Ok, I have the Pipercross intake and Nology wires with my Mini CVT. I have found some of my shifting to be annoyingly sluggish. I know i need lighter wheels and I have a new muffler on order, but I was wondering what I could really do to get the Mini running faster.

 

You've sailed into uncharted waters. All the normal performance mods to the engine should work with your CVT but getting it to shift differently would require breaking the code of the trans controller. It's not something anyone is going to pursue anytime soon since the MT market has yet to be fully captialized. Something that might help is contacting Redline to see if any of their fluids can be used in the CVT. Since it has a lot of parasitic loss due to pumps etc., a thinner visocity would free up a few ponies. You could also try to find a lower stall speed torque convertor. If it locks you sooner, you'll have better acceleration but you may have trouble finding an aftermarket TC.

Good Luck.

 

Just get a 50 shot of nitrous!

 

I have been looking into getting wheels and tires that will be less weight than I have now. In fact I am looking to get the lightest wheel/tire combo that I could find that I like. I do not like the overly big wheels that look like some rubber was painted around them and called a tire. I will most likely go wit max 17" wheels, but would like to get 16", but if light enough I'd go to 15". I also need to get light tires, but I can never find a set of descriptions with all the weights of the various wheels. I also do not know where to find the weights of the tires.

Anyone have any assistance in this matter?

 

I don't think you have to go with the lightest possible wheels, here's why-
While lighter is good- there is usually much higher cost with the lightest and also unless the rims are forged or semi forged like SSR rims, the lighter rims may not be as durable and could be damaged more easily.
Lighter tires also may not be a good choice depending on which tires. Most of us do not buy tires based on weight but if given a choice we would like not the heaviest tire unless it gave something else good in return-like more grip.
15" wheels are lighter but also offer less tire patch contact and so less grip on corners. True there is less road rolling resistance and higher mpg but less performance as well. If you want just street driving and you don't do track or autocross and don't do hard turning then 15" is fine. If you any of the above and like to drive aggressively then the best choice may be 16". Any larger and you start to increase weight without really gaining that much more performance and or increasing cost.
For tire weights in 16" see
https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...pic=3671&0

_________________
ALOHA

 

Sweet,

Thank you for a meaty reply that I can actually apply well to my possible purchase.

I will have to keep looking some.

Thanks :smile:

 

Don't confuse wheel diameter with contact patch. A tire that's 205/15 will have the same contact patch as a 205/16 given the rims are the same width and the tires are the same model. The rest of what minihune has to say is true. Light-weight cast wheels are not that durable compare to forged or cast wheels with more meat. Evaluate your driving conditions before laying down the cash (or credit.)

For point of reference, Grassroots Motorsports did a comparison between 15 and 16 inch configs on their H-Stock MC (Feb 2003 issue.) For the 15s, it was 15x5.5 with 205/50-15 at 29.5 pounds. For the 16s, it was 16x6.5 with 215/40-16 at 36 pounds. Not a direct comparison but it does invole the choices you're considering. The tire make and model were the same, Hoosiers. Their test pilot was Mike King, a former National Champ in autox. The 16s were .34 seconds faster on the 38 second course. That's significant. My conclusions from this would be that the wider wheel, wider tire, and shorter side wall combined to offset the significantly lighter set-up (22% lighter). So, performance factors shouldn't be considered in a vacuum. It's the package that makes the car fast. One additional note, the wheels were stock wheels with stock offsets. This will also need to be considered since different offsets preclude wider tires. Since the offest is measured from the centerline of the wheel, the higher the number the closer the wheel sits to the strut. Lower numerical offsets do offer a wider track but could cause rubbing on the fender. Higher numerical offsets could cause interference with the strut/spring. But with a higher offset, you can add a 5 mm spacer to gain a little extra clearance. Nothing can be done with the lower offset.

John

 

>>
>>Don't confuse wheel diameter with contact patch. A tire that's 205/15 will have the same contact patch as a 205/16 given the rims are the same width and the tires are the same model. The rest of what minihune has to say is true. Light-weight cast wheels are not that durable compare to forged or cast wheels with more meat. Evaluate your driving conditions before laying down the cash (or credit.)

Yes, that is a good point about contact patch. The greater this contact with the road the potentially more grip you can have as long as you can maintain contact with the help of your suspension. But the larger the contact the larger the rolling resistance so not as good gas mileage.

>>For point of reference, Grassroots Motorsports did a comparison between 15 and 16 inch configs on their H-Stock MC (Feb 2003 issue.) For the 15s, it was 15x5.5 with 205/50-15 at 29.5 pounds. For the 16s, it was 16x6.5 with 215/40-16 at 36 pounds. Not a direct comparison but it does invole the choices you're considering. The tire make and model were the same, Hoosiers. Their test pilot was Mike King, a former National Champ in autox. The 16s were .34 seconds faster on the 38 second course. That's significant. My conclusions from this would be that the wider wheel, wider tire, and shorter side wall combined to offset the significantly lighter set-up (22% lighter). So, performance factors shouldn't be considered in a vacuum. It's the package that makes the car fast. One additional note, the wheels were stock wheels with stock offsets. This will also need to be considered since different offsets preclude wider tires. Since the offest is measured from the centerline of the wheel, the higher the number the closer the wheel sits to the strut. Lower numerical offsets do offer a wider track but could cause rubbing on the fender. Higher numerical offsets could cause interference with the strut/spring. But with a higher offset, you can add a 5 mm spacer to gain a little extra clearance. Nothing can be done with the lower offset.

Thanks, John.
Hoosiers are racing tires. I'm not certain that you mentioned if your needs were for street or track or both.
0.34 seconds on a 38 second course is really significant for the track but if your tires are more street oriented then less than half a second potential from one stop light to another seems less important than ride smoothness, tread wear, road noise, overall grip in wet or dry, and tire/wheel weight. Here the tires get to be really important choices.

Think of the wheelset (the combination of rims and tires) as fullfilling the role you envision that you will be using your MINI for. Don't forget to talk to Alex@tirerack before you make your final decision. At least it is fun shopping around. So many choices.

 

Again thank you for very informative feedback.

Am I the only one that thinks the bigger wheels are not as good looking?

I am really trying to see if I can find reasons for as well as against them.

Will the performance difference be such that I am willing to deal with the looks not being what I am accustomed to?

Remember I also drive a truck. BIG TIRES

 

>>
>>Am I the only one that thinks the bigger wheels are not as good looking?
>>
>>I am really trying to see if I can find reasons for as well as against them.
>>
>
No, You're Not Alone Xanthus ! I've got an MCS coming in January. After renting one for a weekend with the 17" wheels and stock runflats that come with the Sport Combo #2 Package, and then on another weekend renting a different MCS with the standard 16" X-lite wheels and 55 series runflats -- I've decided that even the 16" wheels with their higher aspect ratio tires were still too rough riding for my taste. I love the handling of the MCS. But since I'm not going to be racing it at all -- just pleasure driving -- I want the most comfortable ride possible within the design parameters of this car (after all, it IS a sports car and not a boulevard cruiser! STILL I would like a significantly less jarring ride than the factory 17" wheel/tire setup).

So I'm planning on buying some lighter 16" wheels and non-runflat tires from the Tire Rack and have them waiting at home so I can put them on my car as soon as it comes in January. Then I'll try to sell the virtually brand new 16" X-lites and runflats that came on the car to someone who ordered the Sports Combo #2 Package and then discovered just how hard riding the 17" setup really is. I'll be happy to let them steal my 16" X-lites and tires with fewer than 200 miles on them for a very good price (If anyone is interested, please let me know and I'll contact you when the 16" X-lites and tires are available - I live in Austin, TX).

 

My CVT was picked up in April 2002, so it was one of the early ones. I've been on the twisties, following some Coopers S's, and while other stick shift Coopers dropped out, I was able to keep up just fine. I have 17'' Allessios x 8 1/2 rims. Very wide stance. Goes like a rocket. Luv it. "LTL YELO". Ron.
All I've had go wrong was the driver window lost it's memory and had to be re-programmed.

_________________
"I have a light switch in my house in California that doesn't control anything. Every time I pass by it, I flip the switch. The other day, I got a letter from a woman in England saying, 'cut it out'."

 

A little FYI Diamond Racing Group races 2 CVT's and have a turbo in development so I have now found that they can be competitive.

I ran an autocross race and my times were amongst all the other cars, and it was my first time racing.