2011 Cooper S, 16" rims?

[gareth h]

Guys, some advice please, I have just bought my wife a 2011 S convertible, it is on 17" rims with low quality non rft tyres, the ride is pretty firm over Wiltshire's finest potholes, in the past I have ditched 19" rims on my cars and fitted 18"s which ride and handle much better.
Would it be a sensible option to fit 16" rims to the mini for the same reason (I'm going to have to fit decent tyres anyway)?
Ta
G

[ghiblicup]

The 17's are fine. Just put some proper tyres on and you'll be amazed at the difference!

[MCC1]

HI

Changing to from 17" to standard 16" rims will naturally give you a bigger sidewall on your tyre (assuming you fit standard), meaning your ride should subsequently be a touch softer as you have more tyre wall to drive on.

If the ride is your No.1 priority, then I'd drop to 16's.


M

[cerb4.5lee]

MCC1 said:

If the ride is your No.1 priority, then I'd drop to 16's.

Agree with this and I've got 17's without run flats on my Cooper S, and the ride still isn't that great. 16's are standard on the Cooper S I believe.

[sad61t]

I've test driven a 17" shod R56 and preferred 16". On a 122 hp Cooper there's plenty of grip on the OEM tyres. (Whereas 15" Conti winters hint of understeer).

Check you can get a decent performance tire in that size, and that it doesn't have a brake upgrade that require 17" rims for clearance.

[vikingaero]

I'm on 16" alloys on my Clubman S with non-runflats. It's 10 times better than the 17" runflats. The car drives better as the suspension can react to bumps/potholes/uneven surfaces rather than skidding/skipping or hopping around.

[britz]

I have just put Hankook V12 EVO 2's on my 17" rims to replace the run flats. Its like driving a totally different car . So much smoother over uneven roads. I guess non run flats on 16" would be even smoother. I will find out this winter as I have some 16" Team Dynamics pro race 1.2 with winter tyres to put on.

[a11y_m]

All the info you need: https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?t=17...

I swapped from 17” with runflat to 16” with non-runflat. Best decision ever for me.