Sportspack Wheel Arch Query

The best wheels to fit are the original sportspack, but if you go for 13x7" you will need to cut a strip off the front wings , and to fit hi-los to the rear to stop the tyres catching the arches, if you nee some photos of wing modifications, email me Fitzy

I know this might be no good to you but TBH I always found the wood and picket arches much better for covering a set of 13's, even the ubiquitous sportspack. Remove the NOSPAM from my spunged email addy and I'll send you a coupla pics - my hillclimb '79 GT on 13 4spoke revvys and a friends mini flame on 13's. both with w&p. The sportspack look like bubbles from little britain by comparison ;-)

Chris

Don't do it. 13-inch wheels spoil the appearance and handling of a Mini. The trend now is to switch 12-inch cars back to the original

10-inchers for the classic look and best handling.

Regards, David Betts snipped-for-privacy@minilist.org The Mini Gallery:

I second that!

Steve.

some people prefer the look of 13s though, David.

This is true, but is even harder than putting 13s on. 13s require just an arch trim and hi-los and bolt on arches. If you buy a good quality arch set, you get templates to show you where to cut the arches anyway. The 12-10 inch conversion requires a new brake setup, ie 7.5 inch discs rather than the standard 8.4 inch discs from a 12 inch wheeled mini. These are costly to buy as they are only the cooper S or 1275 gt originals. or you could machine the existing discs down to size.

"GO" shoud do what he/she wants, not what you already have on your car.

BTW i own 10 inch, 12 and 13" wheeled minis so consider myself fairly impartial. RS

Couldn't disagree more. A few years back I went to a mini trackday at Cadwell Park, primarily a motorcycle track but excellent for mini's. I went out in a yellow turbo mini from the blandford mini lot - no doubting it had an awful lot of grunt and handled well but it never felt as smooth as my

1380GT on 13's. I'm sure he was running Avon tyres on his 10" 6 spoke alloys. To me it felt like sidewall flex. If you ever get the chance to do a trackday at cadwell park - DO IT!

Wheel size choice is entirely personal and I dont believe there is a right or a wrong size. The 13" wheels allowed me to fit a vented 4pot turbo metro setup easily - and alot cheaper than a Cooper S setup - to a car I knew I was going to thrash within an inch of its life. I do believe though that saying 10" wheels handle best is wrong. Are you honestly saying that if the miglia regs changed to allow 13's then the racers would all stay at 10's?

What can be said though is the state of most of the roads in britain doesn't encourage the use of 10" wheels!

Chris

Your right about 10s on today's roads, as for 13" sprotspacks they are running on a suspension set up designed for a 10" wheel, ball joints, steering racks & wheel bearings wear quicker coupled with a reduced turning circle ( where correct steering rack fitted ) & a reduced top speed + a width of 5 foot 3 not 4 foot 9, size is everthing!

Steve.

Of course they do... and people can do what they like with their own cars. Some people like suspension they can jack up and down and neons. Doesn't make it tasteful .

Absolutely correct. Which is why I have left my car on 12-inch wheels rather than converting to 10. Looks and handles better on 12-inchers than it would on 13-inchers.

Of course he should. More likely to regret it if he goes the extreme route, though. Why not just leave the wheel-size alone. Plenty of other ways to make a Mini individual.

Never owned one of the 'sportspack' cars, but I have driven one. It really felt awful after my non-sportspack Mpi. Best handling Mini I ever owned - and the one with the most interior storage space, easiest to read instruments and best window arrangement - was a 1960 example.

Regards, David Betts snipped-for-privacy@minilist.org The Mini Gallery:

Don't confuse handling with roadholding. They are different things. You may well get better ultimate grip with taller wheels and wider, lower-profile tyres. What you will lose is balance and chuckability and feedback and all those other diffcult-to-define elements which combine to make a car controllable on the limit and fun to drive.

Regards, David Betts snipped-for-privacy@minilist.org The Mini Gallery:

What you are saying is don't confuse handling with grip. My own car was very much modified, even having the lip cut out of the rear arches to lower it. The only problem I had with mine was a tendency to oversteer when changing direction quickly at speed (always in the cold though), it was always catchable. The only other problem was traction, over the mountain it wanted to spin the wheels up every lap. Until I went to a 3.9 diff from 3.4 it didn't suffer from torque steer either. All mini's are fun to drive on their limit, what makes them a truly great car I suppose.

Chris

I'd be quite happy to stick with 12"wheels, what ever fills the arches, what I am concerned with is how deep a dish do I need to accomplish this without going over the top....

Personally, I wouldn't go wider than 5.5s for road use.and I think the

5-inchers feel better. If looks are your priority, however...

Pay a visit to

view some of the options. Not suggesting you leap in and buy fromMinisport without making some price comparisons, though. Regards, David Betts snipped-for-privacy@minilist.org The Mini Gallery:

Having had a look at the minisport ws I may compromise a bit & go for the

13" 6's

news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com...

10 inchers won't fit over the brake discs & calipers, the 13s with low profiles seem to be the best option....however I am unsure what offset to go for to fill the sportspack wheelarches...thanks to all who sent pictures, links etc...decision is made...going to go for the sportspack & ultralight option....

Good choice Geoff, look forward to seeing you at the Llandudno run, Fitzy