I ran mine on a few track days at Wakefield with 165/70-10 Dunlop LeMans on the front and Falken FK07Es on the rear.
It felt pretty quick and understeer was not a problem, but I looped it too many times coming onto the straight. Luckily I stopped this nonsense- so before I clobbered the pit apron- I went and bought 4 A008s.

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DrMini- 1970 wasaMatic 1360, Mk1S crank, 86.6HP (ATW) =~125 @ crank, 45 Dellorto (38 chokes), RE282 sprint cam, 1.5 rockers, 11.0:1 C/R.

Makes sense to run the best tyres on the back. Worste thing you can do running bad tyres at the front are skid to stop, doesn't go where you want it to go. Worste thing you can so running bad tyres at the back is to do a 360 on the freeway like I did...

Your choice! mine is to run same all round...

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Lillee - 1969 Morris Mini K

While we are all debating some obscure issue - Doc hit it on the nose. Why stuff around with mixed tyres. Get a matching set of four of a known standard and performance.

yeah - I know its not always psooible and it creates hardships and financial dilemmas but its probably better than backing the mini into a line of cars at the lights on a wet night and at speed.

put the best tyres on the front,

they have to do the braking accelerating and steering..

the worst thing that can happen is no steering in the wet and locking up the brakes that do all the work. ask willy what happens next..

put some bridgies or get a full set of a008's, you'll need them when you supercharge it anyway

I'm with Spaceboy here...the Wife daily drive has (at the Moment) Le Mans on the front and and Dunlop Formular R's on the rear.
I believed it handled and Braked better the other way round but I will check the Tyre's Pressure tomorrow Morning
I do like grippy on the front Due to Braking and the ability to feather the brake if need be
If you go to fast, your ass is always going to lift no matter what grip your tyres have

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Stop Licking the Dog...I Don't Care Who Started It

So would people as a general rule then suggest I store my 539's / sell them? Then acquire a set of bridgestones/A008's or what? What would be the best for a daily?

I must admit i was a bit dismayed when people started to say put the best tyres on the rear of a mini. This simply goes against all rules of commonsense because as stated as soon as you chuck a mini into any corner hard the rear is going to get very light, maybe lift an inside rear. In any case the slip angle on the rear taking the load is going to be rapidly reached. This will mean there is limited traction on the rear wheels regardless of the type or condition of the tyre. It is the fronts that are doing the work and dragging the rest of the mini around the corner.

Lift off the throttle and you are going to have a massive weight transfer and can expect the mini to end up in awkward angles.

1380LS
Dont go selling tyres because provided you have reasonable tyres all the way round then its not a major problem. Yes - it is ideal to have a matched set and you can buy then in the fullness of time.

We are not talking about having skinny bald cross plies on the rears here. We are talking about modern well designed tyres in good condition. These tyres have heaps of grip compared to tyres of even twenty years ago.

Good tyres on the front, lessers on the rears.

ok wel the falkens are crap and need replacing asap... and have brand new 539's on the front.....

so my question really aplies solely for the tiures on the back and what should i replace them with because i want a similar trend pattern to the 539's.

Okay - I misunderstood
Yes buy a set of tyres that best match the characteristics of the tyres you have on the front. I can't advise you on that because I am a few years out of high performance tyres and I simply dont know whats on the market.

As an aside - I have falkens on my 1310 mini and because most of my driving is on sealed rural road in the central tableIands where we do have windy hilly roads, I do drive spiritedly at times, in fact very spiritedly and I find the Falkens to be perfectly adequate. I wouldn't go to super grippys because the type of road surface would rip them to pieces very quickly.

I jsut don't know how to make myself understood..... ok wel I'll just take a look at whats available across the brands.

thanks for your help....

I always put the best tyres on the right side of the car. Fantastic for the Moke as it only goes around the block

On a screaming 850 it's largely irrelevant which end you put the grippier tyres on, considering the less grippy tyres are bridgestones that aren't that bad. If you were running a pair of A008s and a pair of half worn Michelin MXs or Firestones, I'd be more concerned
My preference on an underpowered car that isn't being driven to the limits is to put the grippier tyres on the back, since in the wet I find it easier to pull out of a front wheel skid that a rear wheel skid. But then my car is hydrospastic and is very tail happy. Your car may be different.

Well I'd say there could be some difference between 850 and 1360 and hydro verses dry.

somebody posted here this week about a stock of A539s still available.
Do a search.

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DrMini- 1970 wasaMatic 1360, Mk1S crank, 86.6HP (ATW) =~125 @ crank, 45 Dellorto (38 chokes), RE282 sprint cam, 1.5 rockers, 11.0:1 C/R.

I have always been told good tyres on front less good on back or better yet good all round.

On my first (and only so far) hillclimbing experience I was loseing the back end a fair bit in the first higher speed corner. Not a problem, just over correct the back comes back in. It's a FWD so it doesn't like spin, like a RWD would do, you jsut got to think ahead a bit and not over, over correct. LOL.

BTW I was running 4 'Mabor's on 4.5 wide wheels (holy crap ). I had the least traction of any car there, still got decent results. Came mid range of about 25 different cars of various types.

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1964 Morris 850, 1330 Supercharged - 81.8hp atws.
1975 Leyland Mini S 1100S powered - Nice and reliable.
1977 Leyland Mini LS - Project LS-T