A New Mini MINI: The Rocketman...and it's going to be a long long time

  • Thread starter Thread starter Joey D
  • 60 comments
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blaaah
17 years of driving and testing tyres tells me otherwise. All my cars have been tiny little things. Keep the same diameter, same brand/tread tyre, not enough grip goes to enough grip by having just a wider tyre.
This Mini may already have enough grip/traction for it's weight and power (we don't know, and different drives would punish it more). But if it does it's not because it has 18" wheels, that is my point. It's possible for it to have more grip with 14" wheels and wider tyres. It's also possible, and I bet I could prove it that those 18" wheels/tyres would not be enough grip for me, especially as they are likely shod with eco low resistance tyres from Continental.

There is also a bit of a difference between handling great and grip. It could be really fun and balanced but also low grip. I'm just taking exception combining the word 18" wheels and sure-footedness and sports handling when the tyres could be like grease.
Click to expand...

Depends on the tire itself. Usually, wider tires are available in better compounds... and with stiffer sidewalls. But if the compound is the same, once you lose grip, the wider tire is no better than the narrower tire (as long as the sidewalls are the same). And I've driven some 200+ mm tires that were absolutely woeful in this regard.

Yokohama ADVAN sells racing tires in some really tiny sizes and widths, and they do just fine.

But true, the whole bit about "18's being good for grip" is complete bull. It's all about the tire, baby.
 

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