I've been on these for a week now - no rubbing. I couldn't find anyone on the forum running this tall a setup so it was a bit of a chance but I couldn't pass up virtually new FREE x-ice's. I've been sitting on a set of Bridgespokes that I picked up in the summer very cheaply and a friend mounted them for me for beers. I'm into the setup for a hundred bucks.

My speedo's off a bit but I don't think the R56 speedo is that accurate anyway.

It's not the ideal setup but you can run tires this big on the R56 with no rubbing.

 

I'm looking at a great deal on the same size. How is the ride on them?

 

205/60-16 is a bit tall for the MINI at 25.7" tire diameter. Stock suspension only. Less clearance so with a full passenger load you might notice it.

You made it fit on your R56 which is OK. Might be less clearance for a R50 or R53.

Stock suspension does vary with model.

In this tire size:
Your tire selection is different- many less summer tires and more touring and all season or winter tires.
You get more tire which is a little more weight
You get a more soft ride due to tall sidewall which flexes more, so handling will be less responsive- very unMINI like.
You get less aggressive tread patterns for performance but good traction for bad weather- any maybe a bit more noise-depends on which tire.
Tall tire throws speedo and odometer off.
More protection from potholes as long as you don't hit them going too fast

 

Thanks for posting this. I've been looking on NAM for a long time trying to see if a 25" (195-65-15) diameter would work on a Clubman with stock suspension for the same reasons.

Most were discussions but no one appears to have taken the plunge.

Dan

 

I'm also glad to here this also. I had just posted another message on this (in an incorrect forum) asking the same question.

I was thinking of trying some Bridgestone Potenza RE 960AS Pole Pos 205/65 R15. These tires have an overall diameter of 25.5" (7.9" tread width) where as the stock Continentals are 24" in diameter (7.2" tread width).

They are about 10lbs (each) heavier than then Continentals. The Continentals have a RevsPerMile of 856 where as these Potenza's have a RPM of 817. For my speedo when it shows I'm going 60MPH, my GPS shows I'm only going 55MPH so it's always been about 5MPH or more over my speed at highway speeds. I checked it on one trip and my odometer actually showed I was putting about an extra 50 miles on it for every 1000 miles traveled. To me that's a big loss on miles. I ran my stock and these tires on a tire comparison site and it showed me "When your speedo reads 60 mph, you are actually traveling 63.8 mph". So that should actually bring my speedo back closer to the true speed. Of course I know my gas mileage will drop, but I guess my 34-36MPG for around town hasn't really been realistic.

I did find out one thing during my tire research, that I may have done wrong, I purchased new rims several years ago when I purchased my Blizzaks for winter to go on my stock rims. The rims I purchased were 15x7's. The Continentals are actually rated for 5.0-6.0" rims. So I've actually over extended my tires. Maybe that is why I only got 38K miles on them before they are at their minimum tread depths.

So I'm open to any additional discussion on these also before I purchase them. I'm not fixed on these particular tires, but just something I have found so far that will fit on my current 15x7 rims.

Mike...

 

Stock tires are about 24 to 24.3" tall. While you can fit tires that are taller you are reducing wheel well clearance and raising ride height which raises center of gravity.

25.5" tire diameter is over one inch taller than stock and is not recommended for the MINI even if you could get it to fit. Rubbing is a problem under load or with turning the front wheels and it would just look too large and tall a tire for the MINI. Extra weight is not helpful for handling, braking or acceleration especially weight on the tires.

Best is always to stick to stock sized tires and to change as little as possible. For Bridgestone RE960AS the largest tallest tire size for 15" wheels would be 205/60-15 which would work with stock suspension and might rub in the back when you lower your MINI 1" or more. Otherwise 195/60-15 is more ideal for rims 5.5-7" wide.

Try giving Alex@tirerack.com a call to talk about your ideas.

 

JMike: Remember me from your other thread? Well, I tracked you down again.

According to Tire Rack, the 205/65/15 Bridgestones have a 6.6" tread width rather than the 7.9" you mentioned above. The 7.2" tread width you gave for your OE 15" tires seems too wide as well.

Now that you came out about your rims being 7X15", I can understand why you want/need wider tires. But, according to your findings, the tire size you're considering would under-read by about 4 mph rather than over-read by 5 mph (the original problem). I don't see that as a good solution just because the error is now in the other direction. The substantial increase in tire weight (ugly unsprung rotating mass, and distant from the center of rotation too) would probably feel like you're dragging an anchor around. The 195/65/15 size in that tire that I mentioned on the other thread would be only 3# lighter, so it's not a very good solution either, although it would come closer to providing accurate speed and distance measures.

Maybe you can find a better tire size solution, but, as I see it, the problem that has you chasing your tail is those 7X15" wheels.

 

Thanks all (Jim and minihune) for the comments. I'm taking all this in consideration. Maybe I won't do it. I wish there was something that could just be done to correct the Speedo/Odometer. The last time I talked to my MINI SA, I was told that MINI's response is that they must just be within 5% tolerance which my 5MPH off as far as I can figure is more like 9% off. I have my next servicing coming up in Feb, so maybe I'll try to push a little harder to see if there is anything they can do to adjust it.

Just for information, where I got the tire specs were from these sites:
Potenza's at: http://www.bridgestonetire.com/tires...roduct_ID=1112
Continentals at: http://www.conti-online.com/generato...tasheet_en.pdf

By the spec sheets the tread widths I was quoting is actually the "Overal Section Width". I thought that was the tread width so maybe not. Plus I listed the wrong size for the Potenza's, (followed the wrong line across), they are actually 8.2 not 7.9.

Thanks again,
Mike...

 

If you want the correct speed then you need tires that are the OEM (or close to it in) size however some error is built in so that you are not going much faster than your speedometer actually shows.

For tread vs section width see:
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tirete...jsp?techid=201
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tirete...jsp?techid=200

Section width will vary with width of rim the tire is mounted on.
Matching the tire size to the rim size will allow for best use of the tire.

Tread width is a more useful comparison number if you had to pick something.

 

If your speedo reads 60 mph when you're actually doing 55, it's reading about 9% too high. I sometimes check my speedometers/odometers on a mile-marked highway, and at an automatic radar station in a 35 mph section of town. Like most cars, my cars (all with OEM tire diameters) read a little higher than they're actually going by about 4%, but I think that 9% too high should be considered excessive error. As my tire treads wear down toward the wear bars, they come closer to being accurate.

 

I have checked mine on different GPS's, and with the radar boxes (they usually show I'm going 25MPH when my speedo is showing about 28MPH). To me, I just keep figuring differently than you are describing. To me, the larger the tire would cause the speedo to show slower than a smaller tire. Even using one of the Tire Size Calculators (example: http://www.miata.net/garage/tirecalc.html)
It shows for example, if your stock tire diameter is 22.7" and your current tire is 22.4" (as if you were wearing your tires down), when you get to the 22.4" size, if you were showing 60MPH on the Speedo, you are actually going 59.2MPH which is 1.3% too fast. So currently, I'm going about 9% too fast.

So if yours is like mine, the more your tire wears, it should be increasing your difference. Unless you are actually going slower than the actual mileage with new stock OEM tires (Your speedo is showing 60MPH but you are actually traveling 62MPH for example) woudl tire wear actually move you a little closer to the correct speed.

Mike...

 

Mike's right. With the usual OE over-reading, speedo and odo over-read even more as the tires wear.