[rix]

Picked up our F55 MCS last week (I know, no pics yet!) and have to say how utterly impressed I am with the whole package. It really feels like a quality item. I love the Anglo-Germanic contrived cutesiness in a tongue in cheek way, love the sat grey leather, the power is certainly adequate for my needs (and that's coming from my own 400+ bhp V8), but most of all I love the handling and just how adjustable/fun it is at sensible speeds...

I live in the home of the roundabout, and at everyone I can't help but behave like a hooligan (traffic permitting) and it's such fun. I think it's partly down to the relatively skinny 16" wheels which seem perfect for the car, and also give a reasonable ride...

If anyone is tempted to save their cash for some more fruitful options then sticking with the smaller wheels is the way forward!

 

[rottenbend]

+1 16" for go. 17" and 18" for show.

 

[caveman dave]

17" and above are for show. 15" for +mpg. 16" are the best all round package, mpg and they steer faster.

 

[Tiger]

What Dave said. Everybody thinks I have 17s anyway and I've got the 16s. They sure take a lot of the pain out of potholes and bad roads too.

 

[ljmiii]

You have no idea how comforting it is to read these posts. I kept going back and forth on the 16" Silver Victory vs 17" Silver Cosmos and finally chose the 16" Victorys. And ever since my MINI went into production been thinking...well maybe I should have gotten the 17"ers, swapped out for non-run flats, and carried around a can of inflato-sealer-gunk.

The worst part of being able to order your MINI and wait for the car you want...is ordering your MINI and waiting for the car you want.

 

[Tiger]

You have no idea how comforting it is to read these posts. I kept going back and forth on the 16" Silver Victory vs 17" Silver Cosmos and finally chose the 16" Victorys. And ever since my MINI went into production been thinking...well maybe I should have gotten the 17"ers, swapped out for non-run flats, and carried around a can of inflato-sealer-gunk.

The worst part of being able to order your MINI and wait for the car you want...is ordering your MINI and waiting for the car you want.

I went through exactly the same thing. Took one look at it when the dealer pulled it around and breathed a big sigh of relief & zero regret.

 

[jeremybingham]

Sorry in love with my 17''s .great handling quieter and more refined than my winter 16's so very happy. and love the looks (black cosmos).

 

[Atrak]

Curious to see how much each wheelsize including tire weights.
My SD should arrive in 2 weeks and is on 16" black victory spokes.

 

[Angib]

I have been through 15s, 16s and now 17s on my second generation Minis. When the F57 arrives, I am going to go for 16s as I will also go back to a Cooper and they should be enough for that. I'll be tempted to try the choice that many Americans seem to favour of putting 205/50-16s on standard 16 wheels - particularly for winter wheels where grip can be in short supply.

 

[opal]

Also been down the 15, 16" and 17" route on my previous R56Minis. The rise was terrible on my last R56 Mini with 17"wheels and the rims prone to damage due to the 45 profile..


I drove a F56 demo with 17" wheels and the ride is much improved compared to the previous R56, but I wanted he black 16" Victory spokes and am very happy with them.

 

[kenl]

I have 15' wheels on mine. Ride is comfy and handling is great fun. These should also be best in snow of the standard size.

Only downside is that they look so skinny from behind.

I do agree that 16 is probably the best choice overall. 17 run flats on my r56s were nasty!

 

[Tiger]

I'm also rapidly concluding that the sweet spot with the runflats is at 16. I just don't have any of the issues people are complaining about with that tire... I've got 1800 miles on it in the two weeks I've had it, and was spending between 5 and 6 hours a day in the thing on my trip, and I don't notice road noise or harshness from the tires. Obviously, on a tightly wound suspension, some of them are gonna hurt, but in normal driving, there's nothing that tells me these tires are anything different

 

[kenl]

You may find that they start tram lining badly once they are more worn.

 

[Tiger]

You may find that they start tram lining badly once they are more worn.

Hmm... we may have hit a language barrier... I'm not familiar with the term tram lining. I'm going to take a guess at deconstructing that and say it means that vehicle's wheels tend to follow the contours in the road surface? Like motorcycle tires on grooved pavement?

 

[kenl]

Yes, that's what tramlining is.

 

[kenl]

UK we use pavement when US uses sidewalk.
We use tarmac (road surface) when you use pavement.

 

[Tiger]

UK we use pavement when US uses sidewalk.
We use tarmac (road surface) when you use pavement.

Yep, those I know. I just tripped momentarily over tramlining. I'm glad my powers of deconstruction are still intact, tho ha.

 

[Shigaman]

Another vote for the 16"!

 

[opal]

Hmm... we may have hit a language barrier... I'm not familiar with the term tram lining. I'm going to take a guess at deconstructing that and say it means that vehicle's wheels tend to follow the contours in the road surface? Like motorcycle tires on grooved pavement?

Tramlining goes back to the early 1900's when bicycles got there narrow tyres/tires stuck in the metal grooves in the road used by tram wheels and couldn't steer any other way. So tires following grooves in the road.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tram

 

[JJH]

Hmm... we may have hit a language barrier... I'm not familiar with the term tram lining. I'm going to take a guess at deconstructing that and say it means that vehicle's wheels tend to follow the contours in the road surface? Like motorcycle tires on grooved pavement?

I have Pirelli Run-Flats on 16" wheets on my F56 Cooper D and they are excellent...

I've never experienced any tramlining issues on previous R-series MINI cars with worn Run-Flats - just much less comfort & more noise than with my current car!

Seems to me that BMW/MINI has finally sorted out the NVH issues with this RF/16" combo but, while I like the way they look, I would not run bigger wheel sizes with Run-Flats on a MINI.