WHats the smallest (diameter) size wheel you can fit on the mini????

 

With the stock brakes, a 15" is the smallest normal wheel you can fit.

 

germanmade,

Aloha from Hawaii and welcome to NAM.

Yes, it is true. Due to the size of the stock brake calipers, the MINI either model, takes 15" rims at the smallest.
If you change calipers to something smaller then it might be possible to get a 14" rim with the right offset to fit but it would be tough to find a smaller caliper unless you went custom. Also, most of us don't want to go smaller on the brake caliper but rather larger and don't want to go as small as 14" (not as good looking, speedometer error).
15" rims offer good value and performance as a small rim option at this time.

A good source to confirm all this would be the folks over at Rspeed.net
They serve both the Miata and MINI communities with wheels and parts.
Miatas have 14" rims so ask them and see what they say.
Did you want to go smaller than 15"?

 

minihune, wheel size has nothing to do with speedometer error. It is the actual tire diameter that affects the speedometer.

 

Yes, sorry that was not clear.
Usually smaller rim can fit tires that could be smaller than the stock MINI tires so that would be smaller outer diameter of the entire wheel (rim plus mounted tire).
You can make the smaller rim have a larger outer diameter by making the profile taller like 65 or 70 series but that would not be as good for handling than low profile tires.

 

thanks for the responses. im a huge VW rabbit dude and i have a extra set of 14" rims with racing slicks and i didnt feel like getting of my butt to see if they would fit.