Mini Cooper (Non S) with Sport+?

[Charlie]

As the title states, any thoughts on this? I've been playing around with the idea for a bit. It sounds like this and a set of Hoosier R compounds would make for a hell of an H stock car.

Basically, this gives you the Cooper S suspension (stiffer spring rate, larger sways), with smaller, lighter wheels and from what I understand, about 200 pounds less overall weight. Anyone running this package right now that wants to give their thoughts?

-Charlie

[Kyle K.]

That is what my car is. The suspension is very nice and it handles like nobodies business even on the garbage stock runflats.

With a set of Hoosier R compounds the thing would be very very competitive. I saw one win an SCCA Autox (H stock of course) on the stock 15" wheels with Hoosiers, it was the only MINI there and it straight up dominated the field... it won by more than a half second if I recall. The stock 15s (the ones with the holes) weigh about 12 pounds each, which is why so many people run them for Autox (that and cheaper tires :D).

I'd definately go for it if I were you. I love my car as a daily driver, but when I get it out onto the autox course (only once so far :() it is so amazing.... all the instructors at the autox school I went to were really impressed with its handling, and again, that was on garbage stock runflat tires.

[MrElussive]

So what is the best tire size for the Mini? The 15" weigh 12lbs each (as you said) but you can get 17" SSR Competition wheels that weigh only 12.5lbs each (virtually no difference in weight). What wheel size (15", 16", or 17") provides the best overall performance for acceleration, handling, and braking?

[Kyle K.]

If you plan to run the car in H stock as the original poster specified, then you have to use a stock diameter and width wheel. That means either 15x5.5 or 16x6.5. Of course a lightweight 16" wheel would be better for performance since the extra inch of width will allow for much more tire. All I was saying is that the stock 15 is a popular choice for the combination of its light weight and low price (both for the wheels initially and for tires as they need replacing).

[MrElussive]

What about 17" wheels that are standard on the Mini Cooper S? Are 17" wheels just too big for the Mini?

[Kyle K.]

No, the 17s that come on the S fit the regular Cooper fine (I actually have them on mine now :cool: ), the bodies on the two cars are identical. H-stock is the class that the base MINI Cooper runs in, and since 17s are not a factory option on the regular Cooper, they are not allowed in H-Stock. Cooper S's are allowed to run 17s because they come from the factory with them.

[MrElussive]

Thanks for the info, Kyle. :)

[squid]

Three popular tire sizes for MINI autox are:

205/50-15
215/45-16
215/40-16

More info:

mini autox info (http://omor.com/mini/)

omor.com/mini/tires.php (http://omor.com/mini/tires.php)

http://omor.com/mini/tires/Hoosier_06.jpg