Hi,

I really love my Mini drive, but since I have 4 17' wheels with Bridgestone Potenza and Im not driving in the great London/Germany street and highways, Im literally going to the wheel shop every x months to fix the "blows" suffered by the tires while running through the months.

Since my car is about 100K km, do you have any advice about suspension mod?

I have no problem in losing some hard cornering stability (Im not running on the streets), if it means I will not feel never again that my chassis is crashing up in every bump on my way.

 

Move away from the factory 17” Mini wheels. They are notoriously soft. This is info I got from a friend who is a tech at a dealer (and told me to avoid the 17” package when I got my car).

Go with another brand of wheel.

 

...going to the wheel shop to fix the blows suffered by the tires? Very confusing. Are you having the wheels straightened, the tires replaced/repaired, or what? Which of the 33 different models of Bridgestone Potenzas do you have?

 

Step down to 16" as long as you dont have JCW BBK or anything else. The street I heard were pretty bad down there.

 

Yes, I totally agree with your friend. It is the true

 

I understand, but I have not problems with brakes. It are working very very well with my JCW wheels (it is BBK = Big Brake Kit?).

Yes, the contact between the car and the road is the tire. The rims get deformed by the blows suffered by the tires.
Which POTENZA model can you recommend for JCW 17' wheels on a Mini Cooper non-S?

 

I would recommend Continental Extreme Contact DWS (or the newer, better DWS 06) for ultimate ride in a quality tire. Bridgestone makes a much softer runflat in the Driveguard or RE960AS. Besides type of tire and wheel diameter, the Koni FSD shock will also improve the ride compliance without sacrificing handling.

And of course, make sure your other suspension components have not worn prematurely due to the rough roads.

 

Thank you for your advice! Do you know what's a reasonable lifetime for suspension components (all) under "normal" driving? My car is 60k miles and it feels like the first day (too much hard when car goes over a road "defect").

Today I'm running Bridgestone Potenza RE760 Sport 91W I can only say that they have a great grip and an incredible durability.

Can you believe that I will be changing my tires next weeks because the time on it (years) and NOT for any wear after more than 40k miles? (Yes, 40k miles!).
And I'm sure it can run other 10k miles without problems.

 

Sorry, I can't help with the suspension component wear but others here can. Perhaps start a separate thread on expected suspension wear for an R56?

 

Yep, bigger wheels dont mix well with bad roads and large potholes.

 

Yes, it is not a nice mix