Best 205/45R17 OR 215/40R17 Tyres and wheels??? (non r/flats)

[aml]

Hi,

i am buying some genuine R90 wheels for my mini one and am having a look at tyres, what do people think are the best non run flats for best grip, wet & dry, wear etc?

also, what do people think are the best 17'' oem mini wheels (including JCW wheels) my opinion is the R90s... does anybody have a list of the oem wheels and their weights??

cheers

[MINIdriver85]

Well, i don't know if they are the best but i'm pretty satisfied with my Bridgestone Potenza RE050A...

[MINIAC]

Tire Statistics

[aml]

this may contradict the title a bit now, so i may change it, but i am now considering 215/40R17 tyres also, as the overall diameter change is -5mm instead of +7mm with 205/45R17 (changing from 175/65R15)

[Wind Diesel]

My plan was to go for 195/40-17" on a 7,5" wheel - but Toyo don't make that size, so i will be using 205/40-17" instead.

[Tigger, Eeyore & Roo]

I changed the wheels and tyres on my old R50 Cooper from 15" with 175/65R15's to 17" S Spokes with 205/45R17 Avon ZZ3's. After about 700 miles I swapped them back again and sold the 17" wheels.

I loved the look of the 17" wheels and it did turn in faster, but the car was quite a bit slower, harder riding, thirstier and it tramlined badly. The wheels were also too heavy for the dampers to work properly.

Although there was extra grip with the 17" wheels, It was difficult to exploit it with the power available.

I'd recommend trying a Cooper with 17" wheels before commiting.

Tigger.

[MINIdriver85]

, can you imagine how slow is my One (engine stock, for now...) with 17"? Still, I love how they improve handling so I'm not going back to smaller rims.

[humph]

Quote: Originally Posted by Tigger, Eeyore & Roo (original)

I changed the wheels and tyres on my old R50 Cooper from 15" with 175/65R15's to 17" S Spokes with 205/45R17 Avon ZZ3's. After about 700 miles I swapped them back again and sold the 17" wheels.

I loved the look of the 17" wheels and it did turn in faster, but the car was quite a bit slower, harder riding, thirstier and it tramlined badly. The wheels were also too heavy for the dampers to work properly.

Although there was extra grip with the 17" wheels, It was difficult to exploit it with the power available.

I'd recommend trying a Cooper with 17" wheels before commiting.

Tigger.

The S Spokes are the heaviest wheel 17" MINI produce. The problems Tigger lists above are quite common. I had S spokes on my first Cooper ,and to say the car was sluggish with a tram lining problem was an understatment. I would never recommend anyone fit heavy rims to their ONE/Cooper as they seriously effect the cars acceleration/handling. The R90s you mention fitting are the second heaviest 17" rim MINI do, and if they are replicas may be heavier still. Light weight wheels are the way forward if you don't want the problems mentioned. That said there are a lot of members running R90's and S spokes quite happily.

Sorry that went off topic a tad. I run Toyo proxes (18") and am very happy with the way they perform in all weather. They seem to last quite well too, about 32k on the last set of fronts.

[batou]

I recently had 215/40 R17 Goodyear Eagle F1 GSD3 fitted to the Cooper S (on S Spokes) and I'd go as far as to say they perform almost as good in the wet as the previous run flat Dunlop SP9000's / Pirelli Eufori@ did in the dry. Unbelievable grip in the wet especially with 200 brake going through them!

[mab01uk]

Quote: Originally Posted by batou (original)

I recently had 215/40 R17 Goodyear Eagle F1 GSD3 fitted to the Cooper S (on S Spokes) and I'd go as far as to say they perform almost as good in the wet as the previous run flat Dunlop SP9000's / Pirelli Eufori@ did in the dry. Unbelievable grip in the wet especially with 200 brake going through them!

Just fitted 215/40 R17 Goodyear Eagle F1 GSD3's........like many others on here have said I am amazed at the improved grip and smooth quiet ride when compared with my old Pirelli Eurfori runflat tyres. As its not an S I have also fitted a 115 /70 x 15" Mini space saver spare tyre under the boot floor just in case.