31 replies to this topic

[Dom]

Interesting.

Moved to FAQ

[Scott.Tamson]

And the Designer (SE) came with good ol steelies...

[william]

Excellant read stuff....Great info!

Best

[mike49]

very good read!
You should actually write a book! ..like really

[nurseholliday]

Ah interesting, if I fit wider tyres to my wheels I'll need to add a spacer.

So where there no Rover 'Minilites' produced that were 5" wide? Not even available as part of a JCW kit?

[THE ANORAK]

just to answer this (although a little late) yes you really should fit 5mm spacers on the rear hubs when using 165 tyres on the rover alloys otherwise the side wall of the tyre will rub on the radius arm during hard cornering due to the small offset of the wheel.

all the rover wheels i know of are 4.5 wide, although the cooper brochure that the accessory pack comes from stated that they are 12x5 ????

not sure on this but i will update if i find out any more

Edited by THE ANORAK, 08 June 2008 - 08:17 PM.

[mk1leg]

Well done Anorak ......................

[Guess-Works.com]

Just a thought about the quantity which was mentioned in the letter... and this is in no way a dis' on the excellent write up by "The Anorak"

Most of the photo's where the nuts are inline with the spokes are promotional photo's, therefore taken before the vehicle was available to the general market. Is there not a possibility that even though shown on the picture, the wheel may have been changed before or during the production run ?

I also had a 30 which had a harlequin set ( two of each )

[Miniholic]

just to answer this (although a little late) yes you really should fit 5mm spacers on the rear hubs when using 165 tyres on the rover alloys otherwise the side wall of the tyre will rub on the radius arm during hard cornering due to the small offset of the wheel.

all the rover wheels i know of are 4.5 wide, although the cooper brochure that the accessory pack comes from stated that they are 12x5 ????

not sure on this but i will update if i find out any more

The wheels in the Cooper kit were 12x5 and predated the Rover wheels (the Rover may have even been copies of these). IIRC they were made by a company called Cromadora or something similar.

The spacer issue is a little cloudier, when the 165 tyres were first launched as part of the cooper handling pack (4 tyres, 4 spax dampers, rear 5mm spacers) it was stated that the spacers were to clear the larger dampers. To back this up the factory cars that wee fitted with 165 tyres as standard didn't have spacers fitted. Also, the S converted cars (not S pack) from Cooper garages had 165 tyres and Koni dampers but no spacers.

[THE ANORAK]

Just a thought about the quantity which was mentioned in the letter... and this is in no way a dis' on the excellent write up by "The Anorak"

Most of the photo's where the nuts are inline with the spokes are promotional photo's, therefore taken before the vehicle was available to the general market. Is there not a possibility that even though shown on the picture, the wheel may have been changed before or during the production run ?

I also had a 30 which had a harlequin set ( two of each )

mmm, possible. i hadn't thought of that

just to answer this (although a little late) yes you really should fit 5mm spacers on the rear hubs when using 165 tyres on the rover alloys otherwise the side wall of the tyre will rub on the radius arm during hard cornering due to the small offset of the wheel.

all the rover wheels i know of are 4.5 wide, although the cooper brochure that the accessory pack comes from stated that they are 12x5 ????

not sure on this but i will update if i find out any more

The wheels in the Cooper kit were 12x5 and predated the Rover wheels (the Rover may have even been copies of these). IIRC they were made by a company called Cromadora or something similar.

The spacer issue is a little cloudier, when the 165 tyres were first launched as part of the cooper handling pack (4 tyres, 4 spax dampers, rear 5mm spacers) it was stated that the spacers were to clear the larger dampers. To back this up the factory cars that wee fitted with 165 tyres as standard didn't have spacers fitted. Also, the S converted cars (not S pack) from Cooper garages had 165 tyres and Koni dampers but no spacers.

very interesting, thanks for the info

well regardless of what the factory cars were fitted with, I'm still recommending spacers on all rover minilite style alloys with 165 tyres, the clearance is just too small without them and I'm talking about cornering HARD

thank you miniholic, welcome to the forum

Edited by THE ANORAK, 31 August 2008 - 05:32 PM.

[Miniholic]

well regardless of what the factory cars were fitted with, I'm still recommending spacers on all rover minilite style alloys with 165 tyres, the clearance is just too small without them and I'm talking about cornering HARD

Absolutely. The wheels sit nicer in the wheelarches anyway with the spacers. Mini Sport used to do a pair with extended studs for around £30, not sure what the going rate is now, but there's are better than a lot I have seen as they are machined from a flat plate rather than being cast.

thank you miniholic, welcome to the forum

Thanks.

[daemonchild]

Thanks - that helped a great deal.
One final piece to the puzzle if someone could....

What are the full specs for the tyres I'd need to buy for 12 x 4.5 Minilites?
You mention a 165 and a 145 - what are the other numbers?
And what brand do you recommend?
(New to this!!)

[Miniholic]

You've got a choice of two sizes, the original factory fit 145/70r12 or the upgraded 165/60r12. The latter were fitted to a few factory special editions then became standard fit on the Cooper from the 1995 model year.

I would go for Yokohama personally as I've found them to be better than the slightly cheaper Falkens, especially in the wet.

[mini_lad_1990]

i have the rover minilites i think on my rover mini checkmate limitied edition might no be but thats what the insurance said
they will be up for sale soon lol when i get tyres for my 13's

[daemonchild]

You've got a choice of two sizes, the original factory fit 145/70r12 or the upgraded 165/60r12. The latter were fitted to a few factory special editions then became standard fit on the Cooper from the 1995 model year.

I would go for Yokohama personally as I've found them to be better than the slightly cheaper Falkens, especially in the wet.

Thanks. Perfect info.