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cheetah
MINI Motorer
Joined: July/29/06
Location: Everett
Status: Offline
Points: 969
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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
05/MC/Gold, cheetah seats
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Sanaye
05/MC/Gold, cold weather package, fog lights, Lights in Site, heated seats, leather car bra and Cheetah interiors.
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phydeaux
MINI Motorer
Joined: July/20/05
Location: United States
Status: Offline
Points: 3098
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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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Mod list '05 DS/B MCS
WA plate "2AAREQD"
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HighBid
MINI Motorer
Joined: June/09/06
Location: United States
Status: Offline
Points: 460
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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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GP0223 Rec'd Monterey 8/18
Well Modded! I Think it's time to go racing! [IMG]http://home.earthlink.net/~frogwa/signature.jpg">
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QandElf
MINI Motorer
Joined: April/18/06
Location: United States
Status: Offline
Points: 1143
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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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'04 MCS IB/W: MINIQue, Prem/Sport/Cold, QWERKS & Other Mods
'09 MCCLSa CR/B: TH1NG 5, Prem/Sport/Cold/Conv/All Audio. Mods? Wife says NO Moding her MINI!
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cheetah
MINI Motorer
Joined: July/29/06
Location: Everett
Status: Offline
Points: 969
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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
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Sanaye
05/MC/Gold, cold weather package, fog lights, Lights in Site, heated seats, leather car bra and Cheetah interiors.
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RevKibosh
MINI Motorer
PSMINI Nonmember
Joined: August/14/04
Location: Ballard
Status: Offline
Points: 841
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Posted: September/20/06 at 11:39am |
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. ;)
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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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2004 BRG MCS - Gone
--Grant and Kylee
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Red Dwarf
MINI Motorer
Joined: April/07/06
Location: Kennewick, Wa
Status: Offline
Points: 104
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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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Chili Red 2006 MCS, The Red Dwarf, White hood stripes, racing number 515
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CINIMIN
MINI Motorer
Joined: August/27/05
Location: Everett WA
Status: Offline
Points: 4676
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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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Jack -
<font color=RED>CINIMIN [/COLOR]
2006 CR/W MCS - 6spd - LSD -15% Pulley - Dinan CAI ASA JH6's Koni FSD's 22mm Bar Have you hugged a curve today?
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CINIMIN
MINI Motorer
Joined: August/27/05
Location: Everett WA
Status: Offline
Points: 4676
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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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Jack -
<font color=RED>CINIMIN [/COLOR]
2006 CR/W MCS - 6spd - LSD -15% Pulley - Dinan CAI ASA JH6's Koni FSD's 22mm Bar Have you hugged a curve today?
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QandElf
MINI Motorer
Joined: April/18/06
Location: United States
Status: Offline
Points: 1143
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Posted: September/20/06 at 6:31pm |
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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'04 MCS IB/W: MINIQue, Prem/Sport/Cold, QWERKS & Other Mods
'09 MCCLSa CR/B: TH1NG 5, Prem/Sport/Cold/Conv/All Audio. Mods? Wife says NO Moding her MINI!
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cheetah
MINI Motorer
Joined: July/29/06
Location: Everett
Status: Offline
Points: 969
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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
05/MC, Gold
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Sanaye
05/MC/Gold, cold weather package, fog lights, Lights in Site, heated seats, leather car bra and Cheetah interiors.
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K1200LT
MINI Motorer
Joined: March/01/05
Location: United States
Status: Offline
Points: 141
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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.
Steve
Olympia
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phydeaux
MINI Motorer
Joined: July/20/05
Location: United States
Status: Offline
Points: 3098
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Posted: September/21/06 at 1:23am |
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.
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Oh, man. Yes, you're right. Now I feel silly. :)
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Mod list '05 DS/B MCS
WA plate "2AAREQD"
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