I'm sure this has been beat to death and maybe one of you youngsters can point me to another thread but I am struggling with what size wheels to get. I really want to go with 16's because I am willing to sacrifice a little performance for a softer ride and I assume they will be a little lighter and spin up a little faster but I don't love the black "Victory Spoke" wheel. Other than looks and less sidewall flex is there any advantage to 17" wheels?

 

with 17" you can upgrade brakes to the JCW brake kit that is coming, it will not work on 16"
performance-wise smaller and lighter is better.

 

That's a good thought and worth considering Raja. I am a fan of upgraded brakes.

 

I am on my third MINI. My first was an '08 with sports suspension and 17's.
The ride was brutal and the car would jump around on expansion joints and bumpy corners. After 10,000 miles, I just couldn't stand it anymore and bought some non-runflats and the ride and handling was improved dramatically. My second MINI, a '12 s had 16's and the ride was much better.To me the 16 wheel was the sweet spot for the R56S.
And on to my new F56S. The 17's on my new car are quieter than the 17 non-runflats on my '08 and the 16 runflats on my '12.
If I had to do it over, I would still order 17's. The F56 suspension is a drastic improvement without giving up anything in performance.

 

Thanks dp. I go out of the way to burn off my run flats as soon as possible so I can put non run flats on. That is indeed the number one thing you can do to to improve your ride.

 

The new Mini rides very smooth so no worries,but it has also grown so the 17's do look better on this car.My with has two Minis a heavily modified 06 and a new Mini (with 17's) her comment is she wishes they had not made the new car so big but that she loves the way it rides.She loves her Mini's

 

Go take a walk around the lot and look at an mcs with 16's. They personally look a little small but I'm not a fan of mini's 17-inch rims so it's a compromise that I made no ride issues or lack of performance feel here! Good luck mate.

 

My new 2014 17" runflats are way smoother than my 2007's, and I have the Sport Suspension too. I wouldn't worry about it. Get the 17" wheels.

 

IMHO the F56 looks the best with 16" wheels
And your reasoning re ride and weight are right on !

 

The 15" wheels give it the F150 look.

 

In the South...I would go with the 17s...get rid of the RFs.

 

We went from a pair of MINIs with 16" wheels to a pair with 17" MINIs. When we got the JCW, we had to get 17's to fit over the big brakes. When we got the newest Cooper, we got the 17" because the Black Star Bullets were the only wheels I really liked the look of in the new lineup.

I've also tested 16" vs 17" at an autocross, and I found no significant difference in performance (they were within 0.1s, within driver variance). The 16" had a tire option which was wider (ZII in 225/45-16 vs ZII in 215/40-17), I presume the extra tire width and weight made up for the difference in sidewall. At some point larger wheels don't help.

I also went from 16" to 17" with the same tire model (Conti DWS) with the JustaCooper, I was surprised that there was a noticeable difference in ride quality (I noticed it got worse), and in handling sharpness (I noticed it got better). I quickly got used to the setup and the ride seems quite reasonable to me (on Sport Suspension).

I've ditched the run flat and got tires which ride much better (Conti DW and DWS).

I wouldn't stress about it, I don't think the difference in ride and handling is worth expending much thought over. Unless you're testing the difference back to back, you're never going to notice the difference. The difference in tire model characteristics make much more of a difference than the difference in diameter.

Get the ones you think look better.

 

Also the 17 inch wheels end up with a larger contact patch.

 

You ain't riding 17s in NYC...

 

You ain't ridin' a new F56 in NYC. (BEATER!)

 

15" best ride, but the high sidewall make the car steering drift a bit on the turn. 16" feels a bit better and 17" will be harsher, but the turn in is much better. Now on the F56 , it feels like the 17" are 16". Maybe because of the newer designed suspension. So 17" are the new 16" and that was on stock sport suspension ( RF). So on the dampened suspension , I would guess its smoother.

Good luck.

 

You are right...I will be driving the new F55 in a few weeks.