Hi Everyone,

I'm about to order an MCSC in BRG and seeking wheel/tire advice! I was plainning to stay with the $0 cost options but am liking the 17" Conical Spokes. What are the pros and cons on the 16" vs 17" factory options? I'm in Indianapolis so a very all-weather climate, and it will be normal, but fun, driving.

Oh - and silver vs. black opinions?

Thanks in advance!

 

I'm in Cleveland with BRGII MCS/black hard top and decided on the 16" wheels due to the rough roads and winter driving here. I figured I can use the 16s as full time winters when the runflats are done (i.e., replace with blizzaks or michelins x-ice) and get the 17" Breytons (which I like) for the summer. IMO the 16s are big enough for the car though and look "right" for it. I have black wheels on my other car with a polished lip and they do look good and think that combo would look good with black roof/tint as well.

 

I believe the factory 17s only come with summer tiers. Depending where you are in Indiana you might want 16s with all seasons to start and then get a different setup for summer driving.

 

smaller wheels will get better mileage.

on my R50, I had 15" OEM, and bought aftermarket 17" wheels. I was getting better mileage on mt 15"s

 

Less blowouts and fewer repacement rim dammage dur to potholes with the 16's...
you would likely need to buy a set of winter tires and rims if yoy get 17's...

 

Wheel size will not effect your mileage. The over all diameter of the tire/wheel combination is going to be the same, the sidewall is the difference. Rubber compounds will effect mileage, sticky compound will offer a higher rolling resistance=less MPG

 

Hmm, then how do you explain my getting 380 miles to a tank with 17" wheels and 420 miles to a tank with 15" wheels.. no other changes

 

Depending on the tire you choose re: mounted on 16 inch wheel, you will have a softer ride; I recently made the move from 17" to 16" and am 1000% satisfied!

 

True....if all things are equal...but bigger rims are almost always MUCH heavier...and rotating mass has a huge effect on fuel economy and performance...lighter is better...and if you want a 17' performance rim, you really need to spend $$ on 2 or 3 part rims to kerp them light...unless you do this, the 17's are for looks..
one member recently found a near 200 lb weight savings by going from a 17 to a 15 for winter rims on a gen 1...while keeping the same diameter...
the simple fact is 16's are pretty good for a daily driver..overall lower cost, lighter, and reasonable ride...some folks like the look of a 17, but most of the main stream 17's are too heavy to be performance rims...

 

^thanks!

 

Second that just bought a second hand set of 16's to replace the 17's. The 16's are run flats and are still much smoother then the 17" Conti's. Very little difference in handling for the road.

 

Zippy: A 200# weight savings going from 17s to 15s calls for a supporting link.

 

From tire rack, 15" wheel: ~10# each
Stock 17" that I have: 24# each
weight savings ~ 56# for the car...not quite 200# but still significant.

None the less, lighter tires and rims will save gas as they have less rotational mass. Car and Driver did a test on this about a year ago which confirmed this.

I vote for the 16" which is what I got for my new Mini. Better in the winter. Less likely to get damaged and the stock ones are stronger than most of the aftermarket. The narrower tire will be better in the snow. Get a second set (plenty for sale on NAM here) for the summer...which I run 17".

 

Fantastic feedback - thanks everyone!

 

Include the weight of the runlats....they are about 2x the weight of the same size due to the extra stiff sidewalls...
on phone today so pasting links don't work, but it was a recent winter tire thread...
from stock 17's with runflats to lighter weight 15's with regular tires..

 

I tried 17 inch wheels on my car.

The tire and wheel combo was about 9lbs per wheel heavier. The contact patch was larger on the 17s and they were within about 3/10s of an inch larger in diameter. The were the same tire, but different wheel design.

In my opinion they rode very hard, they had a much higher tendency to follow cracks and ridges in the road, and overall, they made the car feel more sluggish. It did not seem to accellerate as crisply, and the 17 inchers cost me about 3 mpg.

I went back to the 16s.

But the 17 inch wheels looked so much better on the car. It comes down to that for me -- looks versus performance. I chose performance.

 

Just placed my order - went with the 16s. Sounds like the better all around option, especially heading into winter. Again - thanks for all the input, really great info.

Very excited - have wanted one since they came out, but it took me 10 years to get the options right.

 

A sample tire from Tire Rack data in 17" size, the runflat is 26# versus non-runflat, 15": 16# ...10# difference. . Another 40# for the car. So, about 100# total with the wheel weight difference. A lot more than what I would have expected. But not 200#. Makes me think, though.

Enough said...
Iron Oxide...you'll enjoy the ride. You will wonder why you waited so long.

 

hey there Zippy....
Whats the WIDEST width that I can safely mount on a 16" rim?
I'm in the market for a new set of rims/tires also, and I've been chewing my fingernails down to the nubs trying to decide between 16 or 17" rims.
Are wider tires even better? Will they improve summer driving performance?
Anyone else with any input...fire away.

 

A wide tire will give you more grip for spirited driving, but a narrower tire will get you slightly better mileage and do a little better in snow, and in wet conditions.

 

Thats what I figured...I would then try to go as wide as possible for dedicated summer tires I would think. Any opinions about 16 or 17 in rims? I'm leaning toward the 16s.

 

Re: ".... as wide as possible ...."

Considering the wide rubber some mount for autocrossing, I wouldn't recommend as wide as possible for road driving. The two popular non-OE sizes for the 16" wheels seem to be 205/50/16 (slightly smaller in diameter than OE) and 205/55/16 (slightly larger in diameter than OE). The former size provides a slightly crisper turn-in and better handling, while the latter provides a slightly more compliant (softer) ride. Tires in the 205 width are molded to fit a 6.5" wide rim, and that's what the 16" MINI wheels are.

The 17" MINI wheels are 7" wide, so it would appear that 215 tire widths would be a good non-OE size fit; except that the tire choices in 215 widths are significantly fewer, and the tire diameters are smaller. The 17" OE wheels are only .5" wider than the 16s, so the small increase in width, along with the increase in weight, might turn out to be nearly a wash. Going to a set of ultra-lightweight wheels could alter that though.

 

It sounds like the 205 width should be perfect. I don't want to go with anything radical.Believe me, anything is lighter than the four boat anchors I have right now for rims. I have the old style minilites...and if I'm not mistaken, they are the heaviest rims that MINI makes, at 25 lbs. They can't suck more for performance.

I've seen a few very nice and very light rims that aren't too expensive on Tire Rack. OZ and Enkei come to mind. At about 14 lbs for the 16s, they should dramatically transform the car's handling. I actually just put on snow tires with steel rims last weekend, and the car rides and accelerates/brakes FAR better than my summer rims did! It must be a pretty substantial weight savings even going with snow tires.

But it sounds like 16" rims are the ticket.

 

If you now have the 17" R85 S-spoke (aka LeMans) that look like minilites; yes, they're about 25#.

I didn't know that you planned to get aftermarket 16" wheels; but, in that case, you can get wheels that are both lighter and wider (7"). Note that the Enkei Racing wheels for the MINI have an ET of 43, while the O.Z. HLTs have an ET of 37 (the ET of the OE wheels is 48). Thus, the O.Z.s will bring the wheel/tire out toward the fender lip about 6 mm more than the Enkeis.

If you intend to autocross in SCCA stock class, there seems to be only one wheel at Tire Rack that is 16X6.5"; the TRMotorsport CL. It's 14.4#, ET 44, and real cheap at $114.

 

I went from heavy 16" OEM bridgespokes (I think around 23lbs?) with RFT to 19lb Konig Rush and S.Drives 205/50/16 and felt a difference in acceleration due to the lighter weight. Now I'm thinking about "investing" in some O.Z. Alleggerita HLT which weigh in at only 13.6lbs. A bit spendy, but tempting.