Smaller wheels on Bini wheel she notice the difference

[Vince70]

Today I acquired a set of brand new genuine set of mini wheels and tyres for a friends mini from my neighbour for a bargain price of £140 as she has kerbed her wheels more than a few times so are starting to look a bit tatty.

 

The only thing is the wheels on the car at the moment are 205 16s and the new wheels are 175 15s and wondered would it make much difference to the handling etc.

 

Also the new wheels came off a 2013 mini coupe when it was new and will be going on a 2004 R53 Bini so should I have any problems with the offset etc.

[Parky]

She will appreciate the lighter steering and better ride, the 16's are pretty harsh riding.

 

Unless your neighbour is Sabine Schmidt and she is planning a new assault on the ring tomorrow, I think you'll be fine.

[RRT22R]

There are a few fitment issues when fitting earlier, smaller (15") wheels to later cars, as the later cars have slightly larger discs.

 

However, as you will be fitting later wheels to an earlier car, you should be fine. 

[Ghosty]

I know there aren't any issues with PCD, centre bore etc.

[MarvinsMom]

i have found that BINI ONE convertibles are winking at me more and more recently.

 

and that makes me feel a bit dirty.....

[unclecalzone]

Don't wish to be a pedantic arse type here but isn't the r53 the cooper s?

 

 

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[KruJoe]

Don't wish to be a pedantic arse but Vince, please look on your keyboard between the full stop and shift button.

 

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Edit: Sorry, I am being a pedantic arse, I'm off the beer tonight.

[unclecalzone]

Was just thinking about caliper clearances if it was the cooper s.

But then I spent a further 15 minutes figuring out how to turn that stupid signature off

[Supernaut]

But the proposal is to fit later, smaller wheels to an early car.

[Pillock]

Yes. 2013 wheels on a 2004 car is what I understood is the question.

I'd imagine it will ride better, so as long as she doesn't care about the bling it'll be fine.

[Parky]

Replacement tyres will be cheaper too. Improved ride comfort and lower costs equals win!

[Vince70]

I'm not fitting the new wheels on the Bini for a couple of weeks now as the owner is moving and her new house won't have a dirty great big curb outside to damage the wheels on..

 

But it's good to know that the wheels will fit over the brakes ok..

 

Also while I'm at it I've got to get the passenger window working again as hitting the door panel is no longer doing the trick plus I've got to take the panel off anyway to replace the plastic door strap anyway so I might as well kill two birds with one stone.

Then there's talk about maybe changing the power steering pump but it's only stopped working twice in two years and that was supposedly for a split second both times so I'm wondering if it ever did stop working or if she imagined it as I did tell her that power steering pumps are a weak point on a Bini.

[alf892]

Have you worked out the difference is rolling radius in these? Sounds like a good swap as long as you don't loose too much

[Vince70]

No I wouldn't know where to start but I got it wrong the car is an R50 cooper so these came with 15 inch wheels as standard and it's got some optional 16 inch wheels on at the moment.

 

I doubt it will make much difference but the car has the device that tells you if you have a flat or slow puncture and after pumping the tyres up you reset a button.

I guess it's just a case of putting the new smaller wheels on and checking the pressures then resetting the tyre monitor rather than being like the useless Renault system which had special valves that I had on a Laguna 2.

[Noel Tidybeard]

2004 bini doesnt have 205 16s

 

195/55 R16

205/45 R17

 

or without runflats 175/65 R15

 

according to one of the comparison sites

[Vince70]

Non run flats so the tyres will be 205/50/16 on the original wheels.

[Slartibartfast]

Does changing the wheel size affect the speedo or is it too small a change to have an effect?

[Vince70]

I was wondering the same myself as the Bini comes with so many wheel size options from the factory surely every car can't be calibrated differently from the next one off the production line.

[Pillock]

The overall rolling radius often stays within a few percent unless you're going mental. As you go up in wheel diameter, the aspect ratio and width change too so a mini might have had 175/55R15, 185/45R16 options which will be close enough. There's calculators online to help you out as the middle number is a percentage, not a size.

 

Also, Speedos are usually made to over-read by 5-10% so if you do change tyre size, you don't end up going faster than you thought you were.

 

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[AMC Rebel]

Does changing the wheel size affect the speedo or is it too small a change to have an effect?

 

 

I was wondering the same myself as the Bini comes with so many wheel size options from the factory surely every car can't be calibrated differently from the next one off the production line.

 

A lot of car makers do this - my Jaaag and MG were offered with different wheel sizes (Jag 17-20, MG/Rover 75 15-18), but the overall rolling circumference tends to be kept very close by using different aspect ratios.  As others have mentioned, brakes may limit the sizes that can be fitted - 15" R75 wheels won't fit my MG as the brakes are bigger.

[anonymous user]

The title thread reminded me of an old schoolfriend complaining to her dad that he had moved all her stuff around in her mini clubman. He pointed out that he'd had to move it as he had changed the car. It was the same colour, but three years newer and with different interior trim this wasn't enough for her to tell the difference; to be fair she had no interest in cars.