[fred-guido]

I'm about 2 weeks away from getting my car and have been struggling with picking an aftermarket set of wheels. I love the 17 S-lites the car is coming with but I have never modded anything on a car before and feel the MINI is the right car to have personalized ( decals, lights wheels, etc) . So my question is:
Regardless of the style wheel you pick. What size is best and why? Be technical if you like or pure looks are ok too.
I'll start it by saying that my personal feeling when I started looking at wheels was that "bigger is better" but now I'm not so sure. I have been looking at the pictures of cars with 18"s and think they are too big,IMO they make the MINI look a little more "boy racer" ( no offence to anyones car or oppinion), I also have a feeling that the 18"s increased tire patch is overkill in a car the size and weight of the MINI and it might actually be a hinderance to its performance, so at this moment I'm leaning towards 17"s.
Go ahead give me your views on this subject of wheels and tires.

Cheers and Happy Motoring

[Dom]

They say 16's are the best for handling as they are the lightest. They don't look too small either. 17's would be a good match between size and handling, although G8BAD_COOPER has 18's and Spax Coilovers - grips far better than my 16's with SS+

I think the autocrossers use 16's, but don't quote me on that

Dom

[supercuper]

I have to agree with the 16's for pure driving enjoyment but bigger rims will look better, however, 17's with very low profile tires would be the best choice for both looks and driving quality (the tires are more expensive to replace though) but they are also heavier and grip more which does affect the driving. I had 17's on my old Golf GTI and as soon as I put 16's on the car became more agile.

If you drive the car hard around corners the 17/18's could rub against the arches and then you have to have them altered. If you decide to go with 16's try adding lowering sports springs and lower the car around 20-30mm it makes a huge difference in both driving and looks.

Personally I'd go with the 17's!

Happy motoring!

[fred-guido]

I have just about sold myself on the 17's but need that little push to keep me from getting into the 18's. You now how that is, we always want the biggest, fastest, badest fo everything!

[supercuper]

I know what you mean. The problem with 18's is that the speedo will have to be altered and probably the wheel arches. That will be an expensive job, something really you don't want to mess with, especially on a new car like these beautiful minis.

I'd go for the 17's and maybe lower the car 20-30mm as well, but check with a pro first. That means hopefully you won't have to alter anything major. I had to on my Golf, it was a pain I could have done without. 17's will look great trust me.

Good luck!

[MINIAC]

Quote:

The problem with 18's is that the speedo will have to be altered and probably the wheel arches. That will be an expensive job, something really you don't want to mess with, especially on a new car like these beautiful minis.

Not so ... 215/35 tires on 18" wheels have an overall diameter of 23.93 which is slightly lower than the stock wheel and tire fitments, and with the proper offset should not rub on the arches.

18x7 ET42 OZ Superleggeras shown below:



The problem is that 215/35-18 tires only have about 3" of sidewall ... watch those potholes and curbs

[supercuper]

I stand corrected.

All I know is that I know friends that have had problems with larger wheels especially cornering, could be because it was lowered too much.

Best thing to do is to get someone to do a 'Photoshop' job on a mini so you can see the difference between the sizes. That's what I did.

Personally with larger wheels, the car can start to look too high off the ground, That is why I'd go with 17's.

Have fun!

[jonsibal]

I have to agre with MINIAC. And also with the right offset, it can also help prevent the tires from rubbing.

Im deciding which wheels to go for but its def gonna be 18s for my wife's cooper, unless something comes up.

[RickB]

Really, the only reason for huge wheels is to fit large brakes. I'm not too keen on the weight of the S-Lites, but figured I'd somehow have a car of lesser spec if I didn't get them. A guy was picking up his DS/W S with 5-Stars when I was last at the dealer, and I'm not sure I don't still thank that's the best-looking combo.
I'd like to see a MINI with 14" wheels, lowered, and with appropriately contoured fender arches.

[HarryHBMCC]

Quote:

Originally posted by RickB
I'd like to see a MINI with 14" wheels, lowered, and with appropriately contoured fender arches.

Are you sure 14" wheels would fit over the front brake calipers? It thought 15" was the minimum.

Harry

[fred-guido]

I like those OZ Superleggeras! but I think the SSRs are a litlle more to my taste. I gather the only people that sell them is the Tire rack. Is that their own brand or what? The OZ Chronos are also pretty nice.

[districtofc]

im going to run 15" SSR knockoffs (10 lbs) with falken azenis for autox and 17" wheels for the street. i would run 14s but apparently they dont fit over the brakes. so 15 it is. about ride...a lot of it comes down to tires. i had 14" wheels with yokohama grand prix (r-compound) tires and they were "ouch" when paired with my suspension. but it was fun!

[johnlummis]

Hi Fred,I have 17's with 225/45/17 Bridgestone Potenza RE040's,the handling is fantastic as is the grip,you also protect the rims from being kerbed and I have not experiened any scrubage of the wheelarches but I have not had my Cooper lowered and will never do so.This is what it looks like.

[fred-guido]

johnlummis , very nice set up. The kahns you have in your car were one of my preferences for my soon to arrive MCS. At this point I'm almost sure that I'm going to order the 17' SSR Comps which I think should look pretty good on my pure silve car. I am debating over the tires and I'm thinking about ordering just the rims from Tirerack and then have someone local mount some Toyo T1s 215/45/17 on them. Very hard choices when you have neither the car nor can you see the wheels in the "flesh", as the guy from tirerack told me " it is a leap of faith" to pick the wheels this way. We'll see how it all goes. A little over a week til I receive my car, mayvbe even sooner.

[toofast]

Is anyone running the 17" superlegurra with lowered suspension?


I want to run the 17 superlegurra and am on the fence reguarding tire size it is my understanding the OZ have a 37mm back space, or less then stock if this is the case will 225/40 work with the suspension mod, or is 215/40 still the size of choice?

Tire rack does sell Yokohama yet I have not heard of anyone fitting AVS Sports or comparable???

I will have my MCS in a few weeks and want to order the wheels and tires for delivery and suspension mods are on the horizon will the 225 fit?

[Paul Simonds]

Hi

I have 18" MasItaly 18" 215 35 18 wheels which look great and also i have had the car lowered 30mm lower than the ss+ springs. I love them but i would not recommend such low profile tyres if you intend to thrash your Mini around town as with the lowering springs the ride becomes hard IMO.

Cheers

[NoisyCow]

Regarding offset - I've read that '40' is the best w/ even a 225 tire on an 18" rim. Less chance of tire rubbing than a 45, etc. Wish I understood tires better. IMO, 18" wheels w/ low profile tires are the best looking. LOOKS = FIRST. Performance = SECOND.

Lowering springs seem to work best w/ '40' from what I've read.

Discounttire.com has an awesome selection. It is too bad that the nicest looking wheels probably weigh a ton.

[elmadi]

Quote:

Originally posted by johnlummis
Hi Fred,I have 17's with 225/45/17 Bridgestone Potenza RE040's,the handling is fantastic as is the grip,you also protect the rims from being kerbed and I have not experiened any scrubage of the wheelarches but I have not had my Cooper lowered and will never do so.This is what it looks like.

BTW, I like the way your PS MC st-up especially when the arches & side mirrors painted.
May I ask how much your dealer charged you for painting the
side mirror & wheel arches?

Thanks.