215/45 tires on 17x8-More Outer Wear?
 

I've had my MPSS for about 9-10K miles and notice the outer edges are wearing quite a bit more than the inside or even center. My alignment is good, toe is all zero'd on all 4 corners, camber is -1.5 in the front and about -1.0 in the back. Stock springs atm too. At this rate i wonder if they'll make another 8K miles. I have rotated them, though only once, they have the same wear pattern on all corners.

I did put 215/45s on 17x8 RPF1s, so i wonder if this is a bit too much tire on that wheel (it is still in Michelin's specs). Will going to 225s help even out the wear? Reason i stuck with that size is i wanted a bit better steering response than outright grip-the MPSS at this size have plenty of grip for me.

I drive mostly highway but if i get on a windy road and i have no cars in front of me i do drive hard, but nothing crazy like drifting or anything. Never tracked or even autocrossed.

Someone told me the MPSS have a much softer compound on the outer edges too, which would make sense too.

Any pictures of the tire? If you want to even out that kind of wear you have to have them flipped on the wheels, not just rotate the entire wheel/tire to another corner of the car.


215 on an 8" wheel is a bit stretched, but not terrible. I run 225's on an 8" wheel and wouldn't think about going narrower.


Typically if you're wearing the outer edge you don't have enough camber for what you're doing.

I'm running 215 on a 8, it's the smallest tyre recommended for a 8" rim with my RS4's (tirerack), I'm running -2.0° 0 toe and they are wearing fine.

As stated above, flip your tyres and try more camber.

I run mainly street with weekend trips through some tight twisty hills.

MPSS is kind of a soft compound so there isn't that much you can do, I had 225 at all 4 corners & by the end of their life there is pretty much nothing left on the shoulder @28k mile

You can extend their life a bit but not much i think & cali road doesn't help. lol

I think it's a trade off of them being comfy while sporty....


*Well i heard MP4 & MP4S is better with wear...so there is that, you can't buy MPSS anymore since half year ago. Keep on driving. :burnrubber:

OP, You are correct about the MPSS having different tread compounds across the tire face with softer on the outside. My set wore the same way. You can try bumping the camber and the pressures a bit.

I currently run the continental extreme sport contact and the wear is much better, while being just a hair less in ultimate grip than the MPSS. They’re cheaper too. Maybe try those next?


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Interesting. @BlueWhelan i will probably try continental extreme contact pro next time, i do love the grip of the MPSS in torrential downpours so hopefully it wouldn't be a big downgrade there.

@ the posters telling me to get more camber, i am maxed on the front with bolts and don't really want to change more suspension to get more camber. Rears i could dial in more with my adjustable LCAs but kind of like the balance as it is.

I will add some pics in a bit, my Pixel is on the fritz since the last major OS update (Pie). The rubber on the edges is starting to kind of crack, almost like its had too many heat cycles. Have had them for ~8 months and like i said just under 10k miles.

What psi? Worn shoulders can be a sign you are under inflated

How much hard driving do you do? Hpde? Autox?

Or is it all street miles?

Hard driving sure, when the road is curvy (who doesn't) but 80% of my miles are highway (straight line). The rest of it is mostly city driving. When i visit parents in the north bay i do take windy roads etc but it's not like Initial D type stuff.

Here's what i'm talking about. The tread in the middle has a lot of life left in it, and the inside does not have that kind of worn, cracked look. I run these at ~35 psi. Forgot to take a pic of the sidewall but you can kind of see some of that wear extend to the sidewall a bit, maybe they're rolling over and 35 psi is not enough.

https://i.imgur.com/9HJjtrO.jpg

That pic you posted the wear isn't outrageous 10k miles in. Like others said, some more camber or higher pressures could help, could also rotate corners/flip to extend the life.

I've never run MPSS on my 86 but have driven them on another car and recall them getting worn in a similar way just from city driving, soft sidewalls and soft outer shoulders will do that.

Do your rears look similar? May just be worth swapping front/rears.

Yeah they're like that on all corners.

Googling, i found a lot of BMW forum posts regarding the same thing, so i think it's a combo of inflation and that softer tread compound on the edges. Probably won't get these again, no point since most of my driving is highway, heh.

Those look totally fine, that's just the way Michelin shaped the shoulder on the PSS.

Probably just never had as sticky a tire as these, just found it odd the outer edges have started cracking at 9k. Not sure how Michelin warranties these for 30k!

It's not cracking, it's fine, that's just how the rubber ages.

Drive it harder and scrub that rubber off.

:burnrubber: