17" or 18"!

[roy]

recently i have just perchased a mini cooper s 55 and can't decide weather to put a set of 18 inch or 17 inch alloys on it.i prefere the big 18s but dont want to compromise to much handling and dont want it to look higher so i dont have to lower it.please help

[ohmegahi]

Hello fellow Mini Enthusiast.

You may want to consider 17 inch wheel instead for the real world driving. If you hit a large Pot Hold, it may damage your Rims. 17 inches is a good compromise. Also, regarding your ride height concerns, the larger the Rims, the lower the profile your tire should be so the overall circumference stays the same and would not screw up your speedometer reading and the wear and tears on the wheel bearing if your wheel is too large. You may want to contact the professioanl folks at Tire Rack.

[Konstantinos88]

If you want less problems, stick with the wheel and tire sizes that are currently designated for your MINI. I decided to do the same for the time being, because I didn't want it to be too tall, or to have the odometer and speedometer to be misleading. Furthermore, without a suspension setup and 18" rims, you will surely encounter rubbing problems. Your best bet is to stick with your current rim size.