Because I enjoy driving my MINI so much I go through a lot of tires. Three sets in the past 14 months. I normally stay within the OEM wheel diameter and width. Yesterday I decided to drop down a bit from OEM to a 195/50R16|x-lites from my current 205/45R17|s-lites.

I am hoping the smaller OD will give a little more pep and staying 16's cushion with the M7 springs, koni yellows, and H-sport camber plates. I was running IR camber plates prior to the H-sports. Any forgiveness left in ride quality on my spine went out the window as soon as the H-sports were installed. The oem 17's still seem a bit harsh on ruff roads with my suspension setup. I have also used 205/55R16's and they have a good amount of cushion but take away from acceleration. So all that being said I normally stay around a 24.5 OD tire and within the recommended factory width.

195/55R16, 205/55R16, 205/45R17 and now a 195/50R16.

I wanted to see if folks wanted to share what sizes they have tried and what sizes they have decided to stay with and why. Oh and the spine comment... lol... that was more of a joke. I love the way my MINI feels. I just don't like the way it feels mentally when I hit a pothole or an unexpected bump in the road.
This coming summer I am thinking about going to this rim in either a 17 or 18.

 

18 will crush your back and your strut towers, i would stick with the 17 or 16

im a fan of my 215/45/17's i can definently feel a difference between my 205/45/17 and the 215/45/17

although the snow tires prolly help =)

 

Which snow tires are you running? I notice a difference with the Blizzak and the Nokian tires due to the softer rubber compounds they use.

 

i have dunlops winter graspics in front and nokians in the rear

 

Ive been driving around all day with the new 195/50R16's and I really like the way the power band is now. I can notice more torque and of course it does accelerate faster. Only downfall is I did hit a few dips and bumps in the road and it wasn't fun.

 

I'm a huge believer in using the smallest rim that will fit around the brakes. This gives an advantage in both comfort and grip due to the reduced unsprung weight.
Ever since I wore out the OEM tires I've been running non-runflat 205/50R16. I was buying Avon summer tires from tirerack for awhile (can't remember the model) that were SUUUPPPPER sticky and really cheap but have since been discontinued. Now using Conti DWS which have been pretty good.

 

I went on a trip yesterday and have decided that I do not like driving with the 195/50R16's as the rpm is to high at cruising speeds. So for city and short highway trips under an hour I will use these but on my longer trips that are seven to ten hours I take I will go with either a factory OD or larger. Like 24.4 to 25" OD. Those are just a lot more comfortable with highway noise and bumps/dips/pot holes on the highway.

 

i would think a 195/55/16 would help or even a 205/55/16 if its a 7in wide wheel

 

OEM 195/55R16 24.4" x 7.7" , 4.2" side wall height
195/50R16 23.7" x 7.7" , 3.9"
205/55R16 24.9" x 8.1" , 4.5"

The 205/55r16 rides really nice and cushions bumps. But I notice it does take away from the engines power band including when you slam the pedal to the floor. This is a good size on long drives over a few hours with an increase in comfort and fuel economy. But unless Im going over 80 I do not get to use 6th gear much due to the hills. The 195/50r16 rides like a slot car and Im in 6th gear at 65-70mph with enough power to keep it there and accelerate where as I can't do that with the 205's. Ok let me correct that, I can accelerate in 6th gear with the 205's at 65-70mph but it puts to much of a load on the engine doing that and it is not safe for the engine. Just not a smart way to do things if you get my drift.
Plus in the winter my car sits so low to the ground that snow collects in the wheel wells and I lose tractions if I run 205/55's. A 205/50r16 would not be to bad of a choice I think to keep the added torque but a 215/50r16 is closer to stock.

205/50r16 24.1" x 8.1" - 4.1"
215/50r16 24.5" x 8.5" - 4.3"

 

I currently have x lites on 195-55-16s but recently purchased a set of 16'' enkei pf01s. I was toying with the idea of moving up to 17s but decided against it. Bigger rims are more money, ride worse, heavier, and require more expensive tires. Plus I my current tires only have 5k on them so it would be a bit of a waste not to use them. I have similar suspension setup to you (koni yellows w/ h&r sports) and I think 16s (with the proper tire diameter) are the perfect setup for for daily driving.

 

I will throw you a curve. I originally had 15 on my non S Clubman. I purchased some 17 inch Mini lites and could not believe how they decreased the performance of the car. Mine has an auto and with the 17 inch Mini lites the car was downshifting up hills that it never had done before.

I then purchased some 16 inch Rota used that came with 205/50 I think but they rode rough, probably due to no tread and they did not fill the wheel well. Since I am an old guy and it is not an S then max performance is not what I wanted.

I wanted a tire to ride smooth and yet look good on the car. If you check some of the Mini wheel advertisement you see they have a 195/60/16 tire on one of their 16 inch wheels. Thats what I went too and I have a better ride, the tire fits the wheel space and looks good.

 

Thats good information to know. Glad you contributed to the thread. I thought about going to a 15" rim in the winter because winter tires are so plentiful used. I can normally get a set of almost new winter tires in a 15" for 150-200 that would be prefect for the Mini.