I'm looking to buy a set of these and for some feedback from those who currently or have had Rota's. Which wheel should I be looking for? Which size? Should I need a hub centering ring?

Thanks

Matt

:smile: :smile:

 

All Rota styles will work for the MINI as long as they are 4x100 bolt pattern, and have a reasonable offset (high 30s to high 40s). Rota also makes some wheels with the 57.1 hub so they don't need rings. I've been looking at the Rota Circuit 10s in 17x7.5, et40. I don't know if it needs rings or if it comes in the right hub size, but I won't mind using rings if I need to. Everyone else is using them, so it's not really a big deal. Here are some of the sites I've found with the best prices-

www.seriousauto.com - circuit 10 17" $145ea
www.intakeone.com - circuit 10 17" $167ea (free ship)
www.subydude.com - circuit 10 17in $163ea

Rota also has some good "replica" styles of other wheels like the Grid (sort of like the Gram light 57s, but 6 spoke) and the slipstream (lightweight version of the Spoon Racing wheel) if your into the "Import Tuner" thing.

-Good Luck, and post pics when they're on!

-Steve

 

From what I'm hearing, I will need to use centering rings, which I've heard a couple of people say that's the wrong way to go, then others are saying it's fine. I'll be autoX'ing on these, so I need to know if that's somthing to really worry about or something I'm just over reacting to.

 

The MINIs hub size is not common. If you limit yourself to just wheels with the same hub, you have the OEMs and like 4 others. Just use some metal centering rings and you'll be OK. Plastic are alright, but for autox they get hot and melt/warp. Most rings and necessary hardware will come w/ the wheels depending on the dealer. Did you look at some of those wheels? Which ones? What size? Color/ finish?

 

Then the people who actually understand the purpose of them say that it doesn't matter if you match the hub bore or not - it's nothing more than a mounting aid.

 

Well, I'm really looking at the 16 X 7 slipstreams in gunmetal finish, with a polished edge. They'd look sweet on my HyperBlue w/ black top, and are awesome for my autoX'ing at only 13.5 lbs. Well, I'm glad I'm getting positive feedback on this. I know they have Metal rings available, so I should be set. Anything else I should be aware of?

Thanks for all the help!!

 

One other thing to consider is:

Do the wheels need to use lug nuts or bolts? Our MINIs use bolt right now, but you can get a conversion kit to lug bolt pretty easy. Plus you can get the bolt in anodized blue, red, chrome, black etc...

Some wheels need to have lug nuts because of the depth of the hub, while others can still use the stock lug nuts. I have no personal experience with switching from bolts to nuts, but some here have done it and have had to change because of their wheels. *Anyone chime in here with more info!

 

I've been using 15x7 Rota Slipstreams for the last year and they have been great. Inexpensive, really light and trouble-free. They are hubcentric for the MINI and you do not need any centering rings with them. Though I have never used them, it's my understanding that centering rings are a pain in the a** if you are constantly changing wheels and tires, say for track or autox events.

I've seen the gunmetal Rotas with the polished lip in person and think they look really good.

 

I have the Rota Slipstream 16X7 (if that's 1/2" wider than stock, because that's what they are). They are my street wheels as they are too wide for stock class autocrossing.They are hubcentric for the MINI and don't need hubcentric rings. They are about a third less weight than the stock 17" run-flat rims and the difference in performance is tremendous. I had them powder coated white, as I couldn't find them in white and white DOES show the brake dust as has been noted on other threads. (Despite changing to non-stock pads). I found the wheels almost impossible to remove when I went autocrossing and thought that the problem was the bonding of the wheel to the hub of the car. However, I bought plastic gaskets to place between them and I STILL had problems freeing the wheels. A friend suggested that I remove the powder coating from the edge of the center hole and I have done so, gently, with a Dremel tool. Haven't taken them off, since, but I think that will do the trick.

I replaced the bolts with studs and bought two sets of lug nuts, chrome one's for autocrossing, and blue anodized for daily driving to go with my hyper blue car. However, I have NOT used the blue ones because the anodization scratches very easily and did so the first time I started to put them on despite my being very careful.

I think the Rota Slipstreams are a great buy.

 

Rota Slipstreams can be ordered to fit the MINIs 56.1mm center hub.

 

You might look in the Marketplace Forum to see if anyone at NAM has Rotas for sale (I seem to recall a set being advertised for a long time). Should be a better price than the retailers and you would be doing a fellow NAM member a favor. Good luck.

 

i wnt to get a set of subzeros too for next year.. anyone know of a vendor who sells rota wheels with falken or hankook tires?

 

Really? They have some that will actually fit the Mini's hub? Do you know where I can order these through??

 

Do the Rota's 16 X 7 bump you out of stock?? Anyone into autoX'ing use their Rota's? I might eventually want to get serious about this and I need to make sure these will be allowed in stock.

 

Just get one that'll fit a civic.

It uses the same PCD, hub, and offsets (+38mm to +45mm).
Center bore is the same 56.1mm diameter.

 

Suggest you call Jessica(925.339.3828) or email sales@18racing.com and talk with her. Rota is making stock size .. 16 by 6.5 for the Mini crowd ... this will be legal in G or H Stock for SCCA autocrossing. The Slipstream is the name and I think are selling for a round $500 a set.

I'm anxiously awaiting my first set - mention Jerry Crump to Jessica and she'll throw in some touch up paint or something to sweeten the deal.

 

Thank you very much!! This should help calm my nerves on shopping for a good rim w/o jepordizing my stock classing. I'll go ahead and talk to Jessica.

THANKS!!

 

Tension is mounting as the first shipment of Rota's arrived in California and have been shipped to the lucky few that bought. I've been in direct contact with Jessica, and she's taking orders for the Slipstream for the Mini in the different colors shown on their website. (we're talking the stock size 16" by 6.5" here)

My UPS tracking number shows two boxes @ 27 lbs each ... so we're talking about weight less than 13.5 ea.

This should be a great deal for all the G and H stock SCCA'ers ....

 

Just got these Rota Subzero 17x7.5s. Got them from Subtdude who is a pleasure to deal with.

Very happy with this wheel. High quality with hardly any balancing wieghts needed. Fit over my BBK with room to spare.

 

Onasled,

Are those Toyo RA1's? What size are they? Any clearance issues? I'm trying to decide on a track setup for my car and was thinking 16's until I saw how those fit.

 

Yes, they are RA1s. The setup shown are actually my intermediate wet track, so they are unshaved.
They are 235-40-17s. Yes, there are fitment issues and you need to be prepared to take a hammer to your fenders, A good amount of shaving to the plastic flairs and some removal of the plastic wells. This is just for the rears, The fronts need a 5mm spacer and some plastic cutting and shaving.
The jury is still out on this size for tracking ( I use the same setup but shaved for dry track) If you don't have all the suspension adjustments, like sway bars, control arms, camber plates, ride height and rebound, then I would say to stay away. I was using the 205-40-17 RA1s prior to these and they were great. It took me a while to get these bigger tires from giving me too much understeer. About five track days with them and I finally think I have them figured out, but still have more to do.

The RA1 205-40-17s are one GREAT tire. About the lightest available also. Very quick tire that I never found the limits to on a dry track. If you are doing Auto-X it is said that they take a bit too long to warm up. I don't do that so I can't say that this is so.

Greg V

 

I have Kumho V710's for autocross. I plan on running the new SCCA track trials events and want to get a dedicated set of tires and wheels for them. It sounds like from your recommendation that the 205/40 R17 Toyo's on a 17x7(7" To stay GS legal for track trials) would be a great setup. I'll have to check if Toyo makes a decent 16 inch size also. I'm willing to give up a little grip to get at least a year out of the tires. I assume you recommend shaving a toyo to be used in the dry to prevent overheating and possible chunking?

I miss NHIS. I just moved from NH to SC last year.
Joe

 

quick question. would that set up be an issue at stock height.

 

I think it might be. You would need the front 5mm spacers for sure and a 2mm for the rears. I would think though that fender rubbing would happen in bumps, hard cornering and if you had a passenger.
Also would advise against it for handling characteristic on the road.

Brings me to a point I need to mention. I've done about all the HP stuff on my suspension that can be done. The car is a fantastic track car and is really hard to beat on a tight course. BUT, on the road I don't think I could keep up with a stock Mini. Bumps, sand and general stuff like this just don't go well anymore. Be careful about emulating race cars for the road.

 

I love my Rota's, great inexpensive wheel for track or autocross. Make sure when you tell other people about them you tell them their inexpensive and not cheap because they're very well made.

You might come accross some people that shun them because of two isolated incidents with some Subaru's and cracked wheels but supposedly Rota replaced those and made changes to the wheels to make sure it never happened again.

I currently have two sets running on my car, a set of Rota Grids in Full Royal Sports Bronze 16x7 on some Hankook's for street duty. Also have a set of Full Royal Sports Bronze Slipstreams in 16x7 for track/autox use. They've worked great for me and i always notice a huge difference whenever i used to have to switch back to the 16in stock xlites which only weighed 4 more pounds.

Not to troll but, if anybody wants a good set of Slipstreams check my sig......