hey i just got new 2 piece ro_ja 18" wheels and a buddy of mine threw on some 215-35 cheap tires since i didnt want expensive tires the way i wear them off. anyway we got the wheels put on and i went for a test drive, expecting wicked handling, since i had stock 16's on before. the handling was sooo bad i pulled over n checked my nuts, thinking they mightve come loose. all tight. drove again. at higher speeds when you threw the car around a little, the car swayed so bad the dsc came on and the car felt like it was gonna tip. anyone out there that knows the a solution or had this experience? my car is sitting right now, im scared 2 drive it! btw the tires are sceptor. any advice needed and appreciated!

 

16" decent tires will out-handle poor tires in any size all day long. Poor tires may not even track straight, or may have poor cornering traction, or may be tracking the ruts/grooves in the pavement, or..., or...

Lots of things it could be - but I gotta think it's the tires...

Also, low profile 18's compared to higher profile 16's are going to give a harder ride and that may be part of what you're feeling. What's your tire pressure? Also can make a HUGE difference in handling and ride quality if they're over or under inflated...

 

tire pressure was supposed 2 b 51, but we started with 45 and it handled like crap, so we went down to 40, better but still not good, so we tried going up to 50, it handled so bad, it felt like a ship. so now i have it on 35, it handles the best there, still very bad, but the best. and the ride quality is not hardly any woarse then the 16s, which really surprised me, im thinking to its gotta be the tires.

 

50 is definitely too many PSI... If the car is lightly loaded, I'd even experiment with a bit less - like 32-34...

 

I'm not very mechanically inclined so I may be way off here - but what you're describing is what I encountered when I bought new tires recently. Come to find out, the tire guy gave me plastic hub centric rings. Tsk, Tsk....the next day my husband took my MINI back down there and said, "ya'll know better...put metal hub centrics on right now". They did....and the ride is now perfect.

Same issue for you maybe?

 

thanx for all the help guys, ya it did come with plastic hubs, dont know bout that, i tend to think its the tires to. it also vibrates like unreal at speeds of 50mph and gets increasingly worse as you speed up. they balanced nice when they mounted them, so its a little weird. thanx agauin for the info, anyone else out there have this problem?

 

Sounds like bad tires way over inflated.

 

ok i got new tires put on, yokohama parada spec 2, they look really sharp, and it is a good tire from a name brand. next problem, its vibrating again, the guys at the tire shop computer balanced them, so i dont really know wat to think. i bought the rims brand new, cud it be that the rims are bent? there is no vibration below 50mph again, and the vibration is different time to time, and it varies at differrent speeds.i am at my wits end!

 

I had a similar problem, but if your rim was bent or unbalanced, the tire shop should've told you...

They were able to tell me right away when I told them I had a vibration and they balanced it. Goodluck with your problem.

 

16 inch is the premo size wheel for a MINI. Get better tires, but keep it 16 inch for performance any day.

 

OK, first-
18" wheels for the MINI work OK, a little more weight usually, just be careful about wheel offset and wideness so you don't get rubbing.
215/35-18 tires are fine as a tire size for the MINI.
Sceptor tires are made in China and sold in the UK and europe (not sure about the US). Not a brand that I would rush out for.
Even with your tires you should be OK for street use.

With your wheel and tire changes you were expecting improved handling and performance over the 16" wheels- you mentioned "wicked handling". That might be the case with more planning but 18" and budget tires are not usually going to outperform a decent set of 16" MINI wheels.

For the performance oriented, 16" wheels and 215/45-16 Max Perf summer tires are quite a good combination. Even 205/50-16 with Ultra High Performance Summer tires are solid on performance.

For your problem-
Tire pressures for the MINI should always be about 33-37 psi front and rear. Your tire mechanic should add the right amount of air to your tires after mounting based on the metal panel on your driverside door jam. 51 psi is the max tire pressure allowable for your tire ever but it is not for your car, it is the limit the tire can hold.

If you take another set of MINI wheels like your stock 16" set and mount them on your MINI does the problem go away? If so then it's likely to be the wheels/fitment. If you can borrow a set of MINI wheels you can test this as well.

Things that can cause problems-
Alignment is not within factory specs or even left to right. When is the last time you had alignment done, who did it and what settings did you use?

When is the last time you did any upgrades to your suspension? Shocks, springs, coilovers, adjustable camber plates or lower adjustable control arms?

Have you hit any potholes recently that might have damaged your suspension?

Are there any parts that are rubbing your 18" wheels?

Are all of your wheel bolts the same? Identical or are some different? Aftermarket locks etc. Do yo have wheel studs, are they all the same length and are all the nuts the same or some different. You must have all the studs and nuts or all the bolts the same or it will be uneven and could vibrate.

Is anything else (suspension parts) loose or are any nuts missing? Inspect carefully and thoroughly, sometimes I have seen the entire front subframe loose- check all nuts for tightness.

How often do you get on the track? If you do then you have to inspect for wear and tear to your wheel hubs, brakes, bearings etc.

What is the inner hub bore for your 18" wheels? If larger than 56.1mm (the MINI hub bore size) then you need hub centric rings that fit between your wheels and the MINI hub. Do you have them? If not you need to measure and get them installed.
http://www.1010tires.com/hubrings.asp
Plastic is $24 for set of four and OK for street use.
Metal is $34, a little heavier, and more durable to take heat as on the track or with any performance driving.

 

Are they directional tires and are they rotating in the right direction? Just something that happened to me once.

 

thanx all for the help, the new tires are not directional, so thats not the case. and i would throw my stock rims back on, but they are in the states, so . um, i jus lowered my car last nite with h&r springs, but its not rubbing now,and it wasnt before. i never track my car, jus aggresive street driving. and the stupid mechanic cud barely even get the tires on, much less know the tire pressure, i told him 35psi, so thats wat its at. im gonna take it back in there today and get an alignment done, and get them to check out the vibration right away. im gonna check into the hub rings, thats new to me, not quite sure i understand all of that. but since i got the yokohama's on, those are good tires, i didnt skimp out this time, so im still kinda wondering as to why it wud get that swaying feeling at higher speeds. let me see, 18" wheels, low 215-35 tires, h&r lowerings springs, rear sway bar, now how come i had better handling with stock rims? :impatient

 

OK, you have an 02 MINI, How many miles. Sounds like you may have a front suspension component that's worn out. Are you running the original factory struts? Ever replaced the front bushings? Could be the new wheels/tires are amplifying other wear issues?

 

it only has 70000kilometers on it, not very high, everything is original on it as far as i know, i am not the fist owner, so dont know for sure. is it very bad to run the wheels without hub rings? cuz the new wheels have 70mm diameter, thats way out compared to the 56mm on the mini. i ordered them last night, they should be here within a few days. i guess we'll find out then.

 

ok, i got the hub rings put in, it definitely helped the vibration, it still vibrates a little, but i think it could be the tires are not balanced correctly. nobody around here seems to be able to do anything right. if only i lived in USA where there are cool mini shops.! so thanx for the advice u guys gave. it helped,...but......
i still dont have good handling !ok, i know john cooper works come with 18" wheels, and a lot of you guys hav them on, and i searched a lot of threads but nobody mentioned anything negative about them, besides the obvious, bigger rolling diameter with a few more pounds of weight will slightly affect acceleration, handling, you know the usual. but my car flat out is not fun to drive anymore! it jus sways all over the road, like its on gravel it seems. someone mentioned that the new wheel/tire setup might amplify other suspension problems, but that seems really farfetched since the change is dramatic. i just lowered it with H&R springs, got a alta rear sway on, put my nice alloy hubrings in, and boy, i just dont know where to look next. if you guys are tired of hearing this, i understand. i just really dont know where to go next.i am just wondering if ANYONE has experienced this before. or knows a solution.

 

anyone? i am just wondering if there is any cure, i am gonna be selling my wheel-tire setup if nobody knows anything :impatient

 

sounds like a combination of:

1) wheel offset too agressive.
2) wheels too heavy for the car
3) your rear swaybar setting is too soft
4) your dampers are too soft or shot.

vibration is from improper balance, but it sounds like your wheels or tires
are defective, or both. wheel balancing should not be THAT difficult to do
if your shop/tech runs a hunter roadforce balancer. if they can't get it
in one or two shots, the wheels/tires are usually defective.

 

thanx for the reply, et is 40, which shouldnt be a problem, weight is 20 lbs, sway bar is aftermarket 22mm, and this happened JUST when i put the new wheels on, so i dont think its the dampers.one more question, when the tires sit really far in, does this affect handling? i know when you lower the car, the tires seem to tilt inward at the top even more then stock. if they were pushed out so more tire contact was on the road, would this give better handling? seems insignificant, but the little things always seem to help.?!

 

et is 40 and the tires sit really far in? something doesn't
sound right. the tires tilting inward at the top is negative camber.

did you get your car aligned after lowering it?

do you have the swaybar set at the full stiff setting (endlink closest
to the bend of the bar)? im running 22mm and the car did not settle
well after turns until i put it on full stiff. im on h-sports.

 

^^ the car doesn't settle well after turns because the spring rate on
mine is progressive rate and the factory damp rate is too low. this
is one reason why i wanted tokico to do d-specs for our cars to
have simultaneous damp adjustment.

 

Reading this thread and doing a little bit of Kepner-Tregoe analysis, I will stake a bet on bad wheels. If the issue was tires, the metal centers should have made the vibration worse. Since it got less, and assumming the wheels are in balance off the car, it is probable that the wheels flex to out of balance when under full weight of the car. Had this problem on a 74 Mustang II with flimsy aluminum wheels. Changed the rims, problem went away. Maybe your new rims are under warranty.

 

FWIW, I have the Parada Spec 2 tires on my 03 MCS and it handles extremely well, and they don't vibrate at any speed. Is the shop putting the weights on the inside of the rim? When balancing alloys, sticking the weights on the outer edge, like on a steel wheel isn't the whole answer, sometimes they need weight on the inside edges as well. A good wheel shop will know this tho. Maybe you can find a better wheel shop, a high performance or racing shop and have them balance them for you?.

 

I have an 03 Cooper @ 65K miles. Im slammed on PSS9's with 215/35/18's with a +42 offset. Running cheapy Hankook's. 30K miles on them. I think they have handled excellent in my road conditions and show decent wear. Even before I dropped the car my handlling with the 18's were awesome. I could not feel a harsher ride. Plus, the boat ride feeling was gone. Now that I am slammed and all my suspension mods are set on full stiff. Yeah...my ride is ROUGH. Anyways, my car vibrated ever since I put the new rims/tires on. But, I do know that the place where I bought the setup does a crappy job at balacing the wheel. I just have never fixed it. Cause it seems to come and go. In the past I have had problems with hubcentric rings (not the right size) and the lugs not torqued right and my tires under/over inflated. This combo is supposed to be set at 38 psi!

 

i did not get an alignment done yet, as i as hoping to save the money if i take the wheels off.i guess i willl go get them rebalanced and get it aligned then c wat happens. i tend to agree the rim is flexing, buts its not under cornering when it does this.simply move the steering wheel SLIGHTLY at high speeds, and the car sways so bad, the DSC kicks in.so the rim seems a little questionable, but i dont what else to blame. thanx for the input guys, i think i will have to lose on these and get new wheels. the question is tho, what kinda wheels can i trust to get? these are ro_ja rims, and they are a respected player, so i am taking a bet getting new ones. oh well, if none of you guys have this problem, i guess its one of those freak accidents.:impatient