16" 5-Star Blaster vs 16" Bridge Spoke Alloys

[BlueCooperR56]

Speccing my R56 MC but can't decide between the 5 Star Blaster and the Bridge Spoke. Any thoughts welcomed I've seen the 5 star blasters but not the bridge spokes.
Sorry but I couldn't upload any pictures so if anyones actually seen them then it'd be great if you could let me know what you think!

[Scrogg]

It all depends on what colour and what sort of 'theme' you are going for?

Blasters look more sporty, whereas Bridge Spokes (the old Cooper Park Lane alloy) look a bit more 'classy'.

[Avalon]

Got the Blasters on ours and when I picked the car up they had the same colour car as ours PW/BLK with the Bridge Spokes and whilst they are OK they definately were not as cool as the Blasters. Blasters are likely to be more common though as they are the standard choice on Chilli Pack whereas you pay extra for Bridge Spokes

[Scrogg]

Quote: Originally Posted by Avalon (original)

Blasters are likely to be more common though as they are the standard choice on Chilli Pack whereas you pay extra for Bridge Spokes

Good point. Didn't think of that.

[BlueCooperR56]

Thanks for the replys! I'm having lightning blue all over with no bonnet stripes. Think I'll probably go for the blasters then! Thanks!

[mmalc]

Quote: Originally Posted by BlueCooperR56 (original)

Speccing my R56 MC but can't decide between the 5 Star Blaster and the Bridge Spoke. Any thoughts welcomed I've seen the 5 star blasters but not the bridge spokes.

I'm actually not especially fond of either. I specced Blasters with my new MINI simply on the basis that they're the lightest wheels offered, and absent a compelling aesthetic advantage I'll opt for the better performance.

When the new car arrives, I'm going to be seriously tempted to replace the wheels with my current X-Lites(*), which not only look better (to me) but are also lighter still...

mmalc

(*) I still have the original S-Lites in storage; I'll put these back on the current car for trade-in.

[BlueCooperR56]

Excuse my ignorance but when you say Blasters offer lighter wheels, do you mean the alloys themselves are lighter or the tyre that they are fitted to?! Does this provide better performance purely because the overall weight of the car is less?
Thanks!

[Scrogg]

Blasters are 8.6kg, whereas Bridge Spokes are 9.5kg - a total saving of 3.6kg overall. The tyres fitted to each weigh the same.

It always makes me laugh when people talk about this sort of negligible weight-saving on a road car, but hey, if it makes them happy, what harm are they doing?

[BlueCooperR56]

That's great! Thanks for the information!

[mmalc]

Quote: Originally Posted by Scrogg (original)

It always makes me laugh when people talk about this sort of negligible weight-saving on a road car, but hey, if it makes them happy, what harm are they doing?

Unsprung weight is a consideration even on road cars -- principally where the road surface is poor (and in particular if you have a concern for ride comfort), but there may be other benefits. Road surface happens to be generally poor in my neighbourhood...

All other things being equal, I don't see a point in ignoring a benefit even if it is small...

mmalc