I've been doing autox for just over a year now and I'm finding it hard to break into the 970's in pax. So since everyone is telling me I'm running the wrong car in STS to be competitive (& I don't like Honda's especialy the 89 civic si) I figured it just made good sense to change the car I love to make it more competitive. That is why I'm going back to stock. So the most important thing besides pushing the stock rules to thier limits is the tires. So what has consistantly worked on the MC in both street tire and r-comp? What wheels do you have them paired with?

 

I am considering this as well..... seems a lot easier on the wallet to go back to stock and just get a good set of rims and tires.

I would like to know a good combo here as well.

 

What year MC? The lightest factory rim for the R50 series MINI is the 15" 7 hole, AKA Holies. The problem with Holies is that the tire selection is limited. 5 stars are heavier than the stock 16" R53 rim. I think it would be better to go aftermarket as you can get lighter in a factory sized rim.

I am not as familiar with the factory rims for the R56. I would love to find a good used R50 "Justa" Cooper for H Stock class.

 

I'm definately looking at aftermarket but I'm running into problems in my search. I cannot seem to find good performance tires in a stock 195/50 16" size they are all 205.

 

I apologize if I am misunderstanding you, but are you looking for 195 width tires because those are the stock sizes at 16 inches? If that is the case, you don't need to worry because tire width can be different than stock, it is just the wheels that have to be the same (diameter, width and offset).

Hopefully I am not missing anything.

Also I personally use the 15inch hollies with kuhmo v710s at 205 width. But our courses are very tight and technical without much chance to build speed. A lot of the bigger events would probably benefit from the 16inch wheels and the taller gearing that comes with.

I used 205 width RE-01rs on my H-stock corolla XRS last year and was pretty happy with them. They are already getting old though and probably not top dog anymore. Supposedly bridgestone already has their successor running in Japan(Hopefully they get DOT approved soon).

Running in Arizona you will probably need r-comps to be competitive (I ran back when we could use PIR). Well I'm not sure how competetive it is up north anyway, but the people who run in Phoenix are crazy.

 

No misunderstanding ,I was misunderstanding the rule. The wheels must stay stock size and that's where my problem lies. I'm leaning towards a 16" x 6.5" wheel as there is more of a tire selection but there are not very many light weight wheels in a 16 x 6.5 size (mostly 7"0). I think I read somewhere that the 16" stock hollies are 12.5lbs ea if that's true and they are not outrageously expensive then I might go with those, otherwise the only affordable choice I have is the Rota Slipstream (like everyone else has).

I plan on wraping them with some 225/50 Potenza RE-01R's and continue competing on street tires since I'm still a noob.

 

They are crazy down there and then they head up north where it's alot cooler in the summer. Got some real pax killers around here with the likes of DM driver Mark Huffman showing up at more than a few events.

 

the "holies" are 15 inch, and yes they are 12.5 #

the Rota's are by far the best bang for the buck, and within 2 pounds of the SSR's that are double the price.

 

So that's why the Rota's are so popular. I've never seen them on a Mini before. I think I'm set on the 16" x 6.5" wheel size and the the tire is a 225/50 16 RE-01. I've done a 205/40 15 and a 215/40 17 with no issues with rubbing so I'll try a 225/50 16 and see if I still have no rubbing.

 

the 225/50/16 Kumho V710s rub in the rear.

 

Would a 5mm spacer take care of that you think?

 

no, on the 42mm offset Rota's they rub on the trailing arm in the front and outside fender liner in the rear.

so moving the wheel out just makes the rubbing worse on the outside.

the folks that ran that tire on an 05 MCS thought it was too tall, on an MC it would be brutal.

 

I would rather go 15" but the street tire selection is very limited and even IF is was ready for Rcomps (which I'm not quite there I need more seat time in street tire to better understand the new stock suspension mods which haven't even happened yet) I travel 360 miles round trip for the AZ region events and I don't want to do that on Rcomps. I have plans on a trailer and by the time I have that all set up I should be ready for the move to the rcomp addiction. I think I will go with a 16" wheel and for street tires run the RT615 (as I do now) in a 215/45 then in a Rcomp run a 710 in a 215/40. Your thoughts?

 

Yes that is a good plan

 

The Boost by Rota is also available in 16x6.5, legal offset, MINI-correct hub bore for the same price as the Slipstream.

You could just get a set of R84 X-Lite/Monza/V-Spokes used, and apply the savings towards your tire budget as I did.