Alright...this is the first car I have given a crap about in I dont know how long. However, like every other car I have bought, I never worried about the rims/wheels and just accepted what was stock. So after all my co-workers drooling over my MINI and almost all of them asking, "Why didn't you get any decent rims on that ride" I must ask the MINI community...

What are decent rims? I see several varities at several price ranges but have no idea if they are any good at all/ I have the standard stock 15" wheels and see all these disclaimers on Spokes, lug sizes, offset, etc, etc.... Frankly, I am confused!!!

I dont race, no plans to race, I motor in town, I would like something that looks better than the 5 spoke standard wheels I got, but I dont need super racing rims and tires. I jsut want to improve my appearance.

Can sombody recomend some brands that wont kill my bank account that will provide the smae features and benefits of the current standard rims/wheeels I have? I am open to opinions and thoghts.


Can I change the Wheels and jsut re-mount my existing tires? Do I need to buy new tires? Can I get larger rims and tires without any problems?

Sorry for the dumb ?'s but I honestly have no clue and belive it or not, the web has not been much help. everything I found expects me to know something about the wheels/rimms.

Advice please :-)

 

Black rims are always cool!

 

If you let us know what you currently have it would greatly help us in advising you. There are some very nice rims out there that will fit with your current tires but we need to know the size.

A picture would really help.

 

As you've figured out, "rims" is jibba jabba for "wheels". It used to mean just the outer edge, but now it refers to the whole thing. Makes as much sense if I was to start referring to pistons as "rings".

Anyway. Whether or not you change your wheels, should be your own decision. One of the important properties of wheels on an agile car like the Mini is weight. A lot of cheap aftermarket wheels that you would find in most auto stores are designed for maximum "bling" but unfortunately may weigh significantly more than your stock wheels and adversely affect handling.

If you do change your wheel diameter, you will need to buy new tires. Generally speaking the larger the wheel diameter, the harsher the ride, as you have to maintain the overall tire + wheel diameter... so the tires become thinner. Larger wheels can make for crisper handling at the expense of ride comfort and increased vulnerability to potholes. You will also have to pay attention to the wheel width (to make sure your tires will be properly fitted), wheel offset (how much clearance it has for the brakes), and your tire speed/load ratings. You will also have a decision on whether or not to run a tire pressure monitoring system and/or run-flat tire.

Now, don't be intimidated by the above detail, as some websites can do all the work for you. Tirerack is a good example, as it will allow you specify your car and can make recommendations for tires/wheels specifically for your car.

Best of luck and feel free to ask more questions.
Cheers,
JnC

 

+1 for the pic.

Show us your mini and we can advice you what would suit. The colour combos already on the car can have a big influence.

 

Hey guys.... I think he already said.

From his gallery...

 

As suggested above, go to tirerack.com. You'll be able to see what the different wheels look like on your car. It's pretty cool.

You'll find wheels from under $200 to over $1,000. I went the under $200 route and am very pleased ...I get lots of comments on good they look.

Good luck ...and don't forget the pictures of the new wheels.

Dean.

 

I have always been a fan of gold rims on the BRG Minis. Im trying to find a picture...

 

The kind of wheels to recommend would depend on your needs and your aesthetic sensibilities (and of course your wallet). Size and fitment will naturally limit your choices, but if you have the desire, you could probably jam all sorts of rims into those tiny wheel wells.... example, some adventurous individuals managed to shoehorn 20 inch, blinged-out wheels on an r56....

 

Bronze or gold wheels look great with British Racing Green. You will want to pick something that is easy to clean. The brake pads used on MINIs create a lot of brake dust.

Rota makes some good quality light-weight wheels in a variety of styles and finishes. I've had a set of Rota RB Silver 16x7 wheels. Two were damaged in an accident and I'm replacing them with Rota Slipstream Royal Gunmetal 16x7. "Royal" means a polished rim. The RB are a little hard to clean. The Slipstreams should be easy and are a few lbs. lighter.

http://www.fastmini.net/wheels.html

There are some basic choices with wheels for a MINI.
The stock sizes are 15x5.5, 16x6.5, 17x7, and 18x7 inches. The first number is the dia. the second is the width of the rim. With all wheel sizes the tire O.D. remains about the same at approximately 24.5". The larger the wheel, the lower the profile (sidewall) of the tire. The more sidewall you have, the more cushion from potholes and bumps. The shorter the sidewall, the more crisp and responsive the steering can be.

Many people who go for aftermarket wheels that are a little wider than the stock size so slightly wider tires can be used. I went to 16x7 so they would better fit 205 width tires which is the stock tire size for 17" wheels. Stock size for 16" is 195. The wider the tire, the better grip, but the mpg can go down a little. A narrow tire has less rolling resistance.

The lighter the wheel, the less inertia it has. So, a light weight wheel will take less energy to accelerate or brake. It will also go over bumps more easily with less transfer of inertia to the car body. However, a heavier wheel is usually easier to make stronger. Factory wheels are typically very heavy. There is some debate as to whether the difference, between a 22.5 lb. factory 17" wheel vs. a 14 lb. Rota Slipstream, can be noticed by most drivers.

If you get the same size wheels you can have a tire place put the old tires on the new wheels. If you change wheel dia. you have to get new tires. Rim width changes of 1/2" usually don't matter to the tires.

 

Thank you for all of the info folks! I certainly appreciate it.

If you do change your your size, dont you also have to get your spedo adjusted to accomadate for the different size?

Also, there are so many frickin brands out there? Is there any particular brand or brands to avoid?

Last but not least...what is Offset?

 

If the overall diameter of the wheel and rubber have increased or decreased significantly from the stock diameter it is necessary to get it recalculated.

In regards to the brands, that can be a tough one. I wont go down that alley. Im in Australia so some wheels are more common here than in the USA.

And offset is the distance between the centre of the wheel when looking front on (as if you were going to be run over by it) and the hub mounting plate where the wheel attaches to the car. Usually we have around +40mm offset (correct me if I'm wrong).

 

If I were you I would use a site like www.tirerack.com to find out the proper wheels to fit your car, armed with the measurements that you need, then go to http://www.fastmini.net/wheels.html to try and find the wheels that match your measurements.
You might also want to check out some of the pic threads on NAM to get an idea of what style of wheels that you like. Specifically look under the mods forums. Although some of those sets will be pretty expensive, you can get an idea of what style you would like to put on your car. And in the process you might find more ways to spend even MORE money on your ride

 

If you change the O.D. of the tire, it will affect your speedometer reading. However, as I said, you can change the wheel size and get tires that give you about the same O.D. for the tires.

For the stock 15" wheel, a 175/65-15 size tire is used. This means the tread is 175mm wide, the sidewall is 65% of the tread width, and it fits a 15" wheel. A 175/65-15 tire has an O.D. of 24".

The 16" wheel gets a 195/55-16 tire that has a 24.5" O.D. tire (a 2% difference from the 15"). Note the number after the "/" on the 15" wheel is larger than on the 15" tire.

The speedometer on your MINI is probably reading 5 to 10% faster than you are actually going (for legal reasons), so a change to a 2% larger tire will just make it a little more accurate.

The stock 17" tires are 205/45-17 which has an approx. 24.5" O.D. Same as the 16" tire.

If you want to move up to 16" wheels you can get the stock size of 16x6.5" or go a little wider with 16x7" and put wider tires on it. I went for 16x7 with 205/55-16 tires which are a little oversize at 24.9" O.D. They don't rub, and my speedo is a little more accurate than with stock. You could also go with 205/50-16 which are around 24.1" O.D. The wider tire will give you more grip for better cornering and faster stopping in an emergency, but my cost a mpg or so in fuel economy.

The offset of a wheel is how far the inner surface of the wheel's hub (the part that touches the car) is offset from the middle. This will determine where the tire sits in the wheel well. With no offset, a wheel would stick out beyond the wheel well on a MINI. On a 16x7 wheel, a +40 offset is about right.