Which wheels come in 17x9 4 lug?

 

http://www.kodiakracingwheels.com/index.html

 

What is the max width a mini can take?

Those 17x14 look good =)

 

Here is Another Place http://www.imagewheels.co.uk/

 

The Wilwood 11.75" BBK (Race Kit) saved me 11 lbs (5.5 each side), the majority of that rotational, in the rotor hat. They fit stock 16's, including my Volk CE28N 16x7's, w/o spacers. And, they fit 15's with spacers Also pad changes become MUCH easier/faster.

Price is like 900 bucks... self-install, so not all that bad...

Somone asked or commented earlier about weight-distribution. I'm no authority, but have read a little on the subject, and weight added further outward (think tire) on the radius is more detrimental than the same weight inward (wheel, spacer, nuts, center cap...). So, while a 10.5 lb wheel with 19.5 lb tire weighs 30 lbs, a 12 lb wheel with a 18 lb tire will also, but be more desirable, weight-wise.

The Volks I have are 10.75 lbs. I chose to lessen the rolling diameter to 23.3" (almost a 5% delta from the stock 16 size) and went with 205/45's. Tires in the 18 to 19 pound range are available that put the wheel/tire combo at 30 lbs, or even less. And this does not factoring-in the 5.5 lb loss due to the WW BBK...

With regard to tire weights, I'd recommend going straight to the source to get those figures, or better yet weigh them yourself. I have found some retailers to be off as compared to the manufactuer website, and when not notably off, it's obvious that they sometimes round-up or down to the whole pound...

I know there is a lure for more rubber though, and that's understandable. And with wider tires, comes wider rims (eventually)... and more weight . It's all about striking a balance, and what ulitmately makes the car faster from one point to another...

I recall Greg having favorable experiences with 205s, as I do others, including Peter of M7. I would also tend to think that as the car becomes less massive (weight-reduction program), the need for yet more rubber lessens. I'm not sure about that though...

 

I've been looking for a new set of wheels and tires for my MCS, currently sporting S-lites and Goodyear all-season runflats. I'd pretty much decided on 17" Kosei K-1 wheels, but then I fell in love with the look of DiD's 15" Konig Rewinds.

With comparable tires, what kind of difference is there likely to be with 15x7 wheels vs. 17x7.5 wheels on the track? I did one Phil Wicks school last year, and hope to do several more this year. Frankly, I figure I'll get improvements no matter what I put on in place of my current stock wheels and tires, but I'd hate to noticeably degrade handling and responsiveness by going to smaller wheel, and I'm afraid the taller tires would do just that.

Thoughts? Suggestions? What's the widest tire I could squeeze onto the 15x7 Rewind wheel without having rubbing issues?

 

The only (IMO) valid performance reason to go with larger diameter wheels to allow the fitment of larger brakes. Smaller diameter wheels are lighter. The tires are, too. Careful selection of tire sizes will allow you to get a slightly smaller rolling diameter (which will equate to shorter gearing and better acceleration) and minimize the increase in sidewall height that could erode the performance advantage (handling, braking & acceleration) offered by the lighter tire/wheel combo. This is especially true if the tires/wheels are being used only on track where speedo accuracy is not a concern.

Bottom line: Choose larger diameter wheels for appearance, but lighter wheels for performance. Top this off with a great track brake pad and fluid and you've got the serious bang-for-the-buck combination.

 

Well, that makes it pretty easy. :-)

The price is right; the wheels look to be about $100 per corner, and tires are a little cheaper, as well.

 

Just to drill it in a little further....

I had 17x7 aftermarket rims that weighed 19lbs, then changed to the 15x7 konig rewinds with shorter diameter tires.....the performance gain was VERY noticable. Haven't been able to take them out on the track since they debuted towards the end of track season, but sure enough, once spring comes, they will see their fair share of track time

 

RallyMINI, what size tires are you running on the Rewinds?

 

I'm running 205/50 Kumho SPT's.

The speedo is about 5mph off at 70mph (the difference is less noticable down near 35)....but it keeps me safe on the highway .

According to calculations, it does lower the car another .5 inches which might not work for some people.

Pics are in the sig if anyone is curious.

 

I plan on AXing on occasion and doing a DE or two in the MINI for fun this year so for better or worse, I just bought a set of 17" Motegi Trak Lites for $930 delivered and I'll run Azenis (would like to go to Toyos but their heavily penalized in the AX case) at ~110 or so a whack. This setup fits the cost criteria of the initial post...how good it will be...well I guess I'll find out, but I suspect as my car will remain running on the stock bits, it should be fine.

One point to consider for those more serious than I (at least in the MINI space). There are legitmate reasons to go to larger wheels taking a weight penalty in the proces. On a race car, a tire becomes a significant part of your suspension setup. The flex in the tire acts as a spring whose rate is somewhat out of ones control for setup purposes. Lower profiles provide theoretically, at least, less compliance and therefore allow for more precise suspension adjustment and setup. You won't notice this, if at all, in a stock car, but go to high rate springs, double adjustables, weld in a well designed cage (which knocks a huge amount of flex out of the body) and you almost certainly will feel your tires flexing. I'm not a MINI expert and it might be reasonable to go with a smaller diameter wheel and lower than stock profile tire giving the double benefit of less flex and lower weight, assuming, of course, that the gearing change is acceptable. Obviously, its a good thing to be as light as possible, but its not the only consideration when trying to maximize performance. There is a set of reasons why the fastest cars I've ever been on track with are running 17 or 18" wheels with 275/335s on 'em depsite the weight (and doing 1:55s at the Glen! )

I'm somewhat surprised to read in this thread that the move to 235s from 205s was not dramatic. I know that in my case adding 2x20mm of front rubber wound up moving my braking zones up by 100 feet+ in some instances. Makes me scratch my head.

Slightly OT, but on the BBKs, I'm curious as to the impressions of folks using the Wilwoods. In Porsche circles I've heard some complaints that the some of the superlite models are a bit flexy. They seem to have another line of calipers in the $350/corner range that look interesting to me. Anyone know the model of the calipers (or part numbers) used on the MINI? I'm contemplating upgrading my brakes in the track car and I'm somewhat choking on the cost of GTP-Ls ($3.5K ). So again, I'd be curious on owners opinions as to the solidity of the feel.

 

I hear a lot of folks say the smaller wheels are faster ...BUT

I researched it and on TireRack.com they did a comparison on the same car, smaller and larger wheels, and the car got faster lap times with the larger wheels

I don't have the reference but look it up

 

With smaller wheels, to keep the same rolling diameter, a higher profile tire is then needed. That's more rubber, or weight further out, which is worse than the same weight inward. So, what you say can indeed have merit...

I went with 16's that are 10.75 lbs, but I also decreased my rolling diameter by about 1 inch from the stock 16 fitment of 24.4"; now at 23.3". Certainly no tire weight penalty, and as mentioned above, the is effectively lowers the gearing, almost 5%. My whole wheel tire combo is 30 pounds, actually a bit under. This is for 16x7's, 205/45's...

 

Snid;

Looking for wheels myself. I got about a weekend left on the 16" Falkens. Probably burn them up on an the April EVO school. I have a weekend planned in May for the Glen. I'm looking at a bundle from Edge Racing. The Rotor Slipstream style with Toyo R1a's 205-50-15 (898.00 w/shipping). The Falkens are 720.00 w/shipping. Just put in a 99 Miata to get the cheap "bundle" price. I'll let you guess which one's I'll be taking to SLMP.

 

I saw the exact opposite in Eurotuner. They found th 15's to be the fastest, but that the 17s were far more predictable....so they picked 16s as best.

Who knows

 

I want a set of 205/40-50/17 for autocross/Dragon Tail. I have a set of BFGoodrich KDW2's with about 5k miles, but I wore out the front tires the other weekend at the Dragon tail! The rears are still just like new. I loved the KDW2 the first 2500 miles, but once the tread began to wear in front, the tires lost the nice tight feel when warmed up. Also my outer sidewalls wore down a lot quicker than anyother tire I've used so far, but probably due to my weekend of excessive driving...
I want to try out a race compound tire; is it safe running race compounds in front only? I am thinking about buying the Nitto NT-01's in 205/40/17 from discounttiredirect.com for 150 a piece. Anyone use this tire or have other recomendations? How about the new RT-615's?

 

No.

You'll have much more grip on the front of the car than on the rear. So, once you're cornering hard enough, the rear tires will give up before the fronts, which will cause the car to spin.

Keep all four tires the same.

 

Horrible question on regards to this but would a 225 tire sit on a 17x7 wheel? I would like to just "plop" on track tires if possible

 

If you want to R compounds then get the Toyo RA1, shaved, 205-40-15. It will perform way better then a 225 on a 7" rim.

 

So getting a 15" rim would definetly be a good idea?

 

believe it's 205/40-17 RA1 for 17 X 7 rim. other option with 15 X 7 rims is 225/45-15 RA1.

 

SORRY, I ment 17

 

What size(s) of Falken Azenis are usable / optimal? I don't have wheels yet, so the 15" / 16" / 17" decision hasn't been made yet. I'm slightly confused by the sizes that are supposedly coming in 3Q 2005 and aren't here yet.

I've got an almost good understanding of things... I'm okay with a size that is shorter than stock. The speedo being off isn't a problem on the track, and running slightly higher revs for a given speed might be a good thing. But what size is "good" and what size are people using because there's nothing better. 205/50R15 and 205/40R16 both sound pretty short to me. Are the "coming soon" sizes going to show up?

Basically, I'm trying to decide between 15" or 16" - with an outside chance for 17".

 

Anybody got a good wheel in that size?

Mike
webmaster@bmwccaclubracing.com