Without going into the reasons why: Does anyone have an opinion on whether i could use 0n a 2006S 205/45x17 rears with 205/40x17 fronts if one has adjustable links and gets an alignment.

Yoko Parada Spec2

Diameter Tread Width Section Width

205/45-17 24.3 7.6 8.3

205/40-17 23.5 7.7 8.4

NON-RUNFLATS: will the light go on?? Can I permanently disable it
via the computer change?

What other weird stuff might happen??
Both rims are 7". Will probably go to a 19mm rear anti-sway bar soon and
either M-7 springs or coil overs. Most important , the car is the fastest
--Astro Black

 

It is technically possible to use these tires in that combination,the load ratings for each tire is the same at 1102 pounds each.

205/45-17 a little less stiff side wall, 24.3" outer tire diameter
205/40-17 stiffer sidewall and lower 23.5" outer tire diameter

Alignment isn't a problem unless you change suspension parts.
Adjustable endlinks are unnecessary unless you add coilovers and want to corner balance.
Light should remain off since you have same tires on each side right vs left.

Your front wheels will be about one inch lower than the rears and the sidewall will be stiffer. This means the wheel hub will be 1/2" lower in the fronts. I don't think it is a safety problem.

For street driving I don't think you will notice that much difference in performance unless you corner really hard or you hit a pothole or bump.

The ride quality will be a bit harsher, and front turn in will feel sharper.
Parada Spec 2 tends to be noisy. The overall look will be off a bit, smaller front sidewalls will be obvious.

Most times for performance driving we look for as much balance as possible. Driver skill can compensate a little when cornering.

I would say you can do it, just be careful. Upgrading wheels and tires alone is possible without doing anything else. Use normal tire pressures front and rear, about 33 to 37 psi.

 

thanks much for the info Minihune

 

Just initailize the flat tire monitor. I had 205-45-17 rear and 215-40-17 front (While was waiting to install the 215 rears) without a light.

But why are you doing this?

 

Okay I'll talk. AP Racing four piston big brake kit required me to use a 5mm
spacer even with after market 17" forged wheels. I want to lower the
car but the front tire is just a little to close to the fender lip for my liking.
It will never touch now and would probably not touch if lowered. But I would like the extra 1/2 inch of room the 205/40 would get me. I could of course
lower the car and then go to the 205/40 if I could get it to rub.

 

Man I love the MINI folks! You ask a question and someone posts a reply with an intelligent answer! I've tried to find out if I can run 225/60-16 on the rear and 225/50-16 on the front of my other car, an 04 PT Cruiser TurboLite without ABS. I've posted on two PT forum websites. I get replies like "just put 'em on and try it" or check a tire sizing calculator on a tire website. If I knew what would work okay I wouldn't be asking! MINI owners rock!

 

I think your traction control and ABS will get confused. It may cause some issues there.

 

OK, this helps make more sense.

Larger brakes in the front and 5mm spacers for fitment. Any chance that 3mm spacers could work for you? If you need some custom ones for the front contact Emilio at 949racing.com. Thinner spacers would allow a little more clearance from the edge of the tire to the wheel well.

For Parada Spec 2 tires, these are in back ordered status at tirerack.com for the 205/40-17 size and in low stock for the 205/45-17. While they are reasonably priced at under $70 each and tirerack.com tests are good, there are other tires available if you consider a different size that you can use for both front and rears.

I think that 215/40-17 will work. At 23.9" outer tire diameter it's smaller than stock. Goodyear Eagle F1 GS-D3 comes in that size but costs more and wears faster than the Parada Spec 2. The GS-D3 will be much more comfortable for daily street driving and give superior handling for wet or dry.

For additional clearance you can add adjustable front camber plates ($490) and use about -2.0 degrees front camber. Fixed camber plates might work but you cannot even out camber right to left like with adjustable ones. Your 2006 MCS can adjust a little for the rear lower control arm so you can set it to about -1.0 degrees. Alignment can be stock settings or a little more aggressive at front toe zero and rear toe 1/16" in.

Rear adjustable swaybar can be 19mm using the softest setting to start with. Adjustable endlinks while a little stronger than stock isn't needed unless you get coilovers that can adjust ride height and you want to use the endlinks to eliminate preload on the front and rear swaybars when corner balancing for the track.

By using 215/40-17 for front and rear you can now rotate tires front and rear and you can have a little more predictable handling with all tires being the same. Usually fronts wear out quite a bit faster than rears if you cannot rotate.

Talk to Alex@tirerack.com for more info on using the 215/40-17s.

 

Once I have drive a MINI with 215/45 17 on one axle and 205/45 17 on another.

No problem at all.

Bye

 

Yes, this can be OK. Usually as an interim solution while changing over to a different sized tire 2 at a time.

205/45-17 is stock sized
215/45-17 is only a little larger than stock, just a bit wider with a slightly larger load rating.

Pretty close. Probably better to just have one size if possible.

I did the same on my MINI van when a tire blew out and I had
stock 215/65-16 and switched one axle to 225/60-16 and it was fine.

 

[ MINI owners rock! [/quote]

I got a PM from MINIHUNE within hours of posting my little rant about looking for tire size information. His PM gave more information than I've gotten in three weeks of trying for an intelligent answer on the PT forums! Thank you MINIHUNE! and again I say MINI OWNERS ROCK!!

 

I've used 225/45-15 on the front and 225/50-15 on the rear with no fault codes or appearant screwiness with the ABS. Can't say about the ASC, as it was turned off. This wasn't a normal experience, but rather an experiment when I went to IRP with some drag racing friends. I was using different combinations of autocross tires and just swapping out the fronts.

Scott
90SM

 

With the 5mm spacer in my closest measurement between wheel and caliper
is 3.53mm. So I have e-mailed 949racing to ask if they have a hub centric
3mm spacer for a 14mmx1.25 bolt 2006 MiniS. Thanks for the info, I'll
post the results when something happens.

 

#1 I think this is the way to go and with the same tire sizes..Just my 2 pennies..

 

Yup MiniMarks. If I can get the 3mm spacers, I will then go to springs and test for rub. I will not change the tire size unless it is critical. My only
question now is do I spend the money for coil overs so I can make a
precise height change ( even though this is going to be a 98% street only car) or doI go with M7 springs and hope I end up okay. Minivader on SSM
has M7 springs and I think they look just right

 

I'm getting ready to put on H-Sports. PS: 3mm spacers are easily available.

 

I haven't gotten any response from 949racing yet. Where else shouldI try
for 3mm spacers??

 

Minimania is one and I don't think that you will need longer wheel bolts with just the 3mm spacers...Thats only just shy of an 1/8 of an inch.

 

Make sure that you are emailing Emilio
Go to the website for 949racing.com
He might be busy but keep trying.

3mm spacers are hard to find. He just did a set for me custom.

3mm is very thin so no need to use longer bolts or studs if you have about 8 turns to lock.

 

Emilio has refered me to Brandon (909)917-5428. I'll report what happens.
The smallest Mania has is 5MM.

 

What is your goal? Aesthetics, curing clearance problems or pure performance?

 

Post#5 & 13 explain my need for caliper clearance and tire fender lip room
for forth coming M7 springs or coilovers. I don't know of any other issues now ( but every time I think i am done something else happens

 

I understand the need to use spacers to clear brakes, but your opening post is about tires. I'm curious about this goal in particular...even though you indicated you do not want discuss the reasoning. Your reasoning may provide additional information...

Clearance problems can be cured with spacers, as you note, and different wheel offset. Niether of these affect tire size so long as the wheel is the same width.

Just curious really.

 

True Meb, but a 205/40x17 has a smaller dia. than a 205/45x17 thus more clearance between the tire edge and the fender lip at full compression which will be important after the springs are installed.

 

Yes, yes. I use 205/40/17 RA1s at the track - a little gearing advantage