I've done a bunch of searching and haven't found a pic of this wheel on a MINI... anyone here sporting Enkei GTC01s on their Cooper?

 

Oooooh....I'd like to know too! Those look great.

 

I wonder what's up with the two valve stems though... think it's just a photoshop screwup?

 

it is so you can fall for the BS that is filling your tires with nitrogen

 

Ha! Really?! Do they use a different size valve stem for nitrogen pumps?

That whole fad really is a cynical play on ignorance. I guess no one ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the public.

 

no, one's to fill, one to purge.

the purpose of nitrogen isn't what you might think.....the air we breathe is mostly nitrogen, so why bother? The benefit of using nitrogen is two-fold - one) that it's processed and moisture is removed, making the gas inside the tire less susceptible to temperature changes. This makes for a safer car....the air pressure set with nitrogen is more likely to remain constant no matter how hot or cold it gets. two) rubber oxidizes. using nitrogen inside slows the process.

 

While your points may have some surface validity, I'd love to see a study that really examines them, and establishes their cost effectiveness.

It seems to me there's no reason regular air can't be dehumidified (if that really does have any appreciable effect on temperature/pressure variances), and the rate of rubber oxidation is slow enough to where the average life of a tire due to wear is already much shorter than the timeframe of the oxidation posing a serious problem.

But I'll admit I'm flying by the seat of my pants on this, and just going by my gut and common sense. I'd certainly be open to re-examining my view on this in light of solid scientific research. As it is, though, color me skeptical.

 

it can't hurt and given the Ford Exploder fiasco, can you blame anybody for trying to improve such a simple preventative maintenance thing? Why do you think TPMS is mandatory now?

 

tbh i did months of research and testing on this, as part of a solar powered race car in Austrailia with a budget of over 2 million dollars, nitrogen tires didn't do a thing for pressure stability.

 

Bump. Anyone have these wheels on a Mini?

 

ok, terrific. If it's free, why do we care?

 

its free for you? every place i have since charges for it

 

Costco, yes

 

that is cool, i didn't know that, then get whatever you want, i have seen places charge 20 bucks to fill tires with nitrogen

 

So, to bring things somewhat back on topic, I assume using this wheel wouldn't require a dual-valve setup, would it? And if it does, that wouldn't complicate the TPMS issue at all, would it?

 

I'd hand them a wikipedia printout showing regular air is 78% nitrogen and walk over and drop a quarter in those air machines

 

Ive been following this thread... basically noone cares for those enkei's.

 

two vs. one won't matter, it's all about the shape of the wheel inside and accomodating the module

I like them. It's a nicer design than most Enkei's and MATS is solid technology

 

Agreed. I think I'd choose them over Ultraleggeras too, as the spokes don't extend over the lip like they do on the ULs. That's why I still prefer the look of the old Superleggeras.

 

yep....much cleaner design on these

 

I recently saw these wheels on Tirerack and really like the look. Was comparing them to the OZ ULs as well since it's a similar design. Over a $100 premium per wheel for the Enkeis though. And they're a full 2lbs heavier! Granted they have premium construction and are hyper black.

 

Yeah, they're a little pricier and a little heavier. I'm thinking that might not be such a bad thing, though, in my circumstances... I drive into NYC a lot, and really need a strong wheel. I have a feeling these are a pretty good balance between weight and strength. I started to have second thoughts about the ULs after seeing Gabe from Motoringfile's damage to his UL... done by a Chicago pothole. :impatient

 

^That makes sense. They're still a very nice weight for 17" wheels so one can only complain so much.

Wow, I didn't hear about Gabe's wheel damage. Roads around here aren't that great, so strength is a major factor for me as well.

 

The Enkei's are nice looking wheels. We installed a set of 18's on an RX-8 in the hyper black and they looked really really nice. The construction of the wheels seemed to be very high as well.

 

Can't say I've ever seen that wheel on a Mini before. But it does look nice!