My 05 MCS will be here within a week and I'm already thinking about aftermarket wheels for it (it'll be a while before I decide to buy, though). I really love the way the anthracite SSR Comps look on the MCS, and I think it would look great with my HB/B, but I know on the forums for my old car (Audiworld, I had an A4 1.8t) there was LOTS of talk about the rims bending like mad in street use, and that they should only be used off-street, etc. I'm looking for a rim that can handle the street, for sure. While I've heard of bending problems, I've also heard of many happy owners.

Can anyone speak to this? I'd hate to spent $350-400/rim on these and end up getting some bent! Thanks.

-mike

edit: I live in the SF Bay Area and the roads in my area are pretty good for the most part - however I will sometimes want to be able to go into SF, etc, where the roads may be worse. Bottom line is even though most roads I drive on are quite good, I wouldn't want to have to avoid some roads or be nervous driving on them due to wheel strength.

 

Mike,


I have SSR Comps on my 04 MCS and have 6000 miles with no issues with them and I have hit a couple of pot holes along the way. I think the price is so high because not only are they one of the lightest rims but are build very well. They also look awesome

 

Steve,

Agreed that they look outstanding... some say, though, that they're not as strong as they're made out to be. What size are your wheels? I wanted to go with 17" or 18" but I fear that the larger I go, the more susceptible to damage they will be. Also, where do you usually drive? Since we're both in the Bay Area you can talk specifics, what towns, etc. Thanks.

-mike

 

I have 17" rims with 215/45WR Yokohama AVS ES100 tires.

Most commute days are on 280 (what a great freeway) but sometimes go on 101. Also have been on a lot of twisties like Hwy 84 and such where the roads are not as well maintained. I try and be careful not to abuse them but sometimes I have hit a bad spot and thought oh $h!t but haven’t done any damage to the rims that I can tell.

 

for what it's worth, I have the SSR GT1's in 16x7 size. They're
15.5# compared to the 11# SSR Comps, but they do have the same
load ratings stamped into them that the Comps do. I hammer over
rough roads, railroad tracks, and potholes all the time and have not
bent any of them a smidge. The BStone SS-03's have fairly stiff
sidewalls, too, for non-runflats.
So far (about 8000 miles ... my winter tires have the other 4000 miles
out of 12000 total) so good!

 

Thanks for the feedback guys. If anyone else has comments I'd love to hear them.

-mike

 

I have 2 MCS w/ 17" SSRs & over 25K miles : very strong & no worries at all (unless you do a direct hit on a pothole which would bend ANY wheel)
-As a track wheel some people have aired concerns but where I drive (2 years now) I have never seen a SSR failure on either a BMW or Cooper.
-The big advantage is weight (unsprung w/ loss): IE. 17" is a 12.6 lb wheel and the advantages in braking, turning and acceleration are excellent.
-Aesthetics: it'a one of the nicer looking wheels on the Cooper. Functional, simple and very sporting (I perfer the anthricite w/ polished outters.) Its looks more substantial and sexy.

 

Alright, sounds like my fears were unwarranted. I think I'll be going with the SSR Comps then. The big choice to make is whether I want 17" or 18" though. 18's would probably look better, and I'm not concerned about a bit rougher ride... the only downsides are slightly more weight (14 lbs/wheel instead of 12.6 lbs/wheel - not huge), slightly more expensive (approx. $50 more per wheel), and possibly a bit weaker.

Anyone recommend against the 18"?

-mike

 

Hey, i hate to do this...but i rather you be fully educated on the matter before buying them. I have no idea if this even applies to them anymore...cause a TON of minis are running SSRs and i havent heard a single complaint, but i found this site a while back about miatas and SSR rim problems...check it out. In terms of 18s i say go for 17s. 17s look huge on the car and still allow you the extra protection of sidewall and lower the price a bit.

http://www.villacorte.com/miata/ssr-comp-problems/

 

Thanks RallyMINI, this is more along the lines of the concerns I've heard over at Audiworld. However the Tire Rack folks in that link make a good point - now that I think about it, I hadn't heard from almost anyone (maybe not even one single person) who actually had them and had bent them - it was all hearsay like "oh man I heard about these Miata guys that really got screwed" and "those wheels bend like mad, but I've never had them".

I think some concern is warranted, but I still think overall I'm probably comfortable with giving them a shot. While I would hate to lose money like that if they turned out to be bent, I'm confident that they'll probably be just fine. In any event, I have a long time to mull it over as I won't replace the wheels on my MCS until at least after the runflats on my S-Lites are wearing out.

-mike

 

My modded 02 WRX had SSR Comps in athrasite for about 25k miles without
any bends.

My 03 MCS has had SSR Comps in silver the last 8k miles or so and not bends.

The Audi guys are probably using rubber band tires at low pressure.

 

Good to hear another positive review, Ken, thanks.

Further comments are more than welcome.

-mike

 

I have not used SSR Comps but want to get some later, and have not heard anything but positive things about them. I say go for the smallest wheels you can accept, i.e., 15 or 16 inch, as they are lighter. Also consider the weight of the tires, which is more than the wheels, and grows a lot with larger wheels. With larger wheels, the profile is shorter which gives better handling, but a harsher ride. 17 inch is large enough. :smile:

 

Yeah I'm aware of the positives and negatives of larger vs. smaller wheels. I will have to see them on a MINI in person before I can be sure. Honestly the 16's and 15's that I've seen don't look too bad in pictures, but the big sidewall is a bit of a turn-off. I'll probably end up with 17's, but 16's might be a possibility, I'll have to look at some more pics and decide when the time comes.

-mike

 

imho, since the rotors on the MINI's are so tiny the 17's with such large
opening between the spokes reveal too much empty space behind the
spokes. since the rim of the Comps are thin, the 16's actually look like
17's and maintain balance with the rotors. (even with 16's the rear
rotor size is barely acceptable).

This is another factor I had considered greatly while choosing wheels.

 

You asked for it.

I really deliberated about whether I should post this because I don't want to contribute to the SSR rim bending lore, especially since my rim problems came from somewhat unusual circumstances. But, I figure if I explain well enough how it happened you can all draw your own conclusions.

First let me say I had my 17x7.5 anthracite Comps (w/ 215-45 B-stone S-03s) for two years and about 30K fantastic miles before I had any problems. I love the look, the weight is VERY hard to beat, and I was pleasantly surprised by their durability (I read those negative reviews before I decided to take the plunge).

I don't track the car in any form so those 30K miles were all street; primarily the daily drive in and out of DC. Typical big city street and highway miles with the occasional pot hole, etc, and no problems at all. Then, about a month ago, I hit a construction zone hazard that should have at least been marked. They'd used one of those asphalt munching machines to strip off the top 3" (give or take) of blacktop before repaving. Where they stopped the machine it was like a 3" (+/-) curb. I hit it at around 70 and bent the right front rim up about half an inch. I say any wheel could have suffered from such a hazard, but when I think of the many thousands of commuters who hit the same bump that day I get a bit suspicious...

I took the bent rim in to be repaired (I would turn it into a spare) and ordered another from Alex (Tirerack). I was back on the road inside a week. Two weeks later I was doing about 60 in traffic and the vehicle ahead of me was a POS truck hauling dirt and debris... He hit a bump in the road and part of a branch - about 3' long and 4" thick - jumped off the back. I couldn't avoid it entirely without colliding with traffic to my left or right, but still I got lucky (sort of). Rather than meeting the projectile with the windshield or some easily destroyed part of the front of the car, the branch and my left front rim hit the same spot of pavement at the same time. Both of my left side rims were bent. The rear rim also split parallel to the rim for about 2" approx 3/4" from the edge of the rim. The front split in the same place but the separated rim part also split laterally. The amazing part to me is neither of the tires deflated!

So, I went through 3 of 4 of my original rims in less than a month but not until I'd put about 30K miles on them. You figure it out...I give up. I love the rims, but I'm cutting my losses and moving to something else (I'm thinking Weds TC-005s ).

hope this helps - steve

 

Ken, that's one reason to get larger brakes. But point well taken, and again this is a good reason for me to see at least one size in person on a MINI if possible. Your wheels look outstanding in the pic.

Steve, thanks a lot for the info. I agree that the circumstances were unusual so I'm trying to decide whether to worry about it or not, seeing as how any aftermarket rim I will want to buy will be somewhat light and therefore probably somewhat more susceptible to damage in hazard situations like you described... Not sure.

Thanks again to all.

-mike

 

That's another reason to get 15 or 16 inch rims. :smile:

 

What happened to kurvhugr was not normal and would have bent any light wheel that size. You may have avoided the wheel damage with heavy wheels, but that defeats the benefits of light wheels.

mlebeau -- Since you will have an MCS, wheel weight is not as important as with an MC. :smile:

 

Yes, but still quite important.

-mike

 

mlebeau- but then larger rotors could mean more mass to start/stop
the car... Thanks, the car looks okay in the pict, but as you said,
you really need to see it in person to get the whole effect. The car
looks 10x nicer in person. :smile:

 

Here's a pic of my 17x7.5 SSR Competition Anthracite rims with 215/45/17 Pirelli P Zero Nero M/S tires...




I have had my '04 MCS for 1 year now (almost to the day) and 18000+ miles.

I switched out my wheels and tires at around 1200 miles.

Haven't had a problem until very recently when I was driving in the rain at night and could not possibly see a pothole which was indeed jaw breaking.

I don't have a pic right now but it looks to be only the lip that has been bent. Considering whether or not I should order a new rim given that they are about $50 more expensive now than when I bought them ($400)!

Does anyone know of a good shop in the NYC area? I'm in Brooklyn but am willing to travel for good service. I'll probably take the route of ordering a new rim and keeping this as a spare for long journeys....

This stinks. I've hit quite a few potholes quite hard though I must admit not as hard as this last time.....

Oh and I chose to go with the fatter profile 215/45 instead of stock size tire just so I could prevent this from happening darn it.........

 

www.wheelcollision.com

 

I've run several sets of SSR Comps on several different cars - street tires and race tires, street driving and track. I've yet to bend one.

My personal take is that the Comps aren't as fragile as they're made out to be by some. Of course, you can't expect one of the lightest wheels on the market to be the strongest either.

I will continue to buy them.

 

Have been running 18" SSR Comps for 15k miles over pretty bad roads with no damage at all. Fantastic wheels. Clears Brembo GT brake kit with no spacers.