Choosing wheels... so many choices!

Discussion in 'MINI' started by agranger, Aug 22, 2017.

  1. vetsvette

    vetsvette MINI Alliance Ambassador

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    I waited more than a year to see if they would come out with the RB in 5X112 bolt pattern. Love the wheels, but I would have ended up changing them anyway when I installed the BBK.
     
  2. agranger

    agranger MINI of the Month June 2009
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    OK... option #3: Go light AND go large

    I walked into the shop manager's office at Hendricks MINI yesterday and he had a set of 4 OZ 17" wheels stacked there on the floor. Man... they looked a bit tiny! So here's option #3

    18" OZ Superleggeras with 215/40/18 tires (I'm guessing the photo below is 35 or even 30 profile tires... a bit too thin for street use, IMHO)

    That gets the full wheel arch I like with light wheels and all sorts of clearance for a BBK.

    [​IMG]

    Choosing this wheel would almost NECESSITATE a BBK in the rear, just for aesthetics... cause this looks silly (IMHO)!

    [​IMG]
     
  3. Crashton

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    With those tires-rims driving in the real world you better get used to ruined tires & bent rims. Man those brakes look tiny behind those giant wheels.
     
  4. agranger

    agranger MINI of the Month June 2009
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    The bottom pic w/ the tiny brake calipers are 35 profile tires. The ones above might be even thinner. I'd go to a 40 profile for sure.

    This isn't a daily driver for me, so I can afford to make a little bit of a trade-off for comfort / style (but don't want to be ruining a wheel/tire every time I leave the garage).
     
  5. Dave.0

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    Yeah I would not put 18's on a MINI if you like your spine. They are just too big.
     
  6. MCS02

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    I have one with 18's and one with 17's. I agree with Dave on an R53 17 is as big as I would go especially if you plan to lower it at all.
     
  7. agranger

    agranger MINI of the Month June 2009
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    It's good to hear the voice of experience. I had 17" webspokes on my previous R53 some 99% of the time and had a set of 16" that I used at the track. The 16" were MUCH lighter and I could really tell the difference in turn-in and, I think, acceleration. At least it FELT more sprightly with the 16" on.
     
  8. Crashton

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    I think 16's are the sweet spot, but 17's would be livable. I went from 18's on my German bread van to 17's & I'm a happy camper. My MINI wore 16's in the summer & 15's in the winter. Although I did not have a big brake kit. We are tryin to help, but wheels & tires can be confusing. :crazy:
     
  9. agranger

    agranger MINI of the Month June 2009
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    #29 agranger, Sep 13, 2017
    Last edited: Sep 13, 2017
    As I spend more time looking / shopping / digging through the interwebs, I'm settling down to these

    17" OZ Ultraleggeras in matte graphite with 215/45/17 tires (exactly what is in this photo). The Ultraleggeras extend the spokes out all the way to the rubber. IMHO, this makes the wheels look larger than they are (which I like). The color is very close to that on the Di-Noc carbon fiber vinyl I'm using to cover the chrome bits, too.

    This gets me the ride quality of 17", the visual of 18" wheels, the protection of a 45 profile tire and an extra cm of width (they fit with a tiny bit of rubbing on Jango, my old R53). It also gives me an ultralight wheel that will fit most BBKs.

    [​IMG]

    Those rear wheels look like they might be pushed out (a bit too much, IMHO) with some spacers, but it doesn't mention them in the post where I found the photo. I'll probably have to put 'em on the car and then see how they look.
     
  10. agranger

    agranger MINI of the Month June 2009
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    Now I'm on to choosing tires!

    This is a FUN car for me, so I don't have to worry about driving on snow/ice. It will need to get me to the Dragon and back in possibly questionable weather, so I don't think I want to go crazy and put on extreme summer performance tires. That leaves me looking at Max performance summer tires. I'm also not planning on putting on a ton of miles per year (it's a weekend/fun car), so I don't have to worry too much about treadwear (but I don't want to put on new tires after every trip to the Dragon either). I am probably going to keep the current Avid Envigor tires on the S-lites to have a spare set when needed and some dirty-shoes, all-weather shoes in case I do need to get the car out in the winter for some unforseen reason.

    Here are my current options in 215/45/17: YOUR THOUGHTS???


    Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric 3 - $140 each - looks like a new tire to TireRack w/ no ratings yet. I did love my Goodyear Eagle F1s on Jango. They were quiet, grippy and had great feel.

    Kuhmo Ecsta LE Sport - Crazy sale at $70 each. - they were a bit noisy on Jango, but fairly grippy. A great wet tire. a bargain at this price.

    Michelin Pilot Super Sport - $162 each - The tire-rack favorite (made in 215/45/17) in this category of max summer performance.

    Pirelli P Zeroi Nero - $115 each -

    Continental Extremecontact Sport - $119 each - another highly rated tire-rack tire.
     
  11. Red Bull

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    I was literally looking at those same wheels for a while when he had them for sale. They had 205/45's on them, not 215's. Also, not sure if there's a spacer on there, but the offset is et37 so they fit like OEM with an 11mm spacer. I have the Allegerrita's with the same fitment and now have occassional rubbing at the rear when hitting big bumps. Tire Rack says some rubbing might occur with these wheels and trimming the fender liners might be necessary on their website. I didn't have any rubbing with my R90's with 12mm spacers on the front and 5mm on the rear. I think with 215/45's you'll have rubbing for sure.
     
  12. Qik

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    R112 JCW's are my favorite OE wheels. Aftermarket I like OZ's. Light weight options, good quality, affordable.
     
  13. agranger

    agranger MINI of the Month June 2009
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    Again, the voice of experience. TYVM. Perhaps I'll have to go down to the 205 width. :(
     
  14. cristo

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    Can't do much better than the Michelin PSS or the Conti ECSport for
    GREAT daily drive summer tires.
     
  15. Dave.0

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  16. agranger

    agranger MINI of the Month June 2009
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    Yeah... I'd love to go this sticky, but I'm a little worried about dealing with WET. Let's say I'm 3-4 hours from home and it's pouring rain... how safe is it to be on the road with tread that shallow? That's why I backed away from the extreme summer performance category.

    Real world experience?
     
  17. Redbeard

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    I ran the previous generation of StarSpecs as DD tires for just under a year (I drove a bunch + AutoX & HPDEs). They were fine in the wet until near the end of thier life. They got a tad squirrelly after that.

    The tread is basically the same on these and it sounds like the compound should be better. They wouldn't be optimal DD tires in the Pacific Northwest but most everywhere else you are just fine barring snow/freezing temps.

    If you aren't planning on tracking the car want a quiet ride and still want good wet/dry grip consider the Hankook Ventus V12 Evo. Those have been a solid tire for me. Not good for track days but fine for the occasional AutoX or just spirited driving. Good dry or wet.
     
  18. agranger

    agranger MINI of the Month June 2009
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    I've been told that size doesn't matter (usually by ex-girlfriends, while they were snickering softly with a look of pity/disappointment on their faces :D), but I originally thought about 215/45/17 as this worked beautifully on my stock wheels on my last R53. The voice of experience with the OZ wheels (37+ offset) suggests that this might rub a bit. I really would like to squeeze that extra bit of width in there and not go down to the 205.

    Would going to a narrower profile tire (214/40/17) help reduce the chance of rubbing? Yeah... it doesn't have as much 'meat' for road hazzard protection or comfort, but it does feel crisper and, well, this isn't a daily driver for me... If I'm in it, I'm there to drive. I can always invest in some road hazzard insurance (that might come free from TireRack anyway).
     
  19. Dave.0

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    I have no issues in the rain at all. I only run them in spring / summer and last year at the Dragon they did fine since it raining like crazy. I also never let them get very worn out and replace them after 2 summers use.
     
  20. agranger

    agranger MINI of the Month June 2009
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    #40 agranger, Sep 19, 2017
    Last edited: Sep 19, 2017
    OK!

    First of all: Thank you to everyone who participated in the discussion. I really appreciate it and I'm sure that folks on a car forum are sick of the "what tires should I get?" thread.

    The decision has been made!

    Wheels: OZ ULTRALEGGERA 17x7 Matte Graphite (same as photo, below)

    Tires: BRIDGESTONE POTENZA RE-71R in 205/45R17

    The sheer lightness of the OZs won out in the end. I can remember driving with my light track wheels on Jango and I could really tell a difference when I put those shoes on, vs the factory 17" wheels.

    I decided to go with 17" wheels, again, because I wanted to focus on performance, but keep my options open for a BBK in the future. I could have gone down to 16" wheels, but I do love the look of a well-filled wheel well.

    The tire size was determined by the wheels. The OZs start to rub on 215 width tires and I'll probably lower the car in the next few months. I thought about a 40 profile tire, but I had those once on Jango and the ride was hard and I bubbled the sidewalls twice. I decided for a bit of meat.

    The Potenza RE-71R is an extreme summer tire. You guys talked me into 'em! :p This really is just a fun car for me and I'll be keeping the s-lites and the current tires to use as spares or bad weather tires, should I ever need 'em. As long as the new ones can get me to the Dragon and back (3.5 hour drive), that's all I'll need. I won't see a ton of rain driving locally and even less-likely to have cold weather driving (other than the occasional exercising the car on a cold, dry day in the winter, to keep things working properly). I really looked at the Dunlap Dizerras, mentioned above, but they wound up being $45/tire more than the Potenzas and the Potenzas had better handling ratings (a bit more noise, though).

    Here's a photo of the wheels:
    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]
     

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