Mini

Revolution alloy wheels and Falken tyres

With the Mini sporting another years MOT and a new suspension, it was time to fit my new allow wheels and tyres.

For each of the front wheels I carried out the following: Removed the old road wheel and replaced it with a new alloy wheel and tyre. With the wheel nuts on and the wheel off the ground, I turned the wheel from full left lock to full right lock checking to see if the wheel/tyre caught on anything or touched the bodywork. I repeated the process with the wheel down on the ground.

For the back I checked that the wheel/tyre did not catch anything or touch the subframe or body at any point.

Once completely satisfied, I tightened up the wheel nuts to the recommended torque setting (60nm).

I then took the car for a drive and drove it in circles on full lock left and right. I also drove over a couple of speed bumps until I was satisfied that nothing was catching on anything.

The car still has it's standard wheel arches but I have some Group 2 arches which I will be fitting shortly. I just need to redo my sills (again).

There are lots of optional extras, mods, and upgrades you can get for your Mini. Fitting alloy wheels is a must if you want to finish off the look of your Mini.

Most Mini owners seem to like minilites, but they weren't for me. After umming and ahhing between Alleycats and Revolutions, I went for the latter, opting for a set of 4-spoke black alloys with chrome rims. To finish it off I chose 12x165x60 Falken tyres. These are directional tyres so you get two of each direction in a set of 4. Make sure you put the right tyres on the right side!

One point I'd like to make about the Revolutions. The wheel nuts and locking nuts from Revolution are coated with the thinnest coating of chrome ever. When you put them on, where the wheel nut spanner touched the edges of the wheel nuts, it turned to rust in only a few days! How crap is that? I'll be getting them re-chromed at some point in the future.