Mini Wheels on a Festiva?

[DriverOne]

wheel7holesilverru0.jpg

These have been growing on me lately. I'm not in line to purchase any, but they're 15x5.5 (same width as a Festy alloy) with a +45 offset (spacers for sure), and would run a 165/55R15 tire. What are your opinions on the wheel for a Festiva? Go ahead and mention what mods you would do to the wheel to add your personal flare. My car is red, and I like the gold powdercoat mesh wheels, but I also love the old-school racing wheels, and I figure if I could throw those on, maybe... I guess the biggest concern would be centerbore, but they look like they'd be a perfect fit.

[FestYboy]

looks like an overgrown Dialtone, so i'm not apposed to it... a 165/55 is going to be tall. i just compaired them (from a Smart car) to stock 12s and 155/70/13s, we're looking at 1" too tall.

[DriverOne]

Oops, sorry FestYboy, 165/45R15.

[FestYboy]

that'll work! go get 'em!

[gauge_half_inch]

Good luck finding that size instock. You can get them, but it will take some searching.

[DriverOne]

Re: Mini Wheels on a Festiva?

Good luck finding that size instock. You can get them, but it will take some searching.

http://www.groupbuytires.com/165-45R15-FEDERAL-FORMOZA-FD1/dp/B00587HGHA?traffic_src=froogle&utm_medium=organic&utm_source=froogle#.UVhEqSfD_qA

The forums say those wheels weigh 12lbs each. I'm liking this more and more. A 15" rim at 12 lbs and no more rubbing with weight in the back. I'll put together a pic to see what they would look like...

I found 165/50R15 there too.

http://www.groupbuytires.com/165-50R15-FEDERAL-FORMOZA-FD1/dp/B00587HM8S?traffic_src=froogle&utm_medium=organic&utm_source=froogle#.UVhJ2CfD_qA

[DriverOne]

Here we go! The car is blue, but I'm surprised how good that looks! Those wheels were resized from their original image to match the 15" wheels on the car. I would have the center powdercoated gold and the lip polished, just to keep the current color scheme. Jeez, I think I sold myself on them already. Ok, time to sell a Saturn..

[Christ]

I love how that looks... good bit of English/Euro styling on it.

[DriverOne]

Re: Mini Wheels on a Festiva?

I love how that looks... good bit of English/Euro styling on it.

I really like it. I found out that a set of 1/4" (6.37mm) spacers will put them right at the stock offset too.

[htchbck]

[ATTACH=CONFIG]12028[/ATTACH]they're 15x5.5 (same width as a Festy alloy)

False, Festy alloy is 4.5" wide.

[DriverOne]

Re: Mini Wheels on a Festiva?

False, Festy alloy is 4.5" wide.

Thank you. So that means the new tires would actually stick out half an inch farther, on both the inside and outside lips. Cool

[koRnhead]

Those aren't bad...I do prefer my 15 in, Lancer OZ rims though.

[Safety Guy]

I have a set, but they still have the original 185/60-15 tires on them. Maybe tomorrow I'll take them to a used tire place to have them taken off if the place wants the old tires (plenty of life in them).

Here's some info and pics from other parts of the internetz:

http://forums.vwvortex.com/showthread.php?5266515-FS-MINI-COOPER-Phone-Dials-w-tires-900-shipped

http://forums.thecarlounge.com/showthread.php?5667477-WTB-Mini-Imola-R81-4x100-wheels&p=77093420

http://forums.pnwfahren.com/showthre...a-Imola%29-200 (really big pics here, including them on an old A1 Jetta!)

The "phone dial" MINI wheels are also known as "Imolas." The designation is "R81." They weigh 12 pounds and have +45 offset. I think they have a 57mm hub bore. (I also believe that they were made by Enkei.)

Karl

[Safety Guy]

Another link to MINI wheel info:

http://measurespeed.com/mini-rims-wheel-weight.php

This suggests that the steel 15 X 5.5" MINI wheels weigh only 14.7 pounds. That's quite a bit lighter than the steel Miata wheels: 18 pounds for 14 X 5.5" steelies.

Also, the MINI temp. spare steel wheel is shown at 15 X 3.5" size. Hmmm, look at this tire size:

http://ssl.delti.com/cgi-bin/rshop.pl?dsco=135&sowigan=&Breite=145&Quer=65&Felge=15&Speed=&kategorie=6&LoadRange=&Marke=&ranzahl=4&suchen=View+tires

I'd be a bit uncomfortable putting a 145mm wide tire on the 5.5" wide Imolas, but they'd be perfect for a 3.5" wide wheel--that only weighs 12.7 pounds!

In comparison, my 13 X 5.5" VW alloys weigh 15 pounds each.

CENTERBORE UPDATE:

http://www.wheelspecs.com/Mini-R81_wm2326.aspx

Looks like 56mm (not 57 as I said earlier).

Karl

[DriverOne]

Re: Mini Wheels on a Festiva?

Hey, that's awesome, Karl! So those 145's will work on the spare. Nice.