spare tire so you don’t get stuck out in the boondocks in the middle of a weekend drive! 

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