Cooper S R53 - wheels question

[Matt UK]

Will a Cooper S R53 accept 15" Cooper wheels? Google finds yes and no.

Any R53 owners confirm one way or t'other?

Just curious at this stage..

[mneame]

Matt UK said:

Will a Cooper S R53 accept 15" Cooper wheels? Google finds yes and no.

Any R53 owners confirm one way or t'other?

Just curious at this stage..

A mate fits a set of "hole-ies" on his as winter wheels on his 55 plate R53 Cooper S.

[ging84]

unless it has JCW brakes or other modification it will take anything a cooper or a one could have taken

[eatcustard]

Why fit them, the rubber is not wide enough to get the power down

[Matt UK]

Thanks guys - it was a set of winters I was looking into.

[mneame]

Matt UK said:

Thanks guys - it was a set of winters I was looking into.

Mate's one is running over 200 at the wheels and he doesn't have any problems with the narrower winter tyres.

[MX-5 Lazza]

eatcustard said:

Why fit them, the rubber is not wide enough to get the power down

Of course it is. My MX5 has 240bhp and my track wheels are 195/50/15 and I don't have any issues with traction at all. A standard Cooper S will be absolutely fine with 195s.

[Matt UK]

Well now that I have my r53 mcs, thanks to eBay I also seem to have sets of 15s, 16s and 17s! I'll see what's what when I get some tyres on them.

From my mx5 days I've always like small light wheels from a driving perspective, not overly fussed about looks ( although I do actually thinker smaller wheels are cool in a retro kind of way!)

Will report back in due course.

[turbolucie]

I had 15s for Winter 2 years ago. It was fine in the snow and handled much better than it does now on the standard s-spokes. I wish I hadn't sold them.