Hey all,
I have a 78' Clubman that im working on. I'm looking into updating the wheels and tyres. Have had 13x7" minilites on it before but it scrubbed all the time and was going to require pretty major mods to the guards to make them fit properly.

For those who have clubmans with big wheels, whats the biggest i can run without having to chop the guards up? I'll probably put some bigger "bolt on" flares on. but dont want to cut up the car.

Thanks,
Matt

Depends on what height you have the car at & how hard you drive it.

12x5.5 is a safe bet. I never managed to get mine to rub even with the car lowered.
When I changed to 13x7 it was fine until I took it to the track, and it did require some major cutting.

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Too many cars, and too little time.

What are the legalities and insurance issues on fitting 12 and 13 inch wheels to Minis, I have been reading a few articles on some of the Holden and Ford forums where guys have been defected for running wheels that are too big and outside the ADR specs, ie: putting 19"/20" wheels on cars that originally had say 16 or 17", from what I can gather reading those threads, is that the overall rolling diameter of the wheel tyre combo can increase by no more than 15mm (the rules changes a few years back), and the load and speed ratings of the tyres must be equal to or more than the original specs for the vehicle, how does say a 12" combo compare to say a 10" in overall diameter, can you get 12/13" tyres with a low enough profile as to not increase the overall diameter too much. Have a read of section 8 in the below link.

http://www.vicroads.vic.gov.au/NR/rdonl ... 0/VSI8.pdf

No problem.
The 175/50R13 tyres are only 2mm (i.e. 0.4% bigger) than the standard fitment 12" rims & tyres.

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Too many cars, and too little time.

Where does one have to trim when fitting 13" wheels to a roundnose ?

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DID I MENTION THAT I AM THE BEST SUPPLIER FOR MINI ELECTRICAL PARTS AND REPAIRS?
"Let us remove your "SHORTS"

When I did my rover it was basically just the front of the two front wheel arches. Took me about 2 hours to do nicely. No scrubbing.

The trimming of the arches is pretty much the same for Clubbie or Curvie



More details on how I did mine here (bottom of page):
http://www.ausmini.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=634508

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Too many cars, and too little time.

Yes Problem! They Rub! Just chop about 20-30mm off front of front guard and tapper it back about 150-200mm round!

No problem - to Dewie's question about the legality of fitting 13" rims.
I do have a problem with people taking things out of context.

It is the width and offset of 13x7" rims that causes the rubbing, not the diameter, but this is exacerbated if 50 series profile tyres are not used.

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Too many cars, and too little time.

From memory you can increase 2 inches in diameter ans 1 inch in width from standard. Check with your local transport dpt what is allowed for a 1960 odd mini.

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Respect mine and I'll respect yours.

Could you not argue that they came from the factory with 12 inchers (and 13s) ??? True that is was on a later model, but the suspension etc was common....

Cheers, Ian

From what I have read that 2 inch rule was changed in 2009, the governing rule now from what I can make out reading from various forums and that Vic Roads web site is that the overal diameter of the wheel/tyre combo can increase by no more than 15mm, so the bigger the diameter of the rim the lower the profile of the tyre has to be to fit within the 15mm rule. Maybe it does not apply to older cars like the Mini though as there are no tyre placards fitted to the older cars running the 10" rims.
I was mainly asking how a car with the original 10" combo compared to say a 12" or 13" tyre/rim combo as I have never seen them sit side by side and whether they are legal or whether you could get a defect for running them on a car that originally had 10" rims.

are the 12x5.5 the largest wheel you can get under the arch without cutting ?

Kevin'

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MY MINI
Morris Mini Deluxe 1967 Restore - 100% BMW FREE
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It's very simple: Cutting is a result of width and offset.
If you have skinny enough 13, 14 or 15 inch wheels with little negative (outward) offset then guard cutting isn't needed.
On the other hand if you have a set of real fat ass 10 x 10s you will need to cut the arch.

It's not always diameter that decides if the arches need trimming!

I reckon minis handle best on 10' wheels. Yes the 13x7 look good (to some) I've driven a car with 13x7's and although the grip is increased (not that I noticed but logically it should have more), it felt sluggish and not as nimble as a car with 10" wheels? Acceleration is also down as you're pushing 2 inches extra.

I'd argue that 10x5 Yokohama A032Rs are as good as any mini will need (under 160bhp) and handle great. In fact I am happy with A008's and 120bhp, no complaints. I am at the edge of grip sometimes but that's only because I want to be silly

The best compromise I have seen are what Graham Russell has on his 1400 LS, I think they are Minatoars? they are 12x6 but with very low profile tyres. The result is that the overall outer diameter of the wheel is only 1 or half an inch larger than a 10" wheel with yokos on. End result is excellent handling and excellent grip.

Morale of the story is 13x7 are really just for look factor, nothing to do with performance and in fact from my experience, makes them worste...

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Lillee - 1969 Morris Mini K