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cheetah View Drop Down
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Direct Link To This Post Topic: Wheels & Seats
    Posted: September/19/06 at 4:45am

Need Help.

I'm interested in new wheels as an early birthday gift to myself. I have the  15"  R81 on them now and spoke to Donna @ Mt. Baker run and she's selling her swapped out Chrome 17". Can I have her's installed on my 15"??

Also I want to get the sport seats as the regular seat is very uncomfortable from the first day I drove her. That's the reason I put on seatcovers to cushion my drive.

Appreciate any suggestions or advise.

Cheetah

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Sanaye

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phydeaux View Drop Down
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: September/19/06 at 5:13am
Replacing your 15" wheel with a 17" wheel will work just fine if you also replace the tire and get something that will fit on the 17" wheel.  As I understand it, then final diameter of wheel+tire is what you are looking for, ultimately.  A 15" wheel is going to have a larger sidewall on the tire than a 17" wheel will.  Your current tire will not fit on the 17" wheel at all.

Just speaking hypothetically, if your 15" wheel has a tire with a 4" sidewall, the 17" wheel will want a tire with a 2" sidewall.  The ultimate diamter is the same in both scenarios.

If I'm way off base here, then I'm sure someone will come by and educate both of us.  ;)

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Direct Link To This Post Posted: September/19/06 at 8:39am
Having not seen the tires or wheels, I still have to ask..why not buy her wheels and tires from her?  Then the swap should be a piece of cake. Phydeux is right that the real concern is the overall size of the wheel/tire package and of course the wheels and tires have to fit together. Since they fit on hers I can't imagine why it wouldn't fit on yours. If she is keeping her tires then you may want to write down the numbers on the sidewall of hers so you can buy the same size. Things only get tricky with really big wheels and that is why you see such thin little tires on them. It is the overall that counts.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: September/19/06 at 1:06pm

Having helped many people 'up-size' their tires, I know that you can go as big as you want, with the right suspension and body lifts.  My friend 'Mo' has 35" Super Swampers on his '99 Silverado, with a 4" Suspension lift and 2" Body Lift.

Seeing as the MINI, like most cars, are lowered, vice raising, then you are limited in size (I think the accepted max for the MINI is 20", with fender rubbing, 18" JCWs include turn stops).

That being said, their are several places in the area that will 're-dial in' your Speedometer after changing the outside diameter of your wheels/tires.  You may want to read some more tech articles on wheel/tire changes, though.  I've read many posts where people who got into Track and Auto-X actually went with smaller wheels, with 15" being an accepted common size.

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cheetah View Drop Down
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: September/20/06 at 8:00am

Thanks guys for the explanation on the wheels and tires. I might have to get tires in addition to wheels. Not sure I want to invest that much at this time. 

Cheetah

 

Sanaye

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Direct Link To This Post Posted: September/20/06 at 11:39am
Originally posted by phydeaux phydeaux wrote:



Just speaking hypothetically, if your 15" wheel has a tire with a 4" sidewall, the 17" wheel will want a tire with a 2" sidewall.  The ultimate diamter is the same in both scenarios.

If I'm way off base here, then I'm sure someone will come by and educate both of us.  ;)


technically a 17" wheel will want a tire with a 3" sidewall to maintain the same overall diameter... since the sidewall counts on both sides of the circle you only need a 1" reduction in sidewall to get a 2" reduction in diameter... your math was correct if measuring the radius.


Edited by RevKibosh - September/20/06 at 11:39am
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: September/20/06 at 1:53pm
Go to Tirerack.com or tire rack on the internet and you will find some useful info pertaining to the questions asked. If you keep the same overall diameter you will not have to recalibrate your speedo. Be careful of going to to big a tire width, or overall diameter. The tire sites usually say things like "plus one" or "plus 2", or "plus zero" plus zero will give you the same overall characteristics as you have now. When you go to 17" wheels the ride will be somewhat harsher depending on the brand tire, as you will have less sidewall flex, this is not a bad thing. As you do not have a "S" Cooper, sticking with the "Plus Zero"(same over all size) will allow you to use your spare if you have a flat with no problem. Hope this helps.Ciao, Bill 
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: September/20/06 at 2:00pm

Here is a very handy tool for calculating the impact of different tire sizes:

http://www.discounttire.com/dtcs/infoTireMath.dos

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Direct Link To This Post Posted: September/20/06 at 2:17pm

Also, More technical information about tires than you ever wanted to know:

http://www.tirerack.com/about/techcenter.jsp

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Direct Link To This Post Posted: September/20/06 at 6:31pm

Originally posted by Red Dwarf Red Dwarf wrote:

As you do not have a "S" Cooper, sticking with the "Plus Zero"(same over all size) will allow you to use your spare if you have a flat with no problem. Hope this helps.Ciao, Bill 

That IS a consideration.  Unless you wish to pay to upsize your spare, as well?

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cheetah View Drop Down
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: September/20/06 at 11:12pm

 

Wow

My new motto is "seek and you shall search"  Thanks for all the responses and websites.

 I know its me and its a bit too complicated for my mini mind to understand.

My NEXT mini will have the wheels I want and sport seats.

Cheetah

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Direct Link To This Post Posted: September/20/06 at 11:52pm
Cheetah,

  Hang in there. Sets of wheels and tires are often posted on this forum as members upgrade. Our beloved MINI comes with a variety of shapes and sizes of wheels and members often upgrade to lighter wheels or wheels with a different "bling" factor and sell there stock wheels here. My 2003 MC has 17" MCS wheels on it.

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phydeaux View Drop Down
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: September/21/06 at 1:23am
Originally posted by RevKibosh RevKibosh wrote:



technically a 17" wheel will want a tire with a 3" sidewall to maintain the same overall diameter... since the sidewall counts on both sides of the circle you only need a 1" reduction in sidewall to get a 2" reduction in diameter... your math was correct if measuring the radius.


Oh, man.  Yes, you're right.  Now I feel silly.  :)

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