yikes...those do look good...that's a nice fresh spoke pattern. are they black?, the top pic almost seems anthracite, then you went all photochoppy on us... and what pray tell is the tire size? 30, 35?

very, very nice all in all, but yes I'm heading south of the stock 18", though damn if I'm not getting used to the feel of 18's

 

I'm currently riding on 16x7 O.Z. Superturismo WRC Wheels. I think they look good on the MINI.

Here's a pic:

 

sorry for the late response. here's a shot on the car...dirt and all.

 

15x7 Motegi Track-Lites 2.0 on 205/50-15 Nitto NT-01s

 

boy those really change the GP look. probly a stupid question, but why 15"? is it a weight thing?

 

Yes, partially weight issue. Those are my dedicated track wheels.
There are more reasons for 15's, here's a few:

1) Less "Unsprung" Weight-The Motegi TrackLites weigh 9.8lbs w/o centercaps

2) Better Gearing- Smaller wheels are essentially like smaller mechanical gearing and that offers better acceleration. F1 cars now use 13 inch wheels

3) 15 inch wheels offer lighter tires (unsprung)

4) Smaller size means, Cheaper track tires, amen

5) Grand-Am's RSR Motorsports MINI uses 15 inch Kodiaks wheels

 

Those Motegi TrackLites look great! Wow, talk about low weight. My 17x7.5 BBS RV-F weigh 18.4 pounds each. Did you change out the GP brakes to something else?

 

The 15s just fit over the R53 JCW calipers with like 3mm clearance. The rotor was no problem. Although, you got to put wheel weights inside more so that it don't hit calipers.
Old Thread RE: fittment:
https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...el-barrel.html

 

Howsoon,

Are there any 'diameter' related issues (i.e. speedo, ABS, ect..) that have to be addressed when running the 15" rim/tire combo?

The 205/50/15's are much smaller in diameter than the stock 205/40/18's is why i'm asking.

I really want to go to 15" wheels/tires in the future.

 

here are 16's advan rg2 with 215/40 16 if i remember correctly

 

Speedo is off, although I use the GPS as speedo. Odometer slghtly off and fuel mileage on freeways off. Most of the diameter related issues I really do not mind. I use them for track days and for summer mountain runs, some occasional auto-x, then switch back to the GP wheels for street Weirdest thing was relearning gear selection and your upshift points and downshift points and finding yourself using 5th and even 6th gear at some tracks. Also, very few 15 inch wheels fit R53 JCW brakes.

 

Thanks for the reply! Just what i wanted to know.

Is there any kind of list of which 15" wheels will work with the JCW brakes?

 

Complete Thread:
https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...on-07-mcs.html

 

Add Konig Candy to list.

 

Thats a nice list of 15's.

Decisions, decisions....for next year anyways.

 

Got my OZ Racing Allegeritas/Hankooks on the Garage Prince over the weekend. Huge and immediate difference, in handling, comfort, noise, grip, you name it. I took some photos and I promise to post...esp with me being the OP on this thread. To anyone who is thinking about replacing the OEM wheels and RFT's don't hesitate, it's a no brainer. I just took forever to get it done due to my work schedule, and when I finally got around to it Hankook and Tire Rack had the $60 for 4 rebate offer again....current to the end of month or maybe even end of October. Sweet!!

 

Good call mrwilson, as i also just got Hankooks (V12 Evo's) to replace the stock RFT's. I'm still using the stock wheels though.

15's (rims & tires) are on the list for next years track days.

Post those pic's asap!

 

LMK how you like the V12 18" treads...thinkin of shoeing my OEM rims with those for swapping out every now and then. I just wanted to try a 17" set for awhile, with the slightly greater sidewall.

 

Finally...pictures of my non OEM wheels, almost 10 months after I started this thread. Hope these pics do justice to the awesomeness that the wheel/tire combo is. The feel is superb with this package. Gotta love the fact that OZR weighs each wheel and tags 'em...this CU foto is the "heaviest" of the four.

 

Kazera KZ-S 17x7

 

I like the look of those KZ's. What do they weigh and does it feel better to you? Not that I'm changing my OZR's for awhile.