All --

I recently upgraded my Mini from 12" wheels/tires to 10" wheels/tires and thought I'd share some information that I learned.

BTW, old setup was Minitor (I think) 12" wheels with Yokohama A539 165/12 road tires. New setup was are 10x6 genuine Minilite 10x6" wheels with 165/70-10 Hoosier HO-TDS tires.

1) the 165/12 A539 tires when mounted are 4-1/4" larger circumference than the 165/10 Hoosiers. In terms of diameter the A539 tires are 1.35" larger diameter than the Hoosiers. Simply changing to the 10" tires resulted in my car sitting 2/3" lower. I was able to drop the suspension an additional 1-1/4" on top of that since the tires fit so well within the wheel wells.

2) I was somewhat plagued with tire/body rubbing under heavy cornering (or large bumps in the road) with the 12" tires. Changing to the 10" tires, due to their smaller diameter, has eliminated this issue.

3) Back a few years ago I upgraded my front brakes to the KAD 4-piston system designed and marketed to be compatible with 10" wheels -- this kit uses 7.9" rotors. I confirmed that with the Minilite 10x6" wheels the calipers do clear the wheels (but barely; 1/32" roughly). The brakes fill the interior of the wheels but they do fit and do work fine even under heavy use at the track.

Anyway, I hope this gives someone some useful information. No one would definitavely confirm that the Minilite 10x6" wheels would work with the KAD 4 piston 7.9" brake kit but I can now confirm that they do. I'm now very happy with the setup and will very likely never mount those 12" wheels on my Mini again.

Cheers,
Jeff

 

what's your source for those tires?

looking at a Hoosier catalog, I don't see anything in a 10" (except midget racer and carts!)

 

Just checked the photo album, they look great!

 

I believe the photos in the OP's gallery are with 12" wheels. Those pictures were taken back in 2008.

 

I was referring to this picture: http://desertwave.com/gallery2/main....geViewsIndex=2

 

Thanks, didn't see that link below the sig. I can see why there are no more rubbing issues! OP, let me know if you are planning to sell those 12" wheels...

 

www.hoosiertirewest.com, under Vintage & Historic. Here's the link:

http://www.hoosiertirewest.com/brows...-s/4,1577.html

 

Yeah, I may be selling them. They're going to have to go with the tires as a set though. I'll contact you when I figure out what I'm going to do.

 

Excellent choice on the wheels, tires, and front brakes. Hoosier TD's are the choice of most ALL Vintage Mini racers! Most all other tires do not provide the performance you need when pushing your Mini on track!