Happy Holidays fellow Clubman Owners!

My 09 Clubman is on order. [yes. I am one of the many poor soles "waiting"....]

Anyway, I am aware that my [future] 09 Mini Cooper Clubman comes standard with the 15" Alloy rims / tires [5 start spooler design].

If [in the later future] I would like to upgrade to 16" or 17" rims / tires, does this require any modifications other than the rims / tires?

Any suggestion on where best to buy would also be great.

Thanks in advance.

 

This will be my first post!

If you read the endless number of Mini Cooper (non-Clubman) threads about wheel size, I think you'll conclude as follows: On a Mini Cooper (non-Clubman), 16" is the ideal wheel size because it achieves the best balance of looks, performance, and comfort.

I've never driven a non-Clubman but I think non-Clubman's LOOK best with 16's - 17's sort of overwhelm the rear end. As for performance and comfort, given that my winter 16's with 50-profile tires offer decent comfort and excellent performance on my Clubman, I'm pretty sure 16's with 55-profile tires would give good comfort/performance on a non-Clubman. So the question is - how does going to a Clubman change all that?

I think 17's are a better choice on a Clubman than a non-Clubman. First, the Clubman has a larger rear-end - the 17's definitely fill that out nicer. Second, the Clubman has a longer wheelbase and so it rides (apparently...) a little smoother than a non-Clubman. Finally, the Clubman's a little bigger, so it couldn't hurt to have slightly wider tires.

I got my Clubman (non-S) with 17" Pace Spokes and 205/45/17s. The ride is a little harsh but OK. For winter, I run 16" r84's with 195/50/16s (I know these are a little small, but I was in a jam for time and this was the best I could get - I'm going to try and burn through them so I can get a bigger overall diameter tire within a couple years). With these smaller-diameter wheels the Clubman definitely has more pick-up and brakes better. But it's not all rosy though: I tend to try and drive smoothly, and I find that the car actually reacts somewhat abruptly to me releasing the gas. With my 17's, it was, well, smoother in this respect.

OK, I kind of got off-topic there. But I do think the Clubman looks better with 17's than 16's. You can form your own view on this by going to the Mini website, and "building your mini" both with 17's and with 16's, then clicking on the "zoom" feature and looking at the side profile. And the ride with 17" run-flats is a little harsh but I'm pretty sure non run-flats will fix that. I'm eventually going to swap out my run-flats to 215/45/17" non run-flats to get a little extra cushioning as well.

You'll be pretty happy either way - it's a great little car.

 

I have factory optioned 5-spoke 17s on my MCCS. The configurator did a decent job of showing them. Here is a picture from my gallery:


As noted above by coolvinny, the larger size of the Clubman supports the use of 17s. I might have chosen the anthracite or black spider spokes because the silver front wheels get very dirty very fast, but couldn't justify the cost of them.

Play with the configurator and see what you like the best. Tirerack.com has a decent configurator for after market wheels, but only displays a Gen1 Cooper for reference.

Good luck on your decision. Mellow yellow is a great color.
Motor on !!!

 

Dear coolvinny and djmcgill,

Thank you both for the helpful info; this is what I was looking for. By the way, your 5-Spoke 17's look awesome on the Sparkling Silver! I like silver [or chrome] rims better than black; your choice works well with the silver body color.

Lastly, ...a shout out to a fellow Jersey Boy. I grew up in northern NJ, both my dad and sister went to Rutgers [my dad is still in Brick!]. I miss many aspects of living in NJ, but not the weather this time of year.

Regards!

 

MCCSAB, how long is the wait time for your order?

 

miniguy5,

My Clubman is due at the end of February. What a test of patience!

 

congrats on your order

 

I placed my order on July 05 and was told delivery would be in December. I received it on October 03. Let's hope you can be lucky and get an earlier delivery.
However, 2 months is not a long wait for "custom".

 

Thanks.

Not sure if I will be lucky with an early delivery because the Oxford Plant is closed an extra week during the Holiday's this year.......we'll see!

Regards.

 

I have the 16" bridge spokes on my clubman. I like them well enough. During our recent - and rare - snowfall here in PDX I tried out Autosocks. I really like them but they were surprisingly difficult to put on *only* because I had to work to fit my hands between the fender skirt and the tires. Much scraping and wriggling and in order to get my hands angled in, I had to basically get down on the wet ground, rather than just squatting and slapping them on as I would have been able to do with 15". Not sure how on earth I'd get them on a 17" wheel!

 

Dear Barley,

I am thankful that those days are over for me as I'm pretty sure I won't have the need to add anything for "snowy conditions" living in sunny South Florida. I don't miss shoveling out my car [no matter the size or type] from a pile of snow. My biggest challenge nowadays is changing out a blown flip-flop.....

 

Heh - the larger wheels all come with run-flat flip-flops. The TPS system will even tell you which one is blown.

 

This is probably a dumb question, but isn't the overall rim+tire diameter the same whether you have 15", 16", or 17" rims? Why would a smaller rim make putting on the autosocks easier? Is it because the larger diameter rims are also wider?

 

Miniclubman, you could be and probably are right!