OK, so I have not been paying attention.

What the heck is hubcentric and what do I need to know about it as I get closer to getting new tires/wheels for my 2006 Mini Cooper?

Thanks to all and Happy New Year!

 

Here's a little info from the good folks at Tire Rack: http://www.tirerack.com/wheels/tech/...currentpage=91

 

Follow Funk_Flex advice, TireRack and contact Alex over there, he'll help you out!

 

The Hub is the round spindle that sticks out. The wheel should have the same diameter hole so that when it mounts on the car, it fits snug around the hub which takes all the weight and force of the car. The lug bolts then are only responsible for keeping the wheel from falling off. For the MINI, you need a wheel with a centerbore of 56.1mm. If the wheel has a larger bore, you can get hubcentric rings to fit.

 

Careful - only slightly true. The weight and forces of the car are primarily taken care of by the interface between the wheel and hub - in essence, the "static friction" of a centered, properly-tightened and torqued wheel on the hub. The wheel and hub face essentially deform to match up with each other. That takes most of it. The lugs - and hub - take the rest. The hub isn't as primary as the surface and the lugs.

No question a hubcentric wheel also allows hub support, but it's relatively minor. Consider plastic hubcentric rings - they can't support those kinds of forces and can actually melt in track usage (braking heat). What they're primarily for is centering the wheel so it can be properly tightened and torqued, thereby allowing the tight wheel/hub interface to do its job.

So... what you need to know:
- Do you have 12mm or 14mm lugs? (14mm if your build date is after 5/06, I think). Lug hole bore is important so you can fit the wheel to the car.
- Hub bore on a Mini is 56.1mm. Hubcentric IS important so the wheel is centered... but...
- Tapered lug bolt (or nut) seats will allow wheel centering without hubcentric spacers or hubcentric wheels, but definitely require careful, even tightening and re-torquing after a few miles. Once tightened, they're usually good. I've done this on VWs and had no problem, but did have to re-torque once to eliminate a small vibration.
- Hubcentric spacers are available to "shim down" many (but not all) larger hub bores to fit the Mini. Example: a VW wheel is 57.1mm, and to fit this to a Mini a 0.5mm thickness ring would be required. While possible, that may not be practical.
- If you're autocrossing or racing, get aluminum hubcentric rings (or hubcentric wheels) to avoid meltage. For street applications, nylon is fine.
- BBS wheels use a split-ring as a "backer" to hold the aluminum hubcentric ring into the wheel hub, that way the hubcentric ring won't get lost. If you don't know this, it's almost impossible to remove the previous owner's hubcentric rings to fit yours... ask me how I know...



Hope that helps...

 

Thanks, so where is this information supplied?

Don't see it on the Tirerack site...

 

dont worry, it IS 56.1

 

Tire Rack knows, so if you were to order wheels from them and tell them you have a MINI (and the build date, if it's before or after 5/06) they'll send you wheels that'll fit.

If you get aftermarket wheels, you can get hubcentric rings from a number of vendors, including Tire Rack. I got my BBS rings from them, as my RKs were previously on a Toyota and the hub bore was different. Discount Tire and others also supply hubcentric rings either separate or with a wheel order. eBay has a number of hubcentric ring suppliers.

Some aftermarket wheels are also supplied as "hubcentric", meaning they need no ring, but are manufactured and machined specifically for the Mini.

Hope this helps Now head on over to the Wheels and Tires forum and check the "Show us your WHEELS!" thread to get an idea what you like! https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...ad.php?t=11362