Hey Guys,

Sorry to make this my first post. I'm looking to purchase a set of wheels for my Clubman.

I'm still undecided on what wheels yet. But I know they're going to be custom 3pc. My question is what specs to run.

The car will be on air before Spring, I don't mind running camber in the rear.

Here's the bit I'm not quite sure on.. I want to run a 2" lip on the front and a 2.5" lip on the rear. The specs I'm thinking were:

F: 8.5x17 ET25 (195/40/17)
R: 8.5x17 ET20 (195/40/17)

Can anyone share some input on this? Does the size of lip effect anything in regards to clearance etc? Any photos would help as well too.

Cheers Guys.

 

With those offsets the wheels will be poking a bit.

It is tough to say exactly what your inner clearance will be with the bags up front. Normally you can do low 30s on an 8.5 up front.

8.5 et25 will poke about 1/2" up front.

In back you have a lot more inner clearance. With 8.5" et20 in the rear you will have about 1" of clearance on the inside.

 

OEM size tire is a 205/45 on a 7" rim. Why go with a wider rim and a narrower tire? 8.5" seems rather wide for a mini. Even a x8 with a 225 tire would be about all you would ever need.

 

Pretty sure he isn't looking for a performance oriented setup. Most likely a purely aesthetic wheel/tire selection.

 

195 tire on a 8.5" wide rim doesn't seem to me like it would look good at all.

 

Yea, its a polarizing look. "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder" type of thing.

 

there is only one tire on tirerack.com in that size, a yokohama S.drive.

So not sure if that is what you were looking for.

Specs show it will fit rim sizes from 6-7.5" wide.

8.5" wheel is far too wide for that tire btw.

 

I'm not sure many MINI owners have done what you are planning.

Stretching narrow tires on a wider rim will give you the look you want and will fit looking like this-



The wheel offsets will work with your MINI, the lip amount doesn't matter.

The front wheel will poke out about 33mm more than 17x7 stock wheel while the rear will poke out about 38mm. Assuming you are OK with negative camber you can adjust that with adjustable front camber plates and rear adjustable lower control arms. If you find that due to your lowered suspension you don't need more negative camber in front then you might not need front camber plates (and the extra expense). If you have ride height adjustability that will help for fitment.

One thing about 195/40-17 tires is the load rating is only 81 which is borderline for a clubman, don't load up your car and drive for very long or fast. The 40 series sidewall will be stiff and rough riding, your tire diameter is about 1" less than stock plus your suspension is dropped for minimal road clearance and higher risk of scraping. Don't hit any potholes or your tires, rims and suspension could be damaged.

Check alignment about once a year so that your tirewear is maximized, a stiff suspension or wheel setup can throw alignment out easily.

The OP is looking for the stretched look and the tire size is not supposed to fit the wide wheel. It will fit and can be used on the street, just be careful.

 

OMG - that simply does not compute! OK, I will bug off this discussion. And maybe consider selling my Mini while I'm at it....

 

FYI on tire stretching- it's actually kinda interesting
http://forums.vwvortex.com/showthrea...-afraid-to-ask

And as usual there is a right and wrong way to do anything-
http://honda-tech.com/showthread.php?t=2890360
see pics in post #5

Just be careful and not too extreme.

Here is a discussion about stretched tire failure-
http://clubroadster.net/vb_forum/32-...h-failure.html

Don't be too extreme just for the sake of looks, keep tire pressure up, don't let the tire or wheel rub anything.

If the car is driven on the street:
Realize that under load (with passengers) the suspension may sag and the tire may rub, or when going over bumps or dips you might hear rubbing.
Tire pressure is key and can change quickly if you are turning or driving on rough roads.
Be careful not to curb your wheels
Always choose a tire that is a good match to stretch
Watch for tire tread wear if you have to run a lot of negative camber
Always do an alignment once a year and set toe to OEM specs.

 

Haha, like I said, polarizing. Not sure what your going to get to repalace the Mini. There are exapmles of almost almost every make and model of car that somebody has put wide wheels and stretched tires on.

Not something I'd ever do to my car. I'm not bothered by it on other people's cars though.

 

Ya, just being overly dramatic for effect

Mini isn't my daily driver, so there are several other cars I could convince myself that I need. But for now it fills a nice roll within my stable.