I have four "almost new" Dunlop M3 (205/55x16) winter tires that I would like to use on my new Mini S this winter. The tires came from our old VW 1.8T.

I will buy 16 X 7 wheels, I think.

What I need to know is; is there more room "inboard" or "outboard" for larger rubber. Once I know that information, I can select the correct offset for the 16 X 7 wheels.

Although the diameter is just slightly more than desired, I hate to waste four nice tires.

Thanks for any help.

Steve

 

SteveRob,
Aloha and welcome to NAM.
Do you have stock suspension? An MC or MCS?
IF you have stock suspension you will have the most range to work with for wheel offsets.

The 205/55-16 tire fits rims from 5.5 to 7.5" wide with perfect fit of 6.5" rims. It has an outer tire diameter of 24.9" which is rather tall for the MINI.
This isn't a good tire for a lowered MINI.

Given the tall diameter you have less room to work with especially if you choose a wider rim which tends to widen tread width. I would guess that you have less room "outboard". Wheel offsets to look for are roughly +42mm to +48mm. The stock 16x6.5" rim with +48mm offset is perfect for snow wheels.

A good person to talk to would be alex@tirerack.com as he know which rims will fit those tires and not cause rubbing for a MINI.

 

I just tried 205/55-16s on new 16x7 Enkeis with +40 offset.

Since stock speedometers are a bit conservative to begin with (reads 60, GPS says 58), I figured the slightly larger diameter would bring the reading a bit closer to being accurate.

I knew that a larger diameter would adversely affect acceleration, but I didn't think 1/2 inch increase in diameter would be significant. I was wrong. Aside from acceleration, the ride was great. That is, until I had a passenger and went over a bump. The 205/55-16s were too tall and rubbed on full suspension travel. Perhaps with a different wheel offset and width you can make it work. I ended up going to 205/50s on the same wheel and love them.

Good luck.

 

To generalize, the fronts have more room to go out and the rear more room to go in. If you insist on the 205/55/16's get a +45 to +48 offset rim and be prepared to space the fronts out a little.

The better choice might be to sell the tires and get somethig that fits better.