For starters, I think I should inform you that I plan to spec my soon to be ordered MINI Cooper with the standard 15 inch wheels and to tell you the truth I am not keen on spending another 750 Euros purely for aesthetical reasons. What troubles me though is whether the basic wheels mean that I ll have to sacrifice way too much in terms of grip and pure motoring pleasure. If that is the case I think I can cope will a little less optional equipment as long as the 16 inch wheels perform much better than the standard ones. So is it worth it? Does the 15'' wheels Cooper handle well?

 

Well, I have 16" wheels so cannot actually comment. I suspect that on 15" wheels the car will be very light on its feet and great fun to drive. It may not have as much grip as the wider wheels but will perform better in snow and the ride will be even more comfortable.

I say go for 15s. You can always pick up some bigger wheels later on at a good price.

Worth while speccing the spare wheel, if that is an option in your country.

 

For normal everyday driving, with added road comfort I would go for the standard 15" wheels with all weather tires. Thats what I am getting myself for now. !!

 

Maybe I'm getting old, but it doesn't seem like that long ago when a 15" wheel wasn't "small". 1/2 ton trucks came with 15" wheels, as did the biggest cars Detroit could produce.

From that perspective, I think 15" wheels will be more than adequate for your Mini. If you're pushing them to the limit, you should probably be on a track instead of a public road.

 

Whatever you lose in traction (which I really doubt is much), you'll gain in quicker acceleration, braking, fuel economy, and overall nimbleness.

The only problem with 15" wheels on the new car is that they'll look more like Classic Mini 10" wheels.

 

If you do not like the narrow OEM 15" tires, why not change them to a 205-55-15, or similar? Then, you wouldn't have to purchase new and larger wheels. The OEM 15" wheels and tires are H-rated and are great in most snow areas and doe ok for everyday driving, too, though. Just my 2c.

I run my runflat 16"s in nice weather, but when it snows, have a set of OEM regular 15"s. I love the ride of the 15"s, as compared to the runflats, and I hate it when Spring comes and I have to change out to the runflats again.

 

Thanks for the feedback so far, I suppose that the spare wheel is standard equipment, I cant possibly imagine anything other than that with non run flat tyres!

Anyway, I live in Athens,Greece where it in never snows but the roads are very slippery, thats why I am a tad concerned about grip. I test drove the Mini Cooper S the other day and even with the 17 inch wheels it had a tendency to spin even when I was doing 30mph and I sank my foot down on the gas pedal. That was a bit unnerving...

 

I think the spare wheel in the Cooper is a space saver and not a full-sized wheel/tire.

As I said above, if you feel the 175-65-15 is too narrow, you CAN get a wider tire to fill your needs. A lot of guys here in the States use wider 15"s for track and autocross, so I do not think you will sacrifice any performance, nor will your car look "strange".

 

I'm pretty sure I'm going with 15s on my next Cooper...they're typically lighter, but frankly I'm not sure about the weight of any of the current batch of OEM wheels. I believe I read somewhere that the car is now optimized for 16s, whatever that means.

 

I went with 15s. According to MA that will maximize the ride comfort. And Chrisneal is correct as well. I don't plan on the track in my MC.

 

Even with 15s it will handle better than most other cars.