17" S Spokes on Mini One - Slower Acceleration

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I have just fitted a set of 17" S Spokes to my mini one. The wheels look great but the car is not performing as good as when the 15" wheels was on it.

Has anyone else fitted these wheels to there mini one?

Did it get slower?

Any info appreciated

[pabs911]

The 17" S-lites you are referring to are anything but lite. They weight 25 lbs. each! Also, 15" wheels are just plain easier to turn than 17s... weight is closer to the center of the hub.

I bought some 16 lb. wheels to replace my S-lites and the difference in performance is staggering! Lighter weight wheels = faster more responsive car.

[Paul]

Agreed, no surprise here. That's probably why in the UK the 17" wheels are S-Spokes (not the down right wrong S-Lite name!) and the 16" S wheels are X-Lites.

They're bigger, fatter, and heavier than your 15" wheels, your performance will suffer, also braking will not be so easy either (due to the same reasons).

They do look cool though.

[dansmini]

Yep, extra weight in the wheels is more noticeable and effects the car more than extra weight anywhere else on the car. It is a give and take with a lot of wheels out there. Some of the light weight wheels look so-so, while a lot of the good looking wheels are anchors. I figure that's why so many people on this board agonize a lot over which wheels to buy, trying to find the balance between performance and looks. It can be tough. If you check around on ebay or wherever, I think you'll find a lot of the S-Spokes for sale compared to very few x-lites. There is a reason people are taking those off!!!

[T13 Fighter]

There is also this annoying thing called rotating inertia to consider. it means that the heavier an object - in this case a wheel and its rolling diameter - and the faster its rotating the heavier it gets, this is why the whole racing fraternity will spend thousands on incredibly light wheels, flywheels and crankshafts.

[AGT]

Yes - Agree with all the comments here. I replaced the 15's on my cooper with 17's and whilst they look brilliant, the car feels heavier and slightly slower, although once you get the revs up its not noticeable. Braking definitely not as good, but one of the main things I have noticed is that grip is not that good either. I was under the impression that the fatter the trye the more grip but the 17's are no better than the 15's, if a little worse. Apparently this might just be becuase they are run flats. I have heard that non runflats offer a lot more grip? Anyone else heard this?

[dansmini]

I have heard a lot of people say that the non-runflats provide better grip.