I'll be looking into buying rims this summer and definitely want to go wider than the stock 7 inch s-lites. I was looking around and noticed that outmotoring.com sells a team dynamics pro race 1.2 as wide as 9 inches and I'm assuming thats for extreme race applications and would not work on the stock MINI.

So my question: on the stock coop-s, what is the widest wheel that will work, and will that change once I get coilovers?

Thanks,
Wing

 

I have an 06 MCS with 18 x 7.5 wheels. Their offset is 45mm. I run 215/40/18 tires on the wheels. The car is at stock height. I can't tell you a measurement, but the inside of the front tire is REALLY REALLY close to the strut tower. I wouldn't want to go any wider with the wheel or tire.

Now, that being said, the lower the offset of the wheel, the more room it will give you at your strut towers. I also run a set of 17 x 7 wheels with an offset of 40mm. I can get my finger between the tire and the strut tower with them on the car.

I'm by no means am an expert in this area, but I wouldn't feel comfortable buying anything wider than a 7.5 inch wide wheel unless I planned to use wheel spacers.

 

What is your reason for wanting wider rims? Wider rims are usually more costly and heavier. Wide rims mean usually wider tires which can be more costly and heavier. Do you have enough power and traction helping upgrades like Quaife differential to help move more weight?

Is this for show purposes only? I have seen 9" wheels and 275mm wide tires on a MINI but it usually requires cutting wheel arches or adding fender widening arches.

Stock MINI rims are 17x7 +48mm offset 4x100 bolt pattern.

17x7.5 or 17x8 doesn't cause trouble if offset is about +40 to +42mm and tire diameter is not larger than stock 24.4" or very close with stock suspension.

Using 215/45-17 is OK with stock suspension.

Once you lower you get less clearance so you can use tires that are stock or less in tire diameter like
205/45-17 fits rims 6.5-7.5" wide
215/40-17 fits rims 7-8" wide
235/40-17 fits rims 8-9.5" wide

Search in the tire forum for 235/40-17, some good tires in that size.
17x8 rim would work OK. when you go wider than 8 the tire selection gets smaller and prices go up, usually 2 and 3 piece and custom wheels expect them to be closer to $1000 to 1200 each.

Coilovers that allow for ride height adjustment will help to make your tires fit without as much risk for rubbing. You may need to adjust rear negative camber using adjustable rear lower control arms.

For a simple upgrade-
17x8 rims +37 to +40 offset
215/40-17 (needs lowered suspension) or 235/40-17 tires
Stock suspension or coilovers.

 

Reason for wanting wider rims is pretty much the fact that a wider contact patch provides better traction. I wouldn't go any wider than 8 inches. The 8 inch wide team dynamics race 1.2 rim is still far lighter than the stock slites. As far as modifications, my car is all stock. But I plan on getting rims for one of my first modifications (because I curbed my car fairly badly last week and I have serious curb rash on my left rims).

Thanks for all the info! But, I'm unfamiliar with the term "offset" is that something I need to change within the suspension in order to change rim size?

 

From tirerack.com
Offset
The offset of a wheel is the distance from its hub mounting surface to the centerline of the wheel. The offset can be one of three types.

The MINI has a positive "+" offset (as do mostly front wheel drive cars).

see
http://www.tirerack.com/wheels/tech/...jsp?techid=101

A stock suspension will allow a certain range of wheel offsets and still fit a car's wheel well and fenders.

On the inside the suspension parts limit how positive an offset can go.
Stock offset is about +48mm for a 17x7 wheel. A small change is not going to be a problem. So +50mm is OK. A much smaller offset like +38mm is going to position the wheel much farther out to the outer side of the car which will clear the wheel suspension parts nicely but put the inner lining of the wheel well in close contact with the upper outer part of the tire tread shoulder.

If you tire is taller than stock tire diameter you will have less clearance if you drop your suspension. With stock suspension you still have enough wheel gap to take not only the stock sized tire but maybe 0.5" more tire diameter however at some point the tires will start to look too large for the MINI and a tall tire puts the MINI higher off the ground.

So yes, 17x8 is OK. 1 inch wider than stock usually calls for a wheel offset of less than stock +48mm so look for about +40 using a wider than stock
215/45-17 tire with stock suspension or 215/40-17 with lowered suspension. See below or other tire sizes.

In the case of Team Dynamics Pro 1.2 rims
17x8 comes in +45 and +37 offsets about 19 lbs each
A +37 offset is more aggressive and places the inner edge of the rim at about the same position in the wheel well inside as a stock 17x7 rim with +48mm offset. Since the tire and rim will be about 1" wider than stock all of the extra width will be facing outside towards the outer edge of the wheel wells.

A +45 offset will split the 1" wider wheel and tire and place 0.4" more to the inside and 0.6" more to the outside compared to the stock 17x7 rim.

You can fit a 235/40-17 tire for either of these offsets and you can have nearly stock tire diameter of 24.4" so it doesn't really matter if you have stock or lowered suspenion.
Tire selection will vary and prices are likely to be higher but this tire is quite wide and offers more contact patch while fitting the 17x8" rim well.
This size favors some of the best handling but faster wearing Extreme and Max Performance Summer tires- not to be used in snow or colder weather.

Did you need an all season tire for some cold weather (less than 40 degrees) or for any snow in your area (TN) or do you have winter tires for that?
If you need all season tires then in this size there is still-
Kumho Ecsta ASX (UHP All Season), $100 each 420 treadwear

For best performance with lower price-
Dunlop Direzza Sport Z1 Star Spec $139 each 200 treadwear

For outright best performance
Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric $182 each 240 treadwear $50 rebate right now.