I hate the ride in my r56 cooper. It is absolutely terrible. Only had it 3 weeks and I don't look forward to driving it, I have to say. (I've owned and driven many hard-riding cars - all sports cars and all beautiful for driving in - this is just a bone-shaker)

So I am thinking of ditching the 17"s with the Run flats and picking up some 15" with Falkens on.

I can see all the discussions on the benefits of normal tyres. But it's mainly discussions about people replacing tyres on the same rims.

Just wondered if anyone has done this. Does it make a big difference? is economy and sound better? I do mainly motorway miles.

Thanks Guys.

Hi ya

If you go from run flats on you 17's to normal construction tires it's makes a
If you drop down to 16's with non run flats I think that would do you :-)
I would be carefull going to a 15" if you do just check to make shore they clear your brakes before you buy them
This is a good read lot of info
MINI Cooper Forum - MINI2 Mini Cooper Forums - FAQ & DIY: MINI DIY & FAQ - ALL GENERATIONS (http://www.mini2.com/forum/faq.php?faq=mini_faq#faq_faq_wheels_tyres)
There is a tire chart giving You sizes and optimal circumferences this will keep your speedo correct
Fuel consumption and acceleration can be altered by using heavier or lighter wheels Depending on what style you go for
hope this helps you out

just ditch the rf tyres,when i got my S has sports suspension running 18" with rf's

i changed to non rf,am now running falk 452's,its alot better than it was even though i've got sports suspension on the car.
Still a bit hard at times but nowhere as bad now i've got shot of the rf's..

Cheers guys. I called the dealer today cos I've seen a couple of people on ebay who are offering 15" with decent tyres at a good price. Seems they've traded up to 17" wheels.

Dealer said that 15" are no go on an r56 Cooper - which kinda contradicts the advice on here.

I've booked it into the dealer for them to look into the ride - I suspect a foul play at the rear, it's that bad. Plus they need to fix the bonnet release.

Once I get it back I shall be on ebay for a set of 16"s I reckon.

I have a 2004 R53 ( I know not the same as the R56) and went from a set of RFT in a 205/45/17 on stock rims to a set of 195/60/15 on a set of Rota Slipstreams and LOVE the way it rides. 15x7 rim with a 40 offset and it clears the brakes with no issues. Dropped the Mini down a little too and what a huge difference in ride comfort.

Dealer said that 15" are no go on an r56 Cooper - which kinda contradicts the advice on here.

As long as your Cooper has standard brakes any 15" OEM wheels will fit your car.

Dealer said that 15" are no go on an r56 Cooper - which kinda contradicts the advice on here.

Once I get it back I shall be on ebay for a set of 16"s I reckon.
I ran my R57 Cooper (not S) on its original 15s for a year, so I know for sure they fit!

I regretted the 15s as while they are pretty light, the tyre choice at that height (65) is tyres designed for economy not grip, so I went up to 16s where the tyre choice is much better, plus they are 195 wide not 175. Much better grip.

I didn't feel there was any major loss of ride comfort - the 16s are a mite harder, but equally they seem less 'crashy'. I got the 16 wheels with some old Dunlop runflats already on them and even they weren't particularly bad. Mark you, I have standard, not sport, suspension.

Caveman, I am bouyed by the fact that 15"s should fit - they are quite affordable on ebay, much more so that 16"s which seem to be as rare as hen's teeth - and the 16s seem to start at around £550 new with Falken tyres.
I suppose I'm not too shocked that the dealers weren't able to assure me they would fit - as lovely as they are I've found that any dealers are much less informed that people in forums - does that make us obsessive types?

PoppaDlo, what's a 40 offset - not sure what that means.

AngiB, you mention that you regret the lack of grip. The mini is my spare car and I just use it for commuting, so I am not so bothered about sporting prowess, but a lack of grip could be concerning if you found them to be less safe. Did you stick with the run flats on the 16"s you bought?

I found 15s to be a bit slithery on wet roundabouts and the like but only when cornering hard. There's nothing 'unsafe' about them and they do offer the advantage of making the justa Cooper more lively on acceleration.

I never intended to keep runflats on the 16s as I can't see they give any real benefit for those of us who don't fear stopping to pump up a tyre - and as I originally had the standard non-runflat 15s, I already had the air pump and goo bottle set in the boot.

I was thinking of changing my 17-inch runflats to non-runflats for my newly purchased 2007 Cooper S. The dealer told me that the new runflats fitted to my car (Pirelli) were much better than the old runflats so there wouldn't be an appreciable change in comfort levels if I switch over to 17 inch non-runflats. Does this sound right? THe additional comfort of non-runflats sounds appealing but have heard that the switch will negatively affect the superb cornering of the Cooper S.

Anybody else heard similar things?

So, after spending £150 on eBay I got me some immaculate Spooler 15" alloys with barely worn in tyres (Michelin, so not the best, but hey they were very cheap). I wanted the Imola pepper pot ones but they were hard to come by.

How different does it feel to the ugly (IMHO) Flame spoke 17" alloys with run flats??

Positives

I don't have an achy back any more.
I feel the bumps still, but they are all now wrapped in cotton wool.
There is no tram-lining. Where I drive that was getting pretty scary on very narrow temporary M62 lanes with poorly covered old lane divisions - the car veered side to side alarmingly.
Handling virtually unaffected - It now grips like a go cart rather than a go kart with superglue on its tyres.

Negatives

Slightly less steering feel - but not disastrously so.


So, I would heartily recommend doing it - BUT don't expect to find you're suddenly driving a 2CV - You will still feel every bump, it just won't hurt as much.

That's good to know as I've just bought a set of 16's to change my 17" rft to non run flats so am looking forward to it :)

Why do you say the michelins are cheap, what tyres would you have preferred?

I looked up reviews of the michelin energys as well as the pirelli p3000s and they don't get much support. So, I will replace em with falkens, which seem to be unanimously popular.

As for being cheap... I think the falkens are much cheaper, I was just alluding to the fact that they were already on the wheels and pretty new, so a good alround bargain.

So, normally i get an indicated 42.9 at the end of a trip to and from work (80 miles round trip).

Since getting the new wheels and tyres on - i am averaging 47. be interesting to see how long that keeps up and whether the indicated mpg is accurate or has been corrupted by the change in diameter - i shall report back when i have refuelled a full tank and worked it all out on my calculator...

Potentially very interesting..

i shall report back when i have refuelled a full tank and worked it all out on my calculator...
And if you can instantly work out whether to divide your economy change by the ratio of the two tyre diameters, or multiply it, you're a better man than me, Gunga Din. I always have to do complex statements about numbers of wheel revolutions an' stuff like that.

Gone up. Now at 49mpg and that's after 3 refills....

Am liking this extra money in my pocket.