NJ on the first Aussie Moke i ran 205/60-13's which were a tad too wide so on the second Moke i ran 185/60-13's which worked excellent with no tracking or torque steer. With the stock Metro 1275 diff i got 20 mph per 1000 revs and it was comfortable at 70 mph with the f/g bimini top.

Interesting bit of info (well to me anyway and maybe you) the Cosworth Vega 13x6 wheels were stamped GKN on the back who is /was a big manufacturer in the UK and i found out they used this wheel on the UK Vauxhall Firenza 2.3 (droop snoot), btw the new owner wanted stock white spokes on the Moke so i still have the Cosworths and sold the second set i had to Corky Priep for his Moke.

Mal,

How did the Cosworth Vega rims do in this category?

Yes i realize those points. My referencing the Moke wheels was that they track fine and don't have the probleems of the wider 13's because they do not have the offset of the 13 x 6"s and 13 x 7"s.

The open fender of the Moke meant no rubbing in the front. The rear swing-arms of the Aussie Mokes with 13" wheels was unique - they were extended so there was more clearance between the mounting bracket and the leading edge of the tire. Thus the Aussie Mokes with 13" wheels had a lot more options for tire sidewall height.

165/70-10 = 19.1" diameter

165/60-12 = 19.8" diameter

175/50-13 = 19.9" diameter

There is not a lot of difference but the 13's are the largest and of course rim offsets and the amount of tire contact is where the problems start. Later Aussie Mokes were fitted with 13's from the factorybut only about a 4.5 inch rim with a 165/70 series tire i beleive and they had none of the problems you see with the wider tire/offset 13's.

Quite simply no.

Go to the Mania stock room and put a straight edge on the top of two 165/70/10 or 165/60/12 tyres with a suitable gap in the middle (like a limbo bar), then post a video of you trying to roll a 13" tyre through the gap.

X2

I thought this horse would be dead by now. Some people like white bread others whole wheat. Not much chance that will change. Steve (CTR)

10 inch tires and rims all the way!!! All the Minis I've ever owned have been MKI, (pre-1967). I don't even know when they went to 12 inch, but 13 inch??? OH H*** NO!!! Might as well buy a 'Juke' or something if you're needing something disproportionate and contrary to nature! HA! Anyway, the sqirrells last longer running in the shorter tires, so there!                     Mini Estate

For an explanation of why narrower wheels might have improved the torque steer, research the term "scrub radius."

Wide Mini wheels are usually the stylish deep dish types, and these type of wheels increase scrub radius. A large postive scrub radius can make torque steer much, much worse. And it can't be necessarily fixed with an alignment.

That's why most front wheel drive cars are spec'ed with positive-offset wheels (wheels with a "raised" center vs. a dished one.)

 

 

Krdennis,

Changing from 13x7's to 13x6's on a VTEC is not for a height differences if there is one but because the 6's are one inch narrower - which for whatever reason cuts back on the torque steer.

That and all the other changes I made along with professional corner balancing took out all the torque steer.  It took a couple years to get to this point but it's now a dream when I romp on the pedal.

I do agree that the turning radius must be larger on the big wheels since I would think it should be way tighter than what it is but when I bought the car it had 13x7's so I know no difference.

 

Alex,

Wasn't there also something written about the combination of the extra unsprung weight, the larger turning radius (limited rack travel) and the car not having enough overall weight to properly utilize the contact patch all adding up to the less desirable handling of the Sportpack models?

I weighed a Sportspack wheel & tyre a couple of years ago, and it was near-as-makes-no-difference twice the weight of a 10" or 12" wheel & tyre.

Sportspack wheels are spectacularly heavy compared to other 13" wheels available mind you, but I'm 10" all the way except for the odd 12" depending on the car.

@ Rick -

"Conventional wisdom" from a number of Mini Mag/World articles is that Clubbies tend to look better with larger wheels than do Roundnose cars. But, I fully agree that it's horses for courses.

The best combo I've had models your experience in OZ.

Not a fan of 13"ers but to each his or her own...have run 10s exclusively in North America on my own Mini but drove 12s on a loaner Cabriolet (MMW 2005).

I was impressed with the 12" and 165/60s on the '73 Clubman Van in Australia.  Ample room for the 8.4" disc brake set up, did not look out of place and...no body or suspension mods to bother with.

Will be looking at 12s for the Countryman build to get bigger brakes to go with the turbo unit.

I agree with Bluepiper

I have had 10s, 13x5.5, 13x6, and 13x7s

If you are white knuckling any type of drive with 13x7s it is due to your alignment. 

I still want to consider some 12x6s for my vtec swap. The tire height difference are so minimal that I don't believe 61MiniMe has a valid point.

All tires run at different heights so it is still possible to find a tire that is the same height has the 175/50 but for 12" rims.

 

My Mini has 13" wheels w/ 175/50 tires...I must be missing something myself because I do not see the problem....my car steers dead straight on the freeway and is not bothered by small grooves in the hiway. Dead on at 70 and I can let go of the wheel and it drives true and straight, no shimmy, shake or wander. Until yesterday the car sat VERY low, the trans. was only 4.35 inches from the road surface and it did ride a bit rough.

I just raised the front ride height (at the trans.) to about 5 3/4 inches and it has a much better ride. The lower ride height would be for auto-X I am guessing. Still, it handles like a go cart and the ride is not like a Lexus, but I am old school I guess.  I will sacrafice a bit of a hard ride for better handling and performance. To be honest, I probably need to drive a car with 12's.  When I had my old mini in the mid 1970's I ran with 10" Goodyear gumballs.

The cost and availability of 13" are a bit of an issue though.

Wow thats the story behind the brakes I put on that pickup!? That was ages ago. I put 12's on that truck.

Do you know anyone with a mini with 13" wheels?  Maybe you can take it for a drive and understandwhat everyone is telling you.  Or better yet, if they had a spare set you can put on your mini for a few days.  Just to get it out of your system.

I drove a mk1 with 10" wheels as a daily driver for a little over a year.  Then I wanted to buy another mini.  One with big flares.  And big wheels.  Just because I liked the look.  Bought my current mini with sportspack flares and added huge 13x7 wheels and tires for $900.  Drove it around with a big stupid grin on my face for a while.  After several months of daily use, I found the brakes were worn, and I installed a pair of cross drilled rotors, Green stuff pads, and rebuilt the calipers (awesome combo, BTW).  In addition to the negatives that everyone else already mentioned, I found that it likes to find all the ruts in the road and ride in them.  With the wide wheels, going 70-75mph, I had to white knuckle the steering wheel, otherwise it may suddenly veer into the next lane.  I found myself wanting to go back to 10s. 

After saving up $800 for a Cooper S brake conversion (they were on sale), $800 for a set of 10x6 GB wheels and A008s, I converted it to 10" wheels.  Ride was much better and it didn't track the ruts anymore.

Did I listen to anyone when they told me not to do it?  Nope.  But I learned an expensive lesson just to scratch that itch.  Ended up selling the 13x7s for $350 and the 8.4" brakes with the hubs and CV joints for $300 to Stingray, who got them to 94 touring, who put them on a kick ass pickup he was working on (at least that's where I think they went??)

Eventually I removed the sportspack flares and ended up with a completely different looking mini than I bought, but hey, lesson learned.  A very expensive one.  And that didn't include swapping the "upgraded" 3 clock dash back to a center binnacle....

That looks good! I really like the 12x6 jbw wheels. I may go that route and try different archs to get the look I want.