Chilli pack - 16" wheels - MINI Cooper Forum

KAS_COOPER · #1 (**permalink**) Dec 14th, 2002, 11:50 AM

Hi,

I prefer the 16" X-lites as opposed to the 17" S-Spokes you seem to get with the Chilli pack on the MCS.

Has anybody been able to get the 16" X-Lites in the Chilli pack, even if it meant no price reduction ?

Interested to hear of successes on this matter.

Cheers,

KAS_COOPER(S)

...and here is a picture to prove just how good the 16" X-Lites look !!! http://www.mini2.com/gallery/MINI%20...S/P0008524.jpg

superplumb · #2 (**permalink**) Dec 14th, 2002, 12:08 PM

i have a cooper s which came with what they called a pepperoni pack which is chilli but with 16 inch wheels the dealer said this was because they were short of 17 inch at the time i was lucky not having to wait as the car was in stock and was what we would have specified it was cheaper to . hope this is useful

KAS_COOPER · #3 (**permalink**) Dec 14th, 2002, 12:16 PM

So this proves that it isn't the 11th Commandment that the Chilli pack MUST come with 17" wheels then.

Cheers,
KAS_COOPER(S)

Mini_me · #4 (**permalink**) Dec 14th, 2002, 06:51 PM

I have an S Chilli with X-lites. I was part of my condition for ordering the car that I could get it with x-lites rather than the 17" S-spoke.

In order to do it my dealer had to order the X-lites and swap them over for me, meaning they probably have the 17" wheels in stock now. I saw the car when it arrived with the 17" wheels. Looked nice, but I am still not sure if I like the look better than x-lites or not. Anyway I'm v happy with the x-lites from a handling perspective and that is more important to me.

LMB · #5 (**permalink**) Dec 14th, 2002, 10:08 PM

I used to hate the look of the x-lites but as time has gone on I’ve grown to like them. If I were to order another S I would seriously think of getting them not least for the fact that the cars meant to handle better with them.

I would still push for money off as I dare say they are a fair bit cheaper. When I had my Cooper I upgraded my chilli wheel to the S spokes. If I remember rightly it cost me £370 for the privilege. So it’s worth pushing for.

RedMini · #6 (**permalink**) Dec 17th, 2002, 09:06 AM

Our S has a Pepperoni pack, i.e. Chili with X-lites instead of S-spokes. We were offered it as we were potentially to be delayed by the supply problem with S-spokes in August.

The price reduction was £250, compared with the normal upgrade price of £370. The reasoning behind the price was that a Chili pack saves you around a third on the individual options.

We were quite happy, as we far prefer the X-lites, particularly on the brighter body colours like our Chili Red.

As far as I know it was only a temporary offer, so I guess the only way around it now is to do a deal with your dealer.

BRUNTY · #7 (**permalink**) Jan 3rd, 2003, 10:02 PM

Hi just been reading your posts and were wondering if you could help me with our issue with the wheels.

We have just ordered a MCS in Electric blue with sat nav etc and the chilli pack but we want the 16 " 5 spoke wheels insted of the 17" wheels, when we asked the mini dealer about it he said no you cant change the wheels when you have the chilli pack!!

We dont want them to knock off any money on the chilli pack if we had the 16" wheels so i cant see why they cant do it..

Has anyone had any experience in this? If you have please reply..

Cheers

MCS in Elec blue, sat nav, chilli pack, half lether, cd, DSC ..

KlausR · #8 (**permalink**) Jan 3rd, 2003, 10:16 PM

@BRUNTY

You have chosen quite the same specification like me! I also ordered an S in Electric Blue and many items included in the Chili pack, but I actually dropped the pack for keeping the white 5-spokes. The salesman said there was no chance to modify the pack content with the ordering software. But he offered that if he would order another Mini for the dealer he would order my favorite wheels and we could change the spec to Chili. I am not expecting this to happen, but I´m even not really enthusiastic about the Chili equipment. Leather would be nice, but apart from that my car will have everything I want even without Chili.

Klaus

LMB · #9 (**permalink**) Jan 4th, 2003, 02:08 AM

I was on the verge of ordering a new Cooper S a couple of weeks back. I didn't want the S Spokes as I wanted to add my own wheels. My dealer told me that if i got the Chilli pack I would have to get the S Spokes. There was no way I could get the X lites. He did however offer to buy the S Spokes off me for £350.

RedMini · #10 (**permalink**) Jan 8th, 2003, 12:33 PM

You could always try selling the S-spokes on - e.g. www.mini2.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=21667

B4d4Bing · #11 (**permalink**) Jan 8th, 2003, 11:27 PM

i would love spokes...i will buy them off you guys for £350 or swap them for my 5 stars in white if you want!! email me at u24mf@abdn.ac.uk

thanks

mark

GTT 280 · #12 (**permalink**) Jan 10th, 2003, 11:50 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by BRUNTY
Hi just been reading your posts and were wondering if you could help me with our issue with the wheels.

We have just ordered a MCS in Electric blue with sat nav etc and the chilli pack but we want the 16 " 5 spoke wheels insted of the 17" wheels, when we asked the mini dealer about it he said no you cant change the wheels when you have the chilli pack!!

We dont want them to knock off any money on the chilli pack if we had the 16" wheels so i cant see why they cant do it..

Has anyone had any experience in this? If you have please reply..

Cheers

MCS in Elec blue, sat nav, chilli pack, half lether, cd, DSC ..

I was told that you could have the 16" wheels (whether this was only the X-Lites I don't know) and it was called something like the Pepperoni Pack - seriously.

I eventually went with the 17" wheels as they look better with the EB colour. The handling did not seem to alter much either, nor was the ride any different to that of my 16" tar SportsSuspension+ MINI Cooper I currently have.

Hope this helps.

EB

Bilbo Baggins · #13 (**permalink**) Jan 15th, 2003, 01:09 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by KAS_COOPER
Hi,

I prefer the 16" X-lites as opposed to the 17" S-Spokes you seem to get with the Chilli pack on the MCS.

Has anybody been able to get the 16" X-Lites in the Chilli pack, even if it meant no price reduction ?

Interested to hear of successes on this matter.

I was in the same position that you are in. Here is how I solved it.

Over here on the other side of the pond we do not have the "chili" and "pepper" packages, but something similar. They offer a "performance" package. Well, I wanted just about everything in the "performance" kit except the 17" wheels. What I did was to order all the items individually. It cost a bit more, but I'm happy with what I have. It is just what I want. In the end, if I had gone with the package the 17" wheels and tires would have only cost me an additional $100 (67 pounds).

Bilbo Baggins · #14 (**permalink**) Jan 15th, 2003, 01:13 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by EB03_MCS
I eventually went with the 17" wheels as they look better with the EB colour. The handling did not seem to alter much either, nor was the ride any different to that of my 16" tar SportsSuspension+ MINI Cooper I currently have.

Just be careful in the heavy rain and snow with the 17"s.

They hydroplane a bit easier than the 16"s and float up on snow or slush more easily.

miniclem · #15 (**permalink**) Jan 15th, 2003, 02:39 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Bilbo Baggins
Just be careful in the heavy rain and snow with the 17"s.

They hydroplane a bit easier than the 16"s and float up on snow or slush more easily.

Do they really? I have 17" All Weathers and other than one time that was more user error (some rough gravel + a -15% grade + @120 degree left turn + 35MPH = whoops...whew) they have handled really well. I would think that simply having that extra size would be better but I don't know much about tires....