I've ordered new wheels for my 2024 JCW F57. Sadly, these Advan TC-4 +43 in white are a special order only, and will take at least 8 months before they make them in Japan.

So in the meantime, I want to use spacers to get a similar look.

The Stock Mini is set up with a slightly wider track width in the front, which is typical for a FWD car, and probably done for a very good reason.

I see that a lot of folks use spacers in the back that are 3-5mm wider than the front spacers, to make all 4 wheels have the same fitment.
So the obvious question:
Will this adversely affect handling or steering? (Road driving only.)

Any real-world feedback out there?

 

Your steering feel, feedback, and control will be affected from spacers, but you may not notice unless you go with more than 10mm. I run 18mm spacers in the front to clear my brake set-up. I have noticed an increase in torque steer, and an increase in turning effort.

In the rear, I doubt you'll notice at all.

 

Thanks, Nik.

How much of a problem would you say this is? (For spirited street driving, not track.)
And if it's so noticeable, why haven't you changed back to stock?

I'm planning on changing the stock JCW scrub radius by somewhere between 15mm & 19mm, so this is really important to me.

 

For me, not really a problem, but it is noticeable. Whether its a problem for you or not, will be up to you. I have not changed back to stock because I wanted to run the GP2 brake calipers. Running these calipers requires some compromises. The big compromise is wheel clearance. I also wanted to run late model MX5 Miata wheels. And, while these wheels are light weight and look cool, they do not have much for brake clearance. Thus the 18mm spacers in the front. So, my setup is a compromise for the wheels and brakes I wanted to run.

Is there a reason for your wheel / spacer choice?

 

My main concern with wheels is light weight. The Advan TC-4 & the Neuspeed RS are both 16.5 lbs for a 17x7.5", and IMO the Advan is a bit nicer looking. It should also be stronger. It also comes in white, which is the color I want.
The only lighter wheel I could find that fits a Mini Cooper is one particular BBS model, but it's over $1,000 per wheel.

Regarding weight, I might even go back to 205mm tires, instead of the 215's I now have. That would save another 1/2 lb per corner, and would even make the sidewalls stiffer. Less rolling resistance as well, and my "weak stage one" tune doesn't really need more of a contact patch.
-----------

The spacer choice is just to get the tire edge to the fender edge. If the new wheel/tire combo looks good enough, I'll forgo the spacers and keep the scrub radius closer to stock.

 

OEM wheels are 17x7 +54... Those Advan wheels look like they can be had in a 17x7.5 +43 or a +48...

I would get the 17x7.5 +48 and run the tire size of 215/45-17. Your scrub radius will only change by 6mm, which will be totally unnoticeable. Also, the rim and tire will be pushed out by 11 or 12mm. This will give you best of both worlds: wider stance, better fill in the fenders, and no noticeable change in scrub.

https://www.wheel-size.com/calc/?whe...cl=20mm&sr=0mm

The NM wheels run a 17x7.5 +40, which will have a noticeable effect on handling and scrub. These wheels will change the scrub radius by 14mm.

 

Interesting idea, (and I really appreciate your time to think about this ) but the +48 doesn't clear the JCW front brakes. Yokohama says the +43 only clears by 2mm, and even that should use at least 3mm spacers.
You're right about the tires, though: 215's would come out 11-12mm more than what I have now.

I could use the +48 with 8mm + spacers, of course, but then the scrub radius ends up the same. I actually thought about doing this, but my reasoning not to: The +43 and +48 versions are the same weight. Therefore, the +48 would require slightly heavier spacers for the same fitment. While that's a very small difference, why do it? - I THINK this is sound reasoning, but I'n not 100% sure.

Probably the best way to get good fitment with minimal scrub radius change would be to use 8.0" wheels, if they can clear the brakes and also not hit any suspension or frame parts. However, that also adds more weight, and weight is my #1 concern. (Maybe it shouldn't be, but that's my current thinking.)
-------

Anyway, I'm still undecided on the tire width, though I already have nearly-new 215's. Again, the advantage of 205's is that they weigh about 1/2 lb less, and would be stiffer, so better control in hard cornering. (Though I would probably not notice this with any street driving.)
What I'm not sure of is how 205's will look, vs 215's : I do prefer the look of a more straight sidewall, however I don't want the wheel to stick out further than the tire. That's a big problem with the stock JCW 17x7.0" wheel, even with my 215's. It looks silly, and is very easy to curb. (ask me how I know this.) So the 205's on a 7.5" TC-4 rim will probably also be too far in. I guess I'll first put the 215's on the Advans when they eventually get her and see ....

 

Anyway - My main concern is in the title of this thread: Is it a bad idea to make the front track width equal to the back?

Does anyone have real-world experience / opinion on this?

Nik, were you also addressing this, or just talking about using spacers in general?

 

Yeah, I was talking spacers in general.

 

Anyone else have any opinion or data.

The main concern isn't even scrub radius, per se, but understeer.
FWD cars are SUPPOSED to have the front slightly wider than the rear, so ......

 

you have answered your own questions
leave the back narrow….im not sure where I read that 20 years ago but it works
I had the benefit of oem diff and added camber front and rear, so cannot say hand on heart that it was was all about the unequal width, but it never understeered

i ran a mixed Et set of wheels on my Previous R53, again to cover a BBK, floating discs 328mm
not sure white wheels are the best idea ever….from a man who ran them …
too much brake dust ( too many track days ) too little free time to clean them

current cars have equal Et, but by accident rather than design, not a fan of spacers, rather have different wheel ET, but makes rotation impossible..





CIMG1010 Medium

 

I don’t believe track width NEEDS to be narrower in the rear for handling, as long as the suspension geometry has been designed correctly. If you want to run spacers or different offset wheels, go for it. Just be aware that they have the potential to change the handling.

 

Thanks for your thoughts. Much appreciated.

But the thing is, one always has to consider the trade-offs. Of course, technically, the F-R shouldn't be equal, but lots of Mini owners make them equal with different sized spacers, and seem to have no problems on the road. Are they simply not picky, or is this really just an issue when tracking the car? That's kind of what I want to know.
Burger Motorsport even specifically recommends 13mm spacers in front and 15mm in the rear. (As a maximum scrub radius change on a stock suspension.)
I don't think that keeping the small difference is going to bother me, but I'd like to know my "realistic" options.
-----------------------------

## IMPORTANT:
How did you add enough camber adjustment? This is the next part of my journey for my F57 JCW. (Tricky on the F57, due to the extra bracing in the rear.)
Did you go with racing coilovers, or some kind of replacement arms & such?

FWIW, if I use only 3mm spacers with the TC4's, front & rear, I'll be changing the scrub radius 14mm less negative.
I have no idea if this needs hardware changes in order to be dialed-in. I've read in a few articles, that you can go about 15mm on a Mini, without major issues, but I also can't be sure that info is correct.

 

oddly enough it’s difficult to give good advice on the subject as everyone has a different approach and ownership journey and budget, their roads will be different, their car ownership profile will be different, what they want from a car will be different.
All the following are stick shifts which I drive mainly alone and all have spent some time on track, all with some engine and wheel mods.

my R53 supercharged mini was a 2005 factory order which I modified in baby steps from 10k to 30k and I ran it “modified no further” from about 70k after fitting the meth kit onto 144k when sold ( done almost everything possible to the platform) started life as a second car. Did Whiteline rear bar as one of the 1st mods, mostly ran team dynamics 17 with 215/45/17 tyres.
the Coilovers became tiresome for commuting at the end, perhaps because they needed a rebuild, @60k or replacing or I went too cheap just Bc but with upgraded Swift springs.

F56SD purchased early 2015 ex dealer demo about 1k with VDC suspension, I added Jcw brakes and the custom BBS wheels almost straight away
but left the car mostly stock suspension wide for the next 110k.

my R59 JCW roadster was mine with only one previous owner BMW UK in 2017 very low milage less than 3k and was a ex factory management car. I had purchased many bits in the 2 years I was looking for a roadster, including lotus Evora recaro seats, bilstien PSS10 B16 coilovers GP2 style brakes ( bmw 135i ) GP2 diffuser, Os Giken clutch/flywheel and quaife ATB diff. This was alway planned to be my Sundays and fundays car
In essence this was modified to almost current spec in 2 visits to the shop, inc upgrades to front and rear sway bars, all the bushes, new rear control arms, 17” oz ultraleggeras wheels, A052 Yokohama came when I could no longer get AD08R 215/45/17
recently fitted with an upgraded turbo now running 255 whp for better track performance, it was already fast enough for the road.
This car handles like it’s on rails, corners fantastic, stops really well on RS29 pagid pads.

my new (to me 22 plate ) F56 Jcw came with loads of suspension modifications already fitted including the rear control arms, both sway bars
I test drove it on standard suspension with AST springs, oz ultraleggeras, with 18 x 8” 35 profile tyres, and it drove OK ( you tube carbonwurks project mini)

but I added the KW v3 coilovers at collection along with milway camber top mounts, and now run it on 17x 7.5 BBS et43 with 225/45/17 rubber
and can confirm it runs better / smoother than my “real old” stock F56 DDC system did,
So by all means copy the mods list but it’s difficult for me to say which mods help the most to get to this place?


But in short say yes to rear arms and decent coilovers….

 

Al, this doesn't exactly help me understand my options, but holy cow am I ever jealous of your Roadster !

Sounds like a dream car to me.

======================

So I'm still semi clueless about all this.

At this point I know that adding a beefy rear sway bar will help keep understeer to a minimum. Not sure if I need a FRONT bar.

The other thing I've read about is the need for "extra" camber adjustment, both front and (especially) rear. I have no idea if the stock F67 has enough adjustment for a 15mm SR change, but I'm assuming no.
Things recommended specifically for extra camber adjustment are camber plates, front & rear, and adjustable control arms.(As BlueAl mentioned.) - But I don't really understand this stuff yet, plus I haven't yet been able to find these things for sale for the Gen 3 Minis.

Any help or suggestions out there?

 

Oh, BTW - My Advan TC-4 wheels are being delivered next week. - SIX MONTHS ahead of schedule. Whoooweeee !
I also ordered 3mm spacers, ( H&R Race+ , which are somehow hubcentric even at 3mm.)

I'm tempted to order titanium lug bolts, but that's getting a little crazy. Still, unsprung weight ....

 

Interesting that you like the KW version 3 over the stock DDC. I've been agonizing over whether to go with the KW street comfort, over my DDC system. AFAIK, the 2024 DDC is slightly better than the 2022, and it does work pretty well, but still a bit jarring and bumpy in tough situations.

Do you track that car, or did you go for the V3 simply for its adjustability?
--------

Also : No camber plates needed?

Do you know which control arms were installed?
-----------------

Actually, I THINK I'LL START A NEW THREAD ABOUT THIS ISSUE - in the "suspension" section.

Please respond there, if you have time. THX !

 

I run the forge lower rear control arms, but as I say they came pre fitted, so cannot confirm if essential requirement or nice to have,
I added the front adjustable mounts as had always ran bigger rubber so wanted the tuck and camber for handling, the guys that sold the car agree it’s far better with these and had only removed them to reduce the overall price point of a heavily modified car. I had purchased the Kw v3 second hand 4 years earlier at a good price local to me. I had driven it on springs and dampers, at only 11k and the kw I requested to be fitted tall, to maximise available stroke, they are nice on the road and deal well with imperfections. I have not tracked this car yet, but was tracked by the guys, if things go as planned it will some track time this summer, pending more power, currently the roadster is top dog for track time.

there are 2 schools of thought on the front bar, I’m firmly in the yes camp based on 2 platforms, I not aware of many people fitting one and then removing it….although there seem to be some strong options in the against camp by those who haven’t yet driven a car with this modification.
good luck



On AST springs + spacers

on track

You Tube