Does the mini require some type of spacer on aftermarket wheels? i took it down to a local tire shop and they said that my new wheels wouldnt fit. i have 17x7 4x100 REV wheels. He said the bolt pattern was fine, but he said something about the center of the wheel wouldnt fit?

 

You need hub centering rings. I think Tire Rack has them for most wheels, or you can try Discount Tire Direct.


Marty

 

The MINI's center hub is 56.1mm diameter.

(worse case):
It could be that your wheel has a smaller hub diameter then that... if so,
you're going to have to get the whole wheelset replaced or get hub
adapters (spacers) and longer lug bolts which could get pretty costly...
and possibly make your tires rub due to agressive offset from the spacers.

If your wheel's hub was larger than 56.1mm, (where you should use
centering rings), I think your tireshop would've cut corners and just put
the wheels on your car because not all wheels need centering rings to
make them spin correctly. But I hope your tire shop is honest and
recommending you to use centering rings for safety reasons.

 

Most likely you need centering rings. Each ring has two measurements, one is the outer diameter which fits the inside center hole in your aftermarket wheel and the other number is the inner ring diameter that should fit the MINI hub which is 56.1mm.

On monday give alex@tirerack.com a call to get more info, they offer plastic and metal centering rings. Sometimes the rings need to be trimmed a bit for a perfect fit. I find that the plastic ones usually fit best and will hold up to the heat of autocross or street driving most of the time. Heavy use of brakes will heat up the wheels can could melt or warp plastic or even metal rings. About $21 per set of four.

 

If I'm not mistaken, some of the Honda rings are also 56.1mm, and will do the trick... I too was told that they are not always necessary, but for high-speed applications, highly recommended...

 

Yes, Integra's and Civic's use 56.1mm. :smile:

 

We only sell hardware for wheels we handle!

alex