I have an 02 Cooper S, just installed some cool overs and looking at new wheels and tires. Looking at a set of 16x8 +25 offset, what size tires would you guys recommend? Several have said 195/40 and others say 205/40.

Any help would be nice. My plans are to get a stancy look

 

Where do you live?

In the US, the Cooper S first appeared in the 2003 model year.

If you are in the US, you have a 2003 MCS, check the plate in the door jam of the driver's side near the seat, it should read made in late 2002 or in 2003, if it is a 2003 model.

Who are you talking to that recommend those tire sizes? Owners of other cars or do they know the MINI?

When you say stancy look, do you mean lowered to the max (slammed) and with extra wide wheels with stretched tires?

Like these-
http://www.stanceworks.com/2013/01/s...ear-in-photos/

If so then-
16x8" et25 is fine, it will be 4mm further from the suspension, and 42mm sticking out more than an OEM16" wheel.
Be sure to get 4x100 bolt pattern and the MINI wheel hub is 56.1mm if you need centering rings which you should ask for or purchase.

Some owners will use a very narrow tire to get the most stretch but you need a tire that will have a load rating of 84 or higher if you can. Realize that with so much negative camber to tuck in the upper edge of the tire into the wheel arch you may get some rubbing, or need to trim the inner plastic arches especially in the back which is easy to do. Tires will wear on the inner edges the more negative camber you have.

In order to run lots of negative camber you need adjustable front camber plates (some coilovers come with front camber plates while others need a certain camber plate that is compatible), and you need rear adjustable lower control arms (just a pair of arms although the MINI has two sets of arms, replace the lower ones to adjust rear camber).

Don't run excessive toe settings in alignment, this will cause even more tire wear. Set front to 1/8" toe in and rear to 1/4" toe in or factory MINI OEM settings for toe is OK.

If you want to do performance driving with a lowered stance it might not be as good as having an OEM MINI stance. The suspension geometry is good for the look but not so good for ride quality or handling, in other words you won't be fast at the track, I would recommend not even trying.

But for cruising and for car shows and bragging rights you should be OK. I would advise you to inspect your tires and wheels regularly as you would be stressing the tires by stretching them and driving on them and the tire company never designed them for that use.

Note that for the tire sizes you mentioned, they are all way under the OEM tire diameter of 24.4", more like around 22+" which means by installing these tires you are 2" lowered on tires or roughly 1" closer to the ground on clearance plus you are using coilovers to lower the suspension likely over 1.5" more. As a result you will be very close to the ground with minimal clearance for anything under your car. You can't roll over something as small as a soda can without hitting it and you can't easily drive in a multi-level parking lot or over speed bumps without a lot of care.

For tire sizes, there are very limited selection of tires that will be available.
I would stick to better name brands than to go with any cheap tires although that is your choice and maybe fit your budget better.

195/40-16
Yokohama S Drive Ultra High Performance Summer tire
$100 each, 300 treadwear 80 load rated, W speed rated, XL sidewall (firm)
Fits 6.5-7.5" wide rims, perfect for 7" rim. Tire diameter 22.1". This is more of a stretch look, will work, is very low, and has a low load rating but it should be OK if you don't carry 4 people much. This is a common stretch tire model.
see examples:
http://www.tyrestretch.com/8.0_195_40_R16/


205/40-16
Kumho Ecsta AST High Performance All Season tire
$79 each, 400 treadwear 83 load rated, H speed rated, XL sidewall (firm)
Fits 7-8" wide rims, perfect for 7.5" rim so not much of a stretch. 22.4" tire diameter is 2" less than OEM. I would call this fit a minimal stretch, it is fine for street use and should work other than being really small and causing some difference in speedometer and odometer readings.
see examples:
http://www.tyrestretch.com/8.0_205_40_R16/

 

Your going to need some serious tuck with that et depending on how low you will ride, I'd go with the 195's as an all around choice for rub free driving at any height you may set it to.

 

Thanks for the replies. I may end up going with a 205/45 tire

 

To see that tire on 16x8" rims see:
http://www.tyrestretch.com/8.0_205_45_R16/

It's not a bad fit.

For example here is a good tire in that size-
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires....=yes&tab=Specs

Bridgestone Potenza RE760 Sport (Ultra High Performance Summer tire)
205/45-16 $94 each, Treadwear 340, 83 load rated, W speed rated, Fits 6.5-7.5" rims, 23.3" tire diameter which is about 1" taller than the other sizes and is 1" smaller than OEM.

Given the 42mm (1.65") sticking out part of the wheel, you might want to check with other owners to see how that might look. It might need lots of negative camber and won't look flush without wider wheel arches.

You can't undo aggressive offset in a wheel.

Another idea is to go in the other direction with tire size-

185/55-16 such as-
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires....romSurvey=true
Kumho Ecsta PA31 High Performance All Season tire
185/55-16 $73 each, 500 treadwear, 83 load rated, V speed rated, fits rims 5-6.5", perfect for 6" rim, 24" tire diameter. This tire will fit and look like this:


When the tire is narrow you need less negative camber to tuck in the top of the tread under the wheel arch. This is more of a stretch but the tire is a good one and the overall fit for the MINI is better and closer to OEM. Ride height is good with the drop coming from the Coilovers, load rating is fine.

If you have a shop that will do the tire install for stretch fit, ask them if they have used that tire in that size on a 8" wide rim and had any problems. There are other tires to choose from in that size.