I've got a 05 justa cooper . I'm looking to get a set of wheels and tires . I'm wanting a wheel size that will fill out my wheel well nice and look good . Right now I have the stock 16's which look way under sized . I'm thinking ether a 17 wheel with a 205/45/17 tire or a 18 wheel with 215/35/18 tire .

I don't know how well a 18 will fit on a gen 1 mini .
Plus my car is pure silver and I can't seem to find any pics of a pure silver r50 with wheels.
Let me know what you guys think and if you have any pics .
Thanks

 

There are, like, a gazillion posts on this subject here on NAM. A search would serve you well.

A few things to remember when you are doing this is that as you increase the wheel diameter, the tire and wheel weight will tend to go up and your car's performance will go down. That is, it will accelerate more slowly and your gas mileage will go down. The other big factor will be ride quality which will diminish a lot with the larger wheels. Although they will fit, almost no one runs an 18" wheel on a MINI because of this and the wheel damage that you will likely get with any kind of pothole or general bad roads.

You can offset the weight factor by buying a really good light weight wheel, but still the weight is off in the rim where it will still slow you down. There are some good and light weight 17" rims (Enkei makes some) that would work well for you. An option for tires would be 215/40-17 or 215/45-17 size if you are looking for some "fat" to show. But, again remember the weight factor with these. Another route to take would be to put some 205/50-16s on the car. All in all, keeping with the 24" overall diameter of the original MINI wheel/tire package.

Hope this helps a little and have fun looking.

 

I was thinking more of the 17s . I'd love to find a set of r90 wheels . I thought about the gp replica wheels but I'm unsure how they will look with on a pure silver mini . I've searched all over the net but I can't find many silver gen 1 mini's with wheels on em . I find all kinds of gen 2 but I know the wheel well of a gen 2 is a lot larger then my gen 1 .

 

A big & heavy wheel & tire package will slow your MINI down. A light weight package is the way to go.

 

I don't think 16s look undersized at all. It has a lot to do with the height of your car and the width and offset you are running. A 16 with a bit more width and lower offset can look really nice on a mildly dropped mini.

If you decide to go bigger, stick to nothing bigger than a 17 and make sure its really light!

 

I'm thinking about these wheels. What do you guys think of the 17 mini S wheels ? Are they light ?

 

Your current wheels are about 20lbs. The 17" s lites weigh about 25. Here's a link all oem wheels and their specs.

http://minicooper.wikia.com/wiki/OEM_Wheels_and_Tires

Why not go with some enkeis? You will not find a stronger and lighter rim for a better price than their race wheels (ex pf01,rpf1 etc). A 17" rpf1 weighs only 15lbs!

 

R90s weigh almost as much as s heavies, might want something lighter
Edit- I have a set of 2 piece r90s that need the lips refurbed. Might let them go for an offer i couldn't refuse.