Hi guys, I found a set of 205 65 r15 winter tires for a good deal near my house. I was wondering if that size would work on my 2002 MINI cooper S ? or is the 65 series too tall. These will be just winter snow tires so I am not looking for performance...

thanks for your help!

 

At 25.5 inches OD they are very tall, taller than I can promise will work.

Alex

 

I agree. Not the best solution for winter tires and not good for any MINI due to poor chance of clearance.

Stock tire diameter is about 24.3". Once you get to about 24.7 to 24.9" clearance gets to be critical. Over 25" and there isn't room.

Snow tires should be narrow and small enough to allow for some snow to collect. Narrow tires tend to work better to cut through the snow especially for 15" wheels. For 205mm wide tires using 15" wheels usually the size used is 205/55-15 but that is mostly summer or three season weather.

Other choices include 195/60-15 and 185/65-15.

 

I agree that those tires sound too tall. I disagree that snow tires should be narrow and small . . . that is good advice if snow traction is the over-riding goal . . . but I wanted tires which would perform well on cold dry pavement and perform better than my fellow commuters in snow (they are almost all on all-season tires). I also could not imagine being any closer to the ground than I already am for winter driving (and I already am the snow plow for my side street no matter how many cars may have left before me). Choosing tires is really all about knowing clearly what you want. Boy, would I have been disappointed with skinny studless snows tooling across Nevada in winter. . . boy was my son delighted with his studless snows around town in Anchorage.