Do they really hurt performance that much? Ive never owned a car with such a small engine, and Id hate for something like my wheels to affect performance.

 

Larger, heavier wheels will affect performance no matter what you drive. The stock 17s are somewhere around 26lbs. You can buy aftermarket 17s that weigh 15lbs or less all day for not alot of money.

I went with the 17s because I wanted the other two options in the sport package, which makes them basicly free. I plan on replacing them at some point. If you don't want the rest of the sport package, I wouldn't pay full price for them.

 

I went with SSR competition in 17x7.5 4-100 and 215/40ZR 83W Yokohama AVS ES100 and I like them.

The wheels are 12.8 lbs. each which is not bad at all. I went from the 16s to the 17s and didn't notice any difference in performance but that just me.

Earl

 

It all depends on what you want out of your car. The additional weight of the 17's is not that noticeable. However, if you get the 16's, you can get a set of 17s or 18s at a later date with non-runflat tires. I did this and installed 18s on my car and there was no degradation in ride quality.

What people are talking about is the unsprung weight at each corner. If I remember correctly, a 1 lb reduction in weight at the wheels is equal to 10 poends off the car. If you save 5 lbs per wheel for a total of 20 lbs, the difference would be equal to 200 lbs or one passenger.

 

You'll immediately notice the longer stopping distance or more effort needed
to stop the car on heavier wheels.

 

go with 17's.....look tons better.....doesnt hurt performance enough to notice.

and helps the resale value!

 

I got the 17''s with the performance package and I think they work pretty well and look just fine. I wanted the package anyway for all the other good stuff. The ride is a bit stiff but not any worse than my Corvette. And the tires stick real well in hard cornering. If you get tired of they way they look and/or feel after a time you can always set them in the garage and go with an aftermarket wheel/tire combination. No offensive meant toward others posting on this subject but I'm not sure the average driver can notice the performance difference that will come from the reduction in unsprung weight unless they are driving their MINIs in some form competition, such as autocross. And you'll spend $900-$1000 or better replacing them with aftermarket stuff. You could spend the same $$ on some other comfort/performance upgrades and probably feel the difference....................mgg

 

1 pound does not equal 10 off the car, it equals more than a pound and is important for gaining speed but it's not quite that dramatic. I tried to do a search function but came up shy. Sport Compact Car did a full test on upsprung weight and I think it came out to be 1 lb equals 1 1/4 lbs. Getting 17's at or below 16 lbs will probably cost you.

just had to make those corrections.

Now 17's are a little heavier yes, but if you aren't going to race it in autocross or track days, or drag race it really doesn't matter. I autocross with the stock 17 S lites. They are not ideal, but the car still handles great. I have heard serious MINI racers that used 17 inch rims and performed great. Still I believe the 16's to be the best setup in my opinion.

 

From a looks, re sale value and, yes performance.........the 17's are the way to go. If you get the run flats, they might be dogs but what else will get you home with two flat tires, other than a tow truck???? :smile:

 

Are there any benefits to the heavy stock 17's? Smoother ride maybe? Just wondering because all the wheel tire combos seem to weigh a ton. I assume BMW did this on purpose??

Does the 215/40-17 rub any on a Cooper S with stock sport suspension (SS+??)

 

Bigger rims make stopping distance longer, ride worse, bad weather handling worse, and are more prone to pothole damage. Big minuses for slightly better cornering; stick with the smaller ones. I got everything in the sports package ala carte except the bigger rims and the rear spoiler.

 

I'm sure everyone has seen this:

http://www.miata.net/garage/tirecalc.html

According to this the 215/40-17 is 2.8% smaller than stock. It looks like the 205/45-17 would fit better. It would be only 0.7% smaller. Should we worry about 2.8%, will it affect DSC?

I can see the advantage to the 215/40-17 though lot's more tire choices available.

Bottom line if you want the large width 215 then 17 appears to be your only choice.
Get the 17's!!!

 

I wanted the stock 16", I'd prefer to have a passenger than heavy wheels.
so I ordered all of my options ala carte. What makes my car very special is what I don't have on it. I left off any option that would add weight.

You do not have to order a package to get the options that are in them, you may pick the options from each package that you'd like and leave off the ones that you don't like. MINI is about total personalization!

Never feel pressured to get the 1,2, or 3 just because you want some of the options. Selling 1,2,3 is a great way for MINI to sell these items to you quickly and easily. I doesn't matter to them if you want them or will use them, they want an easy order to fill.

When I placed my order my salesman said the weight of the wheels really don't matter and was pushing me to get the packages with the heavy wheels. I got the impression he either didn't know anything at all, or he got extra sales commission if he sold packages.

 

okay i found it. 1lb is equal to 1.5lbs. everything is multiplied by 4.
upsprung weight as it equates to losing weight on the rest of the car.

 

>>Larger, heavier wheels will affect performance no matter what you drive. The stock 17s are somewhere around 26lbs. You can buy aftermarket 17s that weigh 15lbs or less all day for not alot of money.
>>
>>I went with the 17s because I wanted the other two options in the sport package, which makes them basicly free. I plan on replacing them at some point. If you don't want the rest of the sport package, I wouldn't pay full price for them.

I haven't even driven my MINI yet, but my reasoning was similar to early_apex....I wanted everything else in the sport package so why not.....but if you're seriously concerned with weight it may be worth unbundling...

 

I've driven the MINI with 16s, 17s, 18s, run flats, and non-run flats.

The most noticeable difference is dumping the run flats - bar none! This difference is most noticed in the ride quality because of less unsprung weight over bumps. Now, if I was able to truly notice that, surely the removed weight would also affect performance? I can't prove this right now, but regardless, the smoother ride means more to me although I still want big wheels.

Final decision: 17x7.5 with non-runflat rubber.

 

>>go with 17's.....look tons better.....doesnt hurt performance enough to notice.
>>

Blah.. I disagree. 17" wheels look terrible, IMO. And the S-Lites are the ugliest wheel ever put on a MINI. Any other factory wheel looks nicer. I would avoid the Sport package because of the S-Lites, if it were my car. The best mod Jerseygirl has done was putting the 16" Panasports on her MCS.

The only benefit to 17's would be they allow you to run the big brake kit, and even that will only be a benefit on the track where brake-fade may be an issue. And you would need to run lightweight (expensive, and delicate) 17" wheels to gain the full benefit.

...and the 18" wheels make me laugh...