16" will be lighter but the short sidewalls of 17" will provide sharper handling. Which is better? I am only considering cheap second hand OEM wheels either size. Also I am considering Kumho Ecsta MX. Which setup would be better? I have no other mods than the rear swaybar.
Thanks.

 

16''s for more sidewall flex = more predictable at the limit (which you'll be near or at on the track)

 

16's don't have to have more sidewall than 17's. 16's with short sidewalls will get you a shorter overall diameter which gets you shorter gearing which gets you better acceleration.......

Jason

 

15 inch Holies with 205/50-15 Kuhmo MXs.

 

16" sizes are going to get harder and harder to come by over the next few years... IMHO, as much as I hate to say it, 17" is probably the way to go.

We're big fans of 15" and 16" wheels for track and autocross on the MINI (with 225/50R15's on the 15" wheels and 225/45R16's or 215/45R16's on the 16" wheels), but alas, tire manufacturers are beginning to snub at the smaller sizes - the market is definitely headed bigger.

 

When choosing your wheels, think about whether you will be doing BBK in the future, some of the BBK's only fit with 17" wheels. I was originally trying to get 16's but none would fit my BBK.
Good luck

 

BBK clearance is one big issue to consider. But there are a couple of good kits that still fit under some 15" wheels.

Tire availability is the other big issue to consider.

If the tire you want to run comes in good sizes for both 16" and 17", I don't think it matters much which you choose. 16" will probably be cheaper and lighter. 17" may offer a bit more performance, but not much.

16" is generally a bad choice for track wheels just because of tire availability.

15" is good, because there are lots of good tires for 15" - thanks to the spec Miata series and such.

17" is also good, but more expensive.

 

as far as I know, 15" won't fit R56 MCS because of the size of the OEM brakes. I am not going to get BBK. But the JCW II 4 piston stuff is tempting..
I guess the speedo and all that don't really matter at the track. Why didn't I think of that?
16" with low profile(similar profile as 17") sounds good. I won't be using them on the street anyway so the wheel gap doesn't matter.

I have a set of 16" Michellin Pilot cup sport but they are not the right size. They are for sale.
Thanks!

 

I know you said you are only considering OEM wheels, but if you shop around, you can find some aftermarket 15" wheels for cheap that will clear your R56 front brakes.

As far as tires, if you are just looking for track day tires, you can sometimes get super deals on tires that the road racer guys are throwing away that still have some life in them. My current set of Hoosiers set me back $15 each.

Jason

 

Where can I find those tires?

 

R56mini,

If you are interested in aftermarket wheels at a good price, we carry the Flik FTD which is a good alternative for track wheels.



They are available in Matt Titanium (shown) or Matt Black (back ordered). They are 16x7 and have an offset of 42. We are having a huge sale at $89 per wheel. Let me know if you have any questions.

Leo Barrios
leo@edgeracing.com
http://www.edgeracing.com
800-489-5353 x211
*If you place an order on-line, please put Leo as your salesperson. Thank you*

 

If you were using a street tire, i would get a 17x8 wheel.

if you going R-Compounds i would run 16

 

Check the classifieds at places like www.nasaforums.com
or www.sccaforums.com
or even on Ebay. If you know any racers local to you, it never hurts to ask around- you'd be surprised at how many people have used race tires floating around that aren't good enough for competitive racing, but have plenty of useful life for us track day guys.

Jason

 

Thanks for the info. I will keep looking. The 16" wheels for r53 don't fit on r56 because of lug size..... another disadvantage of having the first model year car.

 

Good ideas here, due to tire options on R 17's all being pretty tall!

15's work also well if your using race rubber. boku sidewall flex on street rubber in comparison. - Best value in R tires also 15's

Alex

 

I'm sure there are more specifics here on NAM somewhere, but I know for a fact that at least some of the R53 16"s fit just fine with the 14mm lugs of the R56. The R56 that I drove at SCCA nationals was on the 16" OEM wheels from a R53 with the smaller lugs, there was plenty of extra room for the fatter lugs.

Jason

 

O rly? :P

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...d.php?t=117954

 

That widens my choices. Thanks!

 

Yes - *all* of the MINI OEM wheels will fit the newer 14mm lug bolts.

 

I doubt it.

 

You doubt *what*, exactly?

All of the the MINI OEM wheels have lug holes that are about 16mm in diameter, plenty big enough for either the 12mm or 14mm bolts.

It's true that some of the OEM 15"/16" wheels won't clear the larger brakes on the R56, but that's not what my post was about. I just said that all of the OEM MINI wheels can be used with the newer 14mm bolts.

 

After looking at it, for track use only i would go with with 15" Kosel or Team Dynamics if they fit with a 15 x7(or 8), i would run a RA1 R-compund with 225.50.15 size, the section with is 9.2" way wider then anything in a 17" near the MINI diameter.

Should be very inexpensive, and better acceleration with the smaller wheel size. Anyway, time to go home i obviously and not doing any more work today lol.....