I THOUGHT I had read something on here about there being disadvantages to going with such a smaller wheel. I did a search, but couldnt come up with anything. Am I crazy, or is it true?

 

There's no disadvantage... Most 15" wheels are lighter, most 15" tires are lighter, and everything's cheaper to boot!

Besides that, the effective gear reduction from running 15's really brings the car to life, IMHO. I love my 15's for autocrossing and track days - I still run 16's on the street, mainly because that's just what I have...

One minor disadvantage, I guess - you can't run a big brake kit... but I've never found myself wishing for one even with plenty of autocrossing and track days...

 

If you want a wide 15" wheel you may be somewhat limited in your wheel and tire selection. The stock 15"s aren't very wide.

 

For 15" wheels for the MINI- (sorry for the duplication)

Pros
15" rims/tires tend to be light and lower in cost
The stock 7 hole MINI rim is the lightest stock rim at 12 pounds each
Aftermarket rims available in 15x7" size and fit from 205/55 to 225/45-15 tires
15" tires do come in narrow widths for less rolling resistance
Smaller wheels are an advantage for autocross and track (gearing)

Cons
If using stock 15x5.5" rims the limit is about 205/50-15 for wide tires
15" rims don't look as nice as the larger rims
You have to watch that the tires are within 3% of the stock size tire outer diameter to get the speedometer to read accurately
Tire size and rim selection may be more limited in 15" diameter
7" rim width is about the widest without going custom

 

hey, i'm in the same opinion as you.

for a few months now, i've been pouring thru the threads here on 15" wheels. no negatives i've seen or heard. basically, the main negative i can think of is the poorer selection of both wheels and tires.

i'm currently trying to find out if panasports come in 15" that'll fit the mini. in fact, i'm gonna start a new thread regarding this.

i'm looking for ~7 width rim, thereby hoping to accomodate a 205 width tire comfortably at least. talked to alex@tirerack and he's pretty much said 205/55 is the ideal sizing for our loads.

 

I would love to hear some testimonials from people who have switched wheel sizes between 15" and 17" and how that effected the ride quality.

I ride pretty bumpy with 17"s on a 2002 lowered spring sport suspension.
I got to imagine that 18"s has got to be like running a marathon barefooted.

 

I regularly switch between 16's and 15's... I've got 16's for street wheels and 15's for track wheels. Even with Falken Azenis on the 15's (with their insanely stiff sidewalls), the ride is better than the ES100's provide on my 16's...

FWIW, I'm running:

Street - 205/50R16 ES100's on 16" Rota Slipstreams
Track - 205/50R15 Azenis Sports on 15" Flik Blast

 

With the decrease in rolling diameter you also end up raising your RPMs at a given speed. You get more effective torque but you pay for it by burning more gas and slightly increasing engine wear due to running higher rPMs at any givne speed. Also, your speedo will be off my even more. This might be an advantage but depending on how much it was off to start with you could end up with a crazy error. In fact, your speedo readout 0-60 times will decrease if you decrease 0-60 times, but you will actually be reaching a slower actual speed at 60.

For me fitting BBK's and the gas mileage things were enough to go with lightweight 17's.

Patrick

 

I switch around between my stock 17's s-heavies to my NZO Monza 15's with azenis sports. Night and day diff. !5's are a better quality ride and noticably lighter (faster). The Azenis tires are like glue when you put a little heat in them. Don't run the Azenis in a rain storm!

 

BUT the decrease in unsprung rotating mass will probably improve gas mileage, more than likely offsetting the small increase in engine speed required for the same vehicle speed.


Also keep in mind that with the reduction in rotating unsprung mass your braking will be MORE efficient thus decreasing your stopping distance and making for later braking (i.e. the functional purposes of a BBK), so no need to spend mucho $$$ on BBKs (which are, at least at the moment, only available for the front).

So, in short: 15" wheels are lighter, cheaper, and the tires are easily available and cheaper and lighter as well. You get improved acceleration and braking, and IMHO 15s look SWEET on the MINI (depending on the style of wheel, of course). A VERY cost-effective improvement - that's why I'm doing it.

Marty

 

I have the 8-spoke 15" wheels and have thought about getting 16" or 17" wheels for a while now. Everytime I go shopping, I end up deciding to keep the stockers. They are light (about 17 lbs.), replacement tires are cheap (about $60) and I don't have to spend any more money ($0) if I keep them.

I really do like the look of larger wheels, but for now, I'm happy with 15s.

 

205/50 or 225/45 are used for short diameter track sizes contsantly, where spedo/mileage is not a big a factor.

205/55 is the ideal street size for maintating OD, and giving a comfortable ride!

Alex

 

The only 'disadvantage' I see with running 15's is as mentioned above,
limited space for larger brake rotors. Other then that, 15's look great,
light weight, inexpensive to replace.... can't really think of negatives.

My car came with 17's, but ended up going to a smaller wheel size
(16's) for better selection on tires with 205width size and less weight.

With lowering springs and aero kit, going 205/50/15 was too low for
me for the streets around where I live, so got the 205/50/16 setup.
I could've went 205/55/15, but I preferred the look and response of
50 profile.

 

The main disadvantage that nobody has touched on is that the car will scrape in normal street driving going in and out of driveways. You can only cut a real steep angle so many times before you'll have to hit a driveway perpendicular and then it's "SCCCCRAAAAAAPPPPEEEEE" followed by "ow, f***ing, *****"

I'm never going back to 17s, the car is slow as all hell and rides like crap with lowering springs on 17s. There's no such thing as acceleration in 6th gear on the 17s, rather just a steady increase in velocity. With 15, you can stomp it in 6th without downshifting and easily overtake cars, and when it's in the boost in the lower gears (especially 2nd and 3rd) it'll throw you back in the seat from 4000rpm on up.

 

Alex,

Are there any street tires in 225/45-15? Is there a huge difference between 205/50 and 225/50 (a size that hasn't been mentioned yet.)

 

More accurately you raise your RPMs at a given speed in a given gear. If the car had only one gear decreasing rolling diameter would likey have a direct affect on engine wear. Since we can shift to compensate for RPMs, I don't think engine wear is much of a concern when choosing wheels.

 

Lack of space for a proper BBK may come into play here quicker than you think. With the use of the smaller wheels and selection of track tires (i.e. slicks) on hard track use you'd be running the car harder than the stock brakes may be able to handle. At least reasonable consideration should be given to the trade offs of one plan vs the other. Smaller wheels/brakes and larger wheels and brakes.

Granted, for the average street driver this may not be that big of an issue in daily use, but it should be reviewed for track use.

MartR points out that the loss of mass may well help in braking, and while true that there is less mass there, there are two incorrct statements here; One that this loss of mass will shorten distances- not completely correct if you consider the effects of heat satruation on the rotor under hard use; it might be better or shorter the first time, but won't be that way for long. Secondly the purpose of a BBK is to shorten stopping distances; for the most part the real benefit is the increase in thermal capacity of the system thus allowing repeated stopping without the fade associated with the smaller parts. (and lastly that yes, there are larger kits for the rear too)

My point is that there are going to be trade offs in this no matter what you do. If I were to make a kit to target the 15'" wheel I'd do it with a 1.10 or even 1.25" wide rotor for mass replacement. However like a number of other platforms with such requests the numbers don't pan out for production and wheel clearance is still a lingering problem.

 

Thanx for the input guys. I doubt Im going to be tracking the car much. I just think the smaller wheels look really slick on the MINI.

 

I went from stock 17's w/ Runflats to 15's with 205/50-15 Falkens as my daily drivers and the ride definately improved. Buying again I would not get the 17's simply for the look, you give up too much performance. My only complaint is the road noise is significantly louder. Of couse being in SoCal with little to no rain is always a plus when driving on Falkens.

I've encountered the driveway scrape and will probably try 205/55-15 profile tires on my next set. However the ability to take a 20mph offramp at 55+ might be worth an occasional scrape...

Sean

 

225/45/15 only yields race rubber.

Alex

 

Lower coefficient of BLING

 

Smaller spinners?

Sean

 

I'm also debating on whether to go with 15s or 16s when I can afford a new set of wheels/tires combo. The more I hear the performance with 17s is considerably less than with 15s, the more I lean toward 15s.

A smaller rolling diameter helps quickness (while alternatively, a higher diameter helps top speed). A 205/50/15 size has a diameter of 23.1 inches, while the stock diameter (for all sizes, i.e., whether 15, 16 or 17) is 24 inches for the MINI. So, that will provide a quicker ratio for quicker 0-60 times, and make it easier to keep your rpm's higher = more responsive MINI.

Also to consider is weight. 205/50/15 weighs about one lb less than a 205/50/16, plus you have the wheel weight savings (and this total weight times 4 is the actual effect/benefit as it is a rolling weight). While analyzing all available data for different sizes, I'm realizing that weight matters, even a little counts. Saving a little here and a little there, well it all adds up and it does make a difference. In a small engined car like the MINI, weight is crucial. It's almost as important as hp. So, even though 205 is a nice wide width (and also 225 is possible with 15s on a MINI and I've seen a few tires available in that size, but can't find much if at all in 215 -- I did see 215/45/15), I'm seriously considering 195 for even more lightness, i.e., 195/55/15 has a diameter of 23.5 inches, which is still quite nice for quickness, and still fairly wide. I've even seen a difference of 2 lbs between a 195/55/15 and 205/50/15 in the same manufacturer (195 lighter of course). As just said, it all adds up. If I go with 205 or bigger it will be for looks more than performance. I have 175 now (finally broken in) with SS+ and my MINI handles awesome! Very very neutral. It doesn't get much better than this. :smile:

 

Oops, that's my classic.....

just this weekend past, at a show, some one asked about the wheels and commented "I want bigger....not smaller". 10x6 MiniLite + Falcon ....


& 17" PIRELLI rf's on the 02....25k and lookin good...so most would say I don't drive hard enuf??????

Sorry if I don't create enf smoke to hold up your traditions.

 

I wouldn't go back to the 17 inch runflats. Ever. I don't get any more scraping using 205/55s than I do with my 16 in snow tires. And I think the size fits the car better looks wise.

Go for it.