Minihune,

thanks, I'll definitely be taking pictures (and posting them later).

In regards to your questions earlier,
I don't need spacers with the 15x10" wheels but I need 8mm spacers with the 18x7.5s (the 245s with the 42mm offset rub the spring perch).
No more torque steer than usual.
The cool thing is no wheel spin during starts and under acceleration! The tires just hook up. Braking is incredible - way better than with the smaller autocross tires.

The tires actually are wider than the 10" wheels. The one picture is misleading. If you look at the last picture, the passenger side tire is under load and you can see lots of rim sticking out past the tire, but if you look at the top edge of the driver's side tire, all you see is rubber

I can stack the tires without worrying about the rims touching since the rubber sticks out so much. Four of the 275's make for a tall stack

FYI, the car took first and second in the Packwood National Tour in DSP and DSPL, and first/second in DSP at the ProSolo.

 

Wow, I finally found it...well congrats on the placing.

 

Is it illegal to use tires this wide with street tires on roads for daily use? lol.

 

Woops, Sorry. i didn't realize this thread was almost 2 years old.

 

These tires are for track and autocross and can be used for driving school events on a closed course.

When new there is minimal tread and you could run them on the street but with tire life being very short you would not want to do that plus if it were raining you would not have traction.

So it is legal to run them on the street when you have enough tread.

These are not for daily street use- it would wear out in a hurry. One week maybe?

 

They don't sell street tires this wide? 275/35/15? or what's the closest street tire i could use to stretch it?

 

NO, because there is no demand for 10" wide street wheels for the MINI.

You can stretch many tire sizes onto wide rims but work with a shop that is willing and experienced with doing that. Most shops will not do it partly because it may be difficult and partly due to the risk of being responsible should you have any problems.

Start your own thread on this subject if interested.

The look-

205/45-15 on a 15x10 rim
This tire is only 22.2" in tire diameter which is very short and would need to be used on a MINI that was dropped a lot. Tire load rating is very low at 81 and not good if you put people in the car for street use. The rim is supposed to fit rims up to 7.5" so mounted on a 10" wide rim is pretty far out.

 

One last question, the owner said he used a 6" backspace on the 15x10. So that equals et12. Is that the lowest offset for the mini to use and will my brake calipers clear? Thanks for the responses. I'm just eager to get my car looking aggressive like his blue one lol.

 

You can check with the owner of the blue MINI but depending on which wheel calculator you use a 6" backspace with the 15x10 wheel will be about +14mm offset or et.

If you have stock base Cooper brakes then it will be fine.

Lowest offset will vary with your suspension height and width of the tire on the wheel. If you lower you get less clearance so the top of the tire will need to be tucked in and offset will have a limit but if you have more clearance then you can stick the tire out farther and use less offset. I would think about +12 to 14mm et would be a good place to start.

 

I can't find any xxx/35/15 sized tires. Since I'm stock height, do you think that I'll be able to fit a xxx/45/15 on the 15x10? Just a little taller than the blue car.

 

Yes, because there is limited demand for a tire to fit 15" rims that are 10" wide and be low profile for street use.

The 275mm wide tire on 15x10" rim is for track and racing not street use.

If you are still interested in stretching a narrow tire on the wide 15x10" wheel then a couple of options are-

Toyo T1R in 205/45-15 if you want 45 series but it is only 22.2" tire diameter which is over 2 full inches shorter so wheel gap is 2 inches more than stock which is huge.

Some street tires a little wider would be-

Toyo R1R Extreme Summer tire
225/45-15 has tire diameter of 22.9"

Toyo Proxes 4 Ultra High Performance All Season tire
225/50-15 has tire diameter of 23.9" which is good, close to stock.

There are also other possibilities but not with street tires-

If you drive low mileage on the street then it is also possible to try using race tires.

Toyo Ra1 track tire
http://toyotires.com/tire/pattern/proxes-ra1
225/45-15 has tire diameter of 22.9", fits rims up to 8.5" wide
225/50-15 has tire diameter of 23.9", fits rims up to 8" wide, this is not low profile but the tire diameter is good and close to stock so wheel gap is much better.

Toyo R888 track tire R compound (not for a lot of street driving)
225/50-15 has tire diameter 23.7"
235/50-15 has tire diameter of 24.2" which is stock height- no added wheel gap with stock suspension and can be stretched on 15x10 rim.
This tire might last about 12,000- 14,000 miles on the street. Maybe less

These slightly wider tires will not be as stretched as tires 205mm wide.

 

the 225/45/15's seem perfect. I wouldn't want to buy a too big tire and not fit even with trimming. Thanks again for all your research lol. I'll let you all know when I get 'em on my car. Taking it to a professional shop so it should go good. Thanks!

 

OK, if interested in
225/45-15

Then some options on tires-
Hankook Ventus RS-3 Extreme Summer tire

$115 each 140 treadwear

And
Nitto NT-01 Track R compound tire
About $152 each 100 treadwear

 

I'll be getting the Hankooks with the Pro series rims. Just wondering, do they make "flares" or wider fenders that would fit Mini Coopers? Or just get the Wide Body kit lol.

 

Usually a wide body kit will have some fender flaring. Check around
https://www.plminishop.com/product-NMX2002.html


Here is a german source for wide wheel arch fenders-
http://www.ms-design.com/produkte/si...-cooper-s.html


You can search and find a US source or check with various vendors.

Lots of flares for the classic mini but less so for the new MINI 2
http://www.mini2.com/forum/minimania...-arch-kit.html

 

Hi,
I thought I'd share a couple photos of the finished car... I just put on the custom-made flares to cover the wide tires. Added the wing too.

 

anyone have arches that will fit a GP?

I need some traction.........

 

Sweeet! I likey alot....

 

I had my first event on the 275's this weekend. Seeing as my car is an under prepared daily driver, my goal was to fit the 275's up front only, without any cutting. They are mounted on the 15x9 6UL's from 949racing, and I am using 3/4" spacers. The first picture below shows the wheel/tire clearance when the suspension is fully compressed onto the bump stop (strut installed without spring for test fit)- it clears everywhere including at full steering lock each direction. I'm happy to report that everything worked just fine on the high grip concrete at the Toledo Express airport.

 

Looking nice! I don't think i posted my pic here yet, so here! I don't think it would be considered "track use" but i'd like to try it out on a course :-)



It's not too stretched so it's not too bad.

 

looks interesting Cudda. Anymore shots? maybe a 3/4 view?

 

What was your Gap from the inner edge of the tire to the strut? I'm wondering if I could get away with 6/10 inch spacers (ie 15mm).

 

Also what wheel studs are you using?

 

Tire to strut clearance is just about 1/8" when using the 3/4" spacers. When I removed the tires after the event, I saw evidence that the sidewall just barely kissed the strut at maximum deflection. A small black rub mark on the yellow paint, no visible damage to the tire and no rubber chunks melted to the strut like I've seen on some stock class cars. I think you'd be asking for trouble using a smaller spacer, but every setup is different. I originally fitted a 5/8" spacer to try, it was essentially a line to line fit from sidewall to strut at rest, thats why I opted for the 3/4" spacer.

I'm running the BBS 75mm studs from Turner.
http://www.turnermotorsport.com/html...DUCT_ID=921051

Jason

 

lol, my buddy jim use to clearance his tires by putting them on and driving around the parking lot for 20 mins with the tires rubbing like hell on the struts to clear in his old B-Stock MR2. First couple runs you'd still get puffs of smoke as the tire would deform in the corner and rub the strut.