[MINIGREY]

Has Anyone Dropped Stock Suspension 30mm On A Set Of 215x35x19" Wheels And If So Any Problems Or No Probs - Can It Be Done?

[MINIGREY]

Will try to post this question here as have no success in the whell, sus etc section
Has anyone in Aus dropped thier Cooper S and added 19" rims as well
Can this be done. Thinking king springs
A reply would be appreciated c

Cheers

[Baker]

I've seen a Mini dropped on 20's... it can be done, but do you really want to bugger up the handling of the car that much?!

[Todd!]

I thought Josh' were 19s...

[n00b]

Shouldn't be a problem but you might need to trim bits of the plastic guard thing off just in case if the tyre rubs it. King isn't exactly the best spring out there....try Eibach or H&R.

*bite* my tongue from flaming this guy...

[Baker]

Hmm, I thought they were 20's. The one at Minishow 04 of Craigs was on 20's though I think?

[MINIGREY]

Is it really going to upset up the handling that much? Have you driven a MCS with the 2 diffrent rim sizes?
My last car was a mazda sp23 similar power output etc to MCS and the larger wheels/tyres made handling way sharper.

[Baker]

The Minis handling will be reduced when you start looking over 17" wheels.. 18's are OK, but 19"s are for looks only. They also tend to look a bit too big on a Mini.

[enzothemaddog]

19 inch will ruin handling, turn-in and stopping distances.
Youre car will need more than just springs (harder shocks & springs, trimmed guards, rear control arms etc) if you want a decent spinal column in the future. You should definately not compare a Mazdas setup to a MINIs.
You should really consider these points as well as the fact that nobody here likes Riced MINIs hence the apprehension from others to give advice. No offence.
IMHO, 18's are too much

[Baker]

Nick, if hes wanting to run 19"ers, I don't think he's really too worried about the quality of the ride, he's going just for the looks. I agree with everything you're saying though

Get yourself a nice set of 17/18's, and enjoy the Mini doing what it is made to do - take corners.

[Crouchy]

Quote: Originally Posted by enzothemaddog

19 inch will ruin handling, turn-in and stopping distances.
Youre car will need more than just springs (harder shocks & springs, trimmed guards, rear control arms etc) if you want a decent spinal column in the future. You should definately not compare a Mazdas setup to a MINIs.
You should really consider these points as well as the fact that nobody here likes Riced MINIs hence the apprehension from others to give advice. No offence.
IMHO, 18's are too much

I suppose the comment about "riced" MINI's depends on your interpretation of riced because i dont see a MINI on 19" wheels as riced at all. Maybe if it had 20" chromes, massive bodykit, limo tints, and a cooling tower sized exhaust you could call it riced.

Minigrey please consider that most of the people who make comments about 19's ruining the handling have never driven a mini on 19's and are just assuming that it will or just copying what they have read elsewhere on this forum.

Do a search for people with 19's and send them a pm. I spoke to one guy who had done exactly what you are asking and he said he had to trim the mudguards but that is it, but it depends on the type of wheel and the offset etc.

[Ell P]

i wanted 19s but thank god i did get them and opted for 18s they are plenty big enough let me tell u. mines not even lowered but too make them look even bigger slam it.

mine are heavy rims jusy had them laser aligned today and it rides heavy and hates bad potholes, its just bareable in my opinion. 19s would be disasterous. it would be like a monster truck. the ride would be neck braking and braking and acceleration are all effected anyone that says this isnt true is lying.

[fireman01]

19s all the way, the tyre profile is the same or can be 5mm difference to 18s so its not night and day,compared to standard though will notice a big difference 14s 15s etc. some arch mods and tracking realignment is also required see my gallery cant remember if it is 30 or 40 mm with 19s

[Tit]

echoing what the others have said, things you need to consider:

- offset of the wheel: anything lower than about 42mm ET with lowering and you could start to get rubbing - depending on your spring set-up. Most Japanese and cheap asian wheels have ET's around 40, as this is the most common offset range....so if you are looking at dodgy Tempe Tyre specials, expect the offset to be somewhere around there.

Here's an example of some 18's with an offset of +37mm - lowered in Bilstein coilovers - as you can see, the wheel is likely to foul on both front and rear arches!



(edit: I have checked out that car again, and it seems he has 10mm spacers for his brake kit! (+27mm offset!!!!) - eek....never-the-less, I'll leave the pic here for your viewing pleasure )

- slightly wider tyre selection coupled with a low offset - ie. 215s + et40 or lower offset and you'll probably get a bit of rubbing at the rear - nothing too drastic but worth considering.

- spring and tyre selection will have a significant impact on the ride quality; I would reccomend, as dairyboy has, eibachs or H&R's. I don't know anyone running king-springs on a mini, but i know someone on a mid-90's 5 series Beemer, and he says they are the most horrible springs he's ever had.

-lowering springs by themselves will induce a bit (more) negative camber - moreso on the rear than the front (mine went to about -2deg at the rear). This will affect your tyre wear and handling.

- you will most likely have a different rolling diameter on the 215/35/19 tyre - your wheel will be bigger than standard and therefore it will make less rotations per unit of distance - ie. your speedo will be out - it will under-read your speed. You will need to consider that if you won't like speeding tickets...(someone please correct me if I got that backwards ). Also, because your wheel/tyre will stand a bit higher, that will also make you slightly more prone to rubbing (most likely at the rear).

I'm running Alta 30mm lowering springs, and they are garbage as well. I was running 18x7.5 inch rims, ET40, with a 215/35/ZR18 tyre (Falken). A crappy tyre combined with crappy springs made my car an absolute POS to drive. Very bouncy and uncomfortable.

Good luck!

[Crouchy]

Quote: Originally Posted by Ell P

i wanted 19s but thank god i did get them and opted for 18s they are plenty big enough let me tell u. mines not even lowered but too make them look even bigger slam it.

mine are heavy rims jusy had them laser aligned today and it rides heavy and hates bad potholes, its just bareable in my opinion. 19s would be disasterous. it would be like a monster truck. the ride would be neck braking and braking and acceleration are all effected anyone that says this isnt true is lying.

As you say yours are very heavy wheels and will therefore affect performance to a greater degree than most wheels.
When i fitted my 18's the acceleration was slightly affected but to be honest all it did was help prevent the wheelspin i used to get during hard acceleration with the 15's.
And as far as ride quality is concerned i found it no stiffer at all, it just seems to tramline more.
hopefully Im getting 19's this year and im hoping to finally fit my eibachs.

[alexpalex]

Quote: Originally Posted by enzothemaddog

19 inch will ruin handling, turn-in and stopping distances.
Youre car will need more than just springs (harder shocks & springs, trimmed guards, rear control arms etc) if you want a decent spinal column in the future. You should definately not compare a Mazdas setup to a MINIs.
You should really consider these points as well as the fact that nobody here likes Riced MINIs hence the apprehension from others to give advice. No offence.
IMHO, 18's are too much

I am running 18's on mine, with an Eibach lowering kit. The ride is far better without the runflat 17's that came as standard.
Lateral grip has increased, therefore the cornering ability. There is more feel from the non runflats...which someone else can interpret as handling.
Handling is subjective, I also have an STi, which has more grip and cornering ability and traction than the MINI. But this isn't what you would class as handling. Feel for the road and adjusability is what I would class as handling.
This has only increased since changing upto 18's.
As for acceleration, there is no difference from before...Where the rim is slightly heavier, the tyre is slightly lighter...

As for looks, there is no comparison...a nice set of 18" rims and a lowering kit looks a whole lot less "riced" than a car with multiple spoilers and carbon fibre add-ons and manufacturer stickers...

Go the Euro look anyday.

[n00b]

Bigger tyre but they're lighter? Doubt it. Think about it, a thinner sidewall will require more reinforcement there and of course every bit of the stuff weights something. Anyway, even if the bigger tyre weight less but it wouldn't make it up for the bigger rim. Another thing, even if the weight of the rotating mass didn't increase or decrease but a change in rolling diameter (even if it's minimal) will have an effect on the gear ratio, in turn that will slow it down.

As for cars with various CF bits tacked on and manufacture's stickers around the rear window, in my opinion, that's better than cars dripping with vinyl or a huge picnic table up the back

[LMB]

Howay lads. Lets not get personal here.

[WORKSRACER]

The original wheels on my mini are the 5 spoke bullits and are the lightest 17" at 9.4kg's available from the factory. The 18" OZ's i have weigh less at 7.9kg's and are bigger!

cheers
michael

[GoBlue]

I am in the wheel business and the performance is a combination of a lot of factors, in my opinion.
wheel weight is definitely a big factor. The unsprung weight definitely affects the acceleration, gas mileage and stopping power. Also, its torsional strength affects the cornering abilities. However, 18 is not always heavier than 17 and ride comfort is really dependent on what kind of tire more so than the profile. Ofcourse low profile tires are generally a little rougher due to the sidewall construction, if it is of the same brand and type.

For show purposes, I have seen plenty of 20s and 19s and with the right tire and camber, youcan fit them fine. But than again, you can't expect to have everything, i.e, 19's / slammed / track car performance... You have to give way to something.

In my personal opinion, I think that 17/18 will give an optimal balance, really. my 2 cents...