Hi,

I'm new to this forum, did some searches on whether 225 will fit but I didn't find anything to confirm 100% that the rims my friend car has will fit on my mini.

Just picked up a stock 2004 Mini Cooper and I'm looking to put on a set of:

5zigen Copse 225/45/17 4x100/4x114.5 42 offset. wrapped in Yokohama ES100 tires

Will 225 be too wide? The car is stock and I don't plan on lowering it as its actually the wife's car. Also, will the 45's be too thick?

Thanks

 

If you search for 225/45-17 you will find that it is wider and taller than stock tires so it is not a good match for the MINI when there are better sizes to choose from.

You can generally do better than Yokohama AVS ES100 tires as well if you shop at Tirerack.com or edgeracing.com, both NAM vendors.

Better tire sizes would be 215/45-17 but it's a little tall at 24.7" but OK and 205/45-17 which is stock.

A sample from tirerack in Ultra High Performance Summer tires-
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/survey...ireSearch=true
Note the ES100 in #20

 

My friend is letting go of his rims at a VERY decent price so I thought I'd try to take advantage of the deal. So I guess its not a good idea with those tire specs eh? The tires have about 1 to 1.5 summers left, so I will eventually need to pick up new tires. I'll likely be picking up with 205/40/17 or 205/45/17.

But however, in the mean-time, do you think the 225/45/17 will work? Or will it rub?

 

Can you do a test fit? If so then that would be the best option.

If you do get rubbing you can trim the inner plastic wheel arches in the rear with a dremmel tool for more clearance.

If the tires are already quite worn, maybe 15,000 miles on them already then they might be less than normal tire diameter for that size and might fit OK. ES100s don't last that long and tend to get hard as they age so might be less good handling and noisy.

 

Wheel well! I have ES100's (205/45-17) and the back set is on the wear bars. They are loud, not ridiculous, but are significant at highway speed. I will admit, the stereo helps keep them quiet....

Ah yes, they do not seem to last all that long either.

 

Is your car lowered?

 

No, not lowered - part of the noise is from the wear bars themselves. Part from the tire.

I'll be honest, if you look at the opinion polls at tire rack, any tire with high handling capability and great steering response is rated as noisy. I used to have dunlop's and they were they were far worse than the es100's.

I'm actually putting on a set of KDW's this week - I understand they get loud as they wear down too; however, they seem to be solid responders wet & dry across all categories.

 

Just though I let you know, on the stock S-Lites I have no problems running 225/45/17 Nokian WR's.

 

How about with four people in the MINI?

What about over dips and uneven terrain?

 

When I orginanlly posted in this thread I didnt see the follow it up, but it is worth noting:

-With 4 people in the car (170lb-240lb/120-170 [fl-fr/bl-br], I get absolutely no rubbing, or at least none that I am able to notice with 3 other teens in the car. At my last rotation I check all the tires and noticed no evidence of any sort of rubbing. This takes place over roads that are fairly uneven and have many unavoidable half inch deep potholes. There are some small dips, and it copes fine with those as well.

This is all on the stock S-lites with there 50mm offset, so a lower offset should mean you have an even lower chance of rubbing on the inside. My tires already come out to the edges of the fenders as it is, and it doesnt rub there either.

If anybody wants picture I can get them and post them here.

 

Last thing: Anybody who wants to run this size should probably by from a place that will take them off if they find rubbing. I have fairly good clearance as far as my wheel wells goes, but probably less than 3/8 of an inch between my inside sidewall and my front strut.

 

i had some 225/45r17 installed on my mini, really rubbin, i don't know the offset but its rubbing on the rear wheels, outer rear portion of the inner fender, i'm trying to fix it or i'll remove the tires & go to something smaller....