I'm looking to pick up a 2006 JCW. It's a dealer installed kit, so it doesn't appear to have the JCW brakes. I'm planning to put a set of CCW wheels on there, so I will be able to spec a custom offset. If possible, I'd like to use a 16" wheel with either 7" or 8" width. The car will eventually be lowered on coilovers.

So, I'm curious what the preferred wheel/tire specs for Mini drivers are using these criteria. It seems to me like a 225/50/16 tire on a 16x8 wheel would be a good option. Is that right, or would a 205 on a 7" wide wheel be a better option? Any ideas on what offset I should run for clearance and avoiding rubbing? TIA

 

205 on a 7 or 7.5" if you like it streched. 225 may be possible but it is wide and tall for the car. I have had 25" tall rub at the top of the fender arch. I have seen 8" with an offset of +35 work on some racecars.

 

This is good to know, thanks. Which of your tires would you recommend for a Mini in SoCal that will mostly be a weekend car with very occasional auto-x, and rarely driven in rain? I was looking at the S-04.

 

The Bridgestone S-04 is a good Max Summer tire but doesn't come in good sizes for 16" wheels. 205/45-17 is $102 special priced and in stock at tirerack.com. It's as good a choice for your needs as any and well priced. Treadwear is only 280 so don't expect it to last forever.

If you decide to go with 205/45-17 tires then 17x7" rims with roughly 42 to 45 offset makes for best clearance although you can use up to OEM 48 offset, downside would be the tire is not flush with the wheel arches. All of these offsets will work without rubbing with stock suspension. If you lower your MINI then just adjust ride height enough to clear the tire tread edges. Fully adjustable coilovers will work best, adding fully adjustable front camber plates also make sense since they allow you to get more negative front camber so you can use the front tires better if you do drive on the track.

When installing the front camber plates you can mark the points for street camber and for full negative camber so you can switch them when needed. Note that toe settings can be affected when changing front camber.

Given that you are using 17x7" wheels with this plan it doesn't really make sense to pay for CCW custom wheels unless you like the looks and lower weight/ greater strength. For less you can find good Enkei, O.Z. or Rays wheels. If you go with wider than 7" wheels you can still use 7.5" or even 8" wide 17" wheels, just use a 42 to 45 offset.

Using wider tires with wider 17" wheels is possible but depending on your needs you gain more weight for the wheel and tire, more traction but more rolling resistance and lower mpg. Wide 17" tires also tend to have lower sidewall profiles and less tire selection. If your roads are very smooth then no problem but if you drive over lots of bad roads a 45 series sidewall makes more sense.

Using 16x7 to 16x8" wheels is also fine with offsets of 42 to 45.
S-04 comes in 205/55-16 but really fits a 7 or 7.5" wheel best.
Otherwise in 225/50-16 there is Continental ExtremeContact DW Max Summer tire for $106 each in stock, 340 treadwear, very good street tire and had good handling/performance for low cost.

see tirerack test results (S-04 vs DW)-
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tests/...y.jsp?ttid=148