My wife and I ordered a MINI on Saturday, should be here early in July. It won't be my autocross ride until my editorial stuff with the STX Sentra is done. It should be fun for 2006 though!

We ordered a red/red car with SS+, seats and multifunction wheels. Now I just need to find some of those elusive 16" wheels!

Per

 

Welcome. Here we go again with a wheels thread (they are very popular on NAM). Which elusive 16" wheels?

 

Anything light....

 

How many of you in H-stock think that

16x6.5" stock wheels (X-lytes) are a better choice than
15x5.5" stock wheels (holeys)?

Given the tires available?
What tire sizes make you salivate at the thought of auto-Xing!?

For street legal tires we had the Falken Azenis sports (been replaced!)
in 205/50-15 and in 215/45-16.

 

Per,
Congrats on the purchase. Can you tell us why you chose the base Cooper over the Cooper "S", or is that for the next issue?

Stuart

 

I've thought about doing the same.
Perhaps an MC with CVT so my wife and kids can drive it as a commuting car.

Biggest factors-
It's cheaper than the MCS.
It's got "enough" power.
It's lighter in weight than the MCS
It's got a great PAX handicap running in H-stock compared to any other MINI.
You can put competition tires on stock rims and it works.
It's probably the least expensive option for autocrossing in a MINI.
It has good resale value.
You can't go totally nuts modding the engine like with the MCS.

 

I've been thinking a lot about this. I have a set of 16x6.5 SSR's with 215/40/16 V710s, which I like a lot. But when I stack the 16" wheels up next to a set of 15x5 holeys that I have with 205/50/15 victoracers on them, the victoracer stack is only like 0.5" shorter than the V710 stack.

That's not very scientific, but it seems like the 215 V710 isn't all that wide - or at least not nearly as wide as I was expecting. I wonder if I'd have just as much rubber on the course (and more money in my pocket) if I had 205/50/15 V710s...

At any rate, I doubt I'll stop running the SSR's. They look fabulous on the car, and I'm just enough of a rice boy to care Maybe if the tire budget is big enough next year, I'll run 15" V710s at the local events and save the big $$$ 16" setup for whatever big events I get to run.

Edit - Per, our cars are clones, BTW. Except mine is a blue '04. Options are identical other than that! I think you'll have the gertrag gearbox, though, I think mine has the midlands.

 

16x6.5 SSRs with 215/40-16 V710s would be quite good. Light weight, good rubber, small tire diameter, stiff sidewall, and wide enough. Too bad they are not as affordable.

The 15x5.5 holeys and 205/50-15 are not a bad option. You do give up a little width but you do gain in light weight of the rims and tires at a good price.

Since you are H-stock and are not running much negative camber in the front which are your drive wheels, you can get only so much out of wider tires. It makes quite a difference to drive a MINI with -2 degrees of front camber.

 

I was looking at the 215/40/16 Kumho as the tire...but you do bring up a decent point, the 205/50/15 would be pretty decent as well. Hmmm. Anyway, the "Find those elusive 16" wheels" comment was somewhat rhetorical, I know where to look.

I chose the HS car because that's a class that I like running in..and the Cooper is plenty competitive and fun to drive. I also like momentum courses. My wife is just learning how to autocross, so the HS MINI will teach her speed maintenance pretty darn well.

Anyway, has anyone done a real back to back between the 15" and 16" wheel combos? I remember that Tim and Mike King did some comparisons back in 2002, but that was then. With how stiff sidewalls have become, I'm not sure that the wider wheel is that necessary. Think "cantilevered slicks"

Per

 

The inch difference in wheel width makes the biggest difference. You get more contact patch. I did a quicky comparison between the 205/45/16 A3SO4 and the 205/50/15 V710 and the Hoosier was .75 inches wider and slightly faster (.2 on a 40 second course) I would think the 215/40/16 V710 would be faster than that.

 

That's what I figured, that's why I've got some 215/40/16 V710s on the way.

Per

 

There is no way my 215/40/16's V710's are any more than 0.25" wider than the 205/50/15's Victoracers on my other wheels. I think the 205 Hoosier is probably wider than the 215 Kumho, at least once it's mounted on the wheel.

However, the actual contact patch difference may be sorta hard to determine. Just laying the wheel/tire on it's side and comparing the height is not necessarily a true reflection of the amount of rubber on the road. That's all I've done, though, so take my observations for what they're worth (not very much). Did you have a nicer way to measure how wide the tread was? Maybe if I put a ruler on the flat part of the tire or something, I'd see that the 15" was more "bowed" from being squeezed by the narrow wheel?

I'd be really curious to see an apples-to-apples comparison of a 15" V710 and a 16" V710. I'd just as soon spend less money on the 15" tire if I wasn't giving up too much.

 

You always get what you pay for, but here is an affordable wheel & tire combination that seems to work well on the MINI & MCS:

Instead of 16" Hoosiers (@ $200+ per copy), run the new Falken Azenis RT-615 (@ $92) from home to the event ('can't do that with Hoosiers)!

They don't have the dry-sticking power of Hoosiers, but they won't "cord" on you in the first 10 miles, either. In rain, you can do no better than these new Azenis. Again, the Hoosiers can't be run in the rain.

www.discounttiredirect.com has these IN-STOCK in their Ohio warehouse. Otherwise, they're hard to find, and some demand as much as $132 for the same tire.

Also, as an alternative to the SSR Type-C [Competition] wheel (@ $300 per copy), consider the "Nicco" 050S, a "HSR" Type-C knock-off, imported by AKTiresUSA.com in Florida. At $117 per copy, I've been running these for 2 years with great results (webshot below).

All told, you can shod your MINI or MCS with lightweight wheels and tires for well under $1,000. That's a bargain for the money - - especially compared to [4] Hoosiers on SSR wheels for well over $2,000.

Install some "Greenstuff" pads up front (rear, too, if you have the $$$s), and you're ready to rock-n-roll in G/ or H/Stock!

 

I'd love to get my hands on some of those "SSP" stickers to put on my SSR wheels But I have a warped sense of humor like that.

 

I find the SSP stickers funny as well...sick minds....

Per
http://www.grassrootsmotorsports.com

 

Woohoo, it's in production!

I asked my wife if I could bring it to Nats..her response was, "not if I can't go..take your own car" :-) Maybe I'll co-drive a friend's Cooper instead.

Per

 

Whoo Hoo, now the real waiting fun begins... AND more people in HS!!!

 

Does anyone know how much those "SSP" wheels weigh in 15x6.5 size? What is the offset on them? Thanks.

 

I've got a set of the Rotas on the way...they're an advertiser with our magazine, so that was the easiest choice. 13 lbs. doesn't sound bad either.

Per

 

Per, when are the rotas going to be available? I heard they weren't going to be in until the end of the month. Care to share price(if you paid for them) and where you got them from? Make sure you weigh them when you get them in and share what the actual weight is with us all.

 

I've only heard that the pricing is going to be inline with the rest of the rota line (inexpensive...maybe $130?) and that they're 13 lbs. We sourced them directly from Rota. And by "on the way" I mean that one set from the first container is coming this way...and that container is still "feet wet"

I'll probably create a project car page with pics of the car and wheels when we get it (although it's not a real project car for the magazine)

Per

 

So are you saying that Rota is making a 16x6.5" wheel for the MINI Cooper?

Stuart

 

Yes, Rota is starting to make 16x6.5 wheels for the MINI (and Miata, I guess) They'll be here within a few weeks, I'm told.

Per

 

The Rota Slipstreams will be available from 18Racing (www.18Racing.com). They are 16 x 6.5, 45 mm offset, 4 X 100, 56.1mm center bore (hub rings not needed). Contact Jessica at:

<sales@18racing.com>
(925) 339-3828

The set of 4 wheels is $490, including shipping. Initially, they were only getting Gunmetal gray with polished rim and flat black. I have convinced them that white will be the most popular color for the MINI, so they will also have a few whites.

18Racing is taking deposits ($490) for these wheels now with expected delivery in early July.

 

Thanks for the info Greg!

Kim's Cooper is now built and awaiting transport.

Per