just bought a 11 mini base....the rims are fugly so I'm looking to bump up to 16's or 17's.....im going for mini oem rims for 16's I'm looking at the s-winders and for the 17's I'm looking at the R90 cross spoke design.....im not going to use run flats so my question is this, for the 17's can i get away with a regular tire on it and not have to screw with the suspension...? also what tires do you mini owners use as well..? toyo, yoko, or kuhmo...? thx

 

Welcome! 17s will fit easy on an r56 with a 'regular' tire on it. Only once you start looking at 18's are tire sizes an issure IMO. A lot of MINI folk ditch their runflats to get cheaper and more comfortable tires while just carrying a flat tire repair kit in their boot.

 

so if i go with the 17's .....what size tire am i looking at...? i know on the 16's i was looking at 195/55/16's....im gonna go with the Toyo Proxes Tr1's...thx

 

205/45/r17 are a good fit for a wheel that is 7" wide. I'm currently running Hankook Ventus V12 tires in that size and love them....If you're going to veer away from runflats then I highly recommend them (especially for the money).

Good luck and keep us posted!

 

I got rid of my run flats two weeks after taking delivery on my 2011 Clubman. Best move I made. I went from 205-45-17 to 215-45-17 in the Michelin Pilot A/S. Great tire to far. I sold the Run flats to a very happy person with only 380 miles on them. a Win win for all.

The CLubman has a spare tire well in the back that I now have a SLime/filler combo and a small spare on the way from Detroit tuned

 

I can't remember my exact size, I have 17" rims. The one thing I can say about the tires though is that they are low profile tires with the larger rim. As for tire type, I have Yokohama AvidEnvigor tires. I got them from Tire Rack for about $110 a tire. They are all-season high performance and I love them.

 

Base Cooper should have a spare...

I would highly recommend 16s over 17s from experience in New Jersey...16s fitted with Regular Tires will run better than 17s.

 

inimini makes a good point, with all the pot holes and bad roads, that extra amount of tire helps in those heart stopping situations when you hear your shots slam against the towers. Unless you are very good at swerving around pot holes than 16s are better to play it safe. So 17s would be "use at your own risk."