Someone is selling this set

Mini Cooper S 16" Wheels rims and tires Set of 4.

These are the tires that came with my 2008 Mini Cooper S.

Tires are basically brand new less then 1000 miles on them Bridgestones.

195/55r16


I currently have 185/65r15


will these perform better than the 15s?

 

they will fit and will have less sidewall flex therefore helping cornering. I see no reason you can't use them.

 

I changed my base (non-S, justa) Convertible from stock 175/65-15s to some 195/55-16s from another Mini and found that they dulled the acceleration (or at least perceived acceleration) just a little bit around town, but added a lot of cornering grip. At first I put winters on the 15 wheels but after a while I found even those weren't enough and got some more 16 wheels to put winters on.

I think a big advantage of going from 65-series tyres to 55-series is that you move into sportier model of tyre which is designed for good grip, whereas I think 65-series tyres tend to be designed for economy.

 

Hey..

I changed the Tire/Wheel from 15" to 16" last nite.

Very surprising how different it is:

Good things:
*Smoother and more comfortable ride
*Lighter Steering (it was a bit too hard before)
*More Responsive Steering

Bad Things:
*Engine Seem Dull? Something is going on... it revs much lower and seem less sporty. But, it might be doing the opposite? I'm just gaging this on the sound. Is this because the wheels turns fewer times for the same speed?

*Wider Steering Radius (when I take a U-Turn it uses more space)

*It doesn't look very different from the 15"

*Ooops.. my tire pressure lights came on today after driving for an hour? Is there a way to deal with that?

 

"Smoother ride" was definitely not my experience, but bumps on the 16s seem more thump and less crash (more woody and less tinny, to quote Monty Python).

I doubt the lighter steering is because you went from 15 s to 16s - more likely did you go from worn 15s to newer 16s? That generally makes the steering feel lighter.

And yeah, lots more cornering grip means more responsive steering

The 16s are slightly bigger diameter so the gearing has gone up a bit. While that dulls the initial launch off the line, it does mean each gear runs to a higher speed, so what you lose on one you gain on the other.

If you got a stopwatch you might be able to measure a difference (though I doubt it) but most of the difference will be because the indicated speed has changed slightly because of the gearing - what was an indicated 60mph is now an indicated 59mph, or so.

If you measure fuel economy to a high accuracy, you might see a slight drop-off for the same reason, but the difference is in the numbers, not in real life. You would also see a real but small drop-off in fuel economy of an mpg or two - the wider 16s tyres have more aero drag. It looks a tiny difference but it has an effect.

Wider steering radius doesn't ring true to me - I suggest that is a 'perceived' difference, not a real one!

Because the 16s are lower profile tires, they are pretty much the same overall size as the 15s, so there isn't a noticeable change.