I have a deposit on a MCS
debating over sport package with regards to tire size.
What are the general opinions on 17in rf vs 16 donuts
Thanks
Mike

 

Looks 17" are awesome
Performance stay with 16"

 

The 17 runflats make for a tough ride quality,but some of the other sport package items are worthwhile.When my runflats wear out I'm replacing them with regular tires.Many serious drivers complain about the extra weight of the 17"wheels,but I like the look.

 

Yea Id definitely get the xenons and fogs in the sport pack but people complain about the 17 ride-
Oh well
Mike

 

>>I have a deposit on a MCS
>>debating over sport package with regards to tire size.
>>What are the general opinions on 17in rf vs 16 donuts
>>Thanks
>>Mike

Best thing to do is test drive yourself.
I have all parts of sports package except for 17" wheels.
I prefer the looks of the 16" V-spokes, like the slightly less stiff ride, and in terst driving I felt (seat of the pants) a noticeable difference with the lighter 16" wheels making the car considerably zippier. My 16" came with Dunlop all-season runflats. I like them, and have not have had any issues with tramlining. There were reports of tramlining, but to my recollection most of those came from Pirelli euforia on 17"s.

Cheers,
Markus

 

Just to chime in on the tramlining thing... (Assuming I correctly understand "tramlining" as when the car follows the road ruts, etc.?)

I have the 16" Goodyear runflats and have experienced it with those as well.

 

>>Just to chime in on the tramlining thing... (Assuming I correctly understand "tramlining" as when the car follows the road ruts, etc.?)
>>
>>I have the 16" Goodyear runflats and have experienced it with those as well.

yeah, from all I've heard the tramlining appears to be a matter of tyres, not wheel size. I really like my Dunlops!

 

My wife says she can't tell the difference
she says "it's not the size of the wheel, it's how you use it that matters"

 

 

yes, the title made me think this was about something else too ...
Wheels? go for the 16's ... and after blasting around the hills this weekend, i can say the performance run-flats (goodyears on mine) do pretty good ...

 

Greetings!
I have an '03 MCS with 17" R85 S-Lite wheels and Dunlap run flats. The first modification to the car will be 16 X 7 lightweight wheels and some 205 or 215/50/16 Yoko E 100 tires from R Speed or Randy @ mini motorsports!
I believe I will get better performance from the 16" combo and not have to spend a fortune on wheels and tires to do it! My .02 cents!
Best Regards,
Ron

 

When I ordered my EB MCS last May I hadn't seen or driven ANY MINI ,so I went for the Sport and Premium packages with the 17 inch tires . Yes ,they look great ,but the ride was BRUTAL. So I put up with it for about 8000 miles and one day said I can't take it anymore and found a set of 16s on ebay . New takeoffs with no miles and I got them for the high bid of $411.00 ! The ride is much improved the handling more linear and ,get this ,gas mileage has gone up almost 5MPG! Also if you look on ebay there are tons of 15s and 17s for sale (I'm talking OEM wheels and tires together) the 16s seem to be keepers.

 

>>The ride is much improved the handling more linear and ,get this ,gas mileage has gone up almost 5MPG!

Wow, that's pretty cool! Can you give some MPG examples with 17" and with the new 16" tires?

Seems to me the cost of a MCS over the MC is more than a mere $3000, since you have to factor in the lower MPG. If 16" tires give a smoother ride AND increased fuel economy, I'm sold.

 

Love my 16" x-lites. The dealer almost had me talked into getting one with the sport package, but I'm glad I resisted, and that was even before I found out the weight issue. I will probably go to a 205/50 non-runflats after I finish roasting the factory 195/55 Dunlop runflats off.