August 17, 2019 |
From Mini to Maxi: Six decades of Mini tyres
It’s not just the car that’s grown. This August, Mini officially began celebrating the iconic marque’s 60th anniversary. Tyres & Accessories wanted to join in with the celebrations by sharing a couple of interesting points about how the Mini’s tyres have evolved over the last 60 years.
To start with, it is a little-known fact that the Mini was initially designed to run on 8-inch (204mm) wheels. However, BMC, the carmaker behind the Mini, ended up settling on 10-inch (254 mm) wheels for its debut 1959 Morris Mini model.
There were a number of reasons why eight-inch wheels were rejected. One of the reasons was that the firm’s first tyre supplier (Dunlop) wasn’t in favour of the eight-inch option, probably because that size would be so much smaller than the rest of its car tyres, even in those days. Therefore, 10-inch wheels were suggested instead, and the first Mini tyre size was 132/80 10. After this, the vast majority of Minis produced before 1984 came with 3.5 x 10-inch wheels and 145/80 10 tyres.
The first major change came in 1984 when the powers that be decided to upgrade the classic Mini’s braking system with disc brakes as standard across all models. The disc brakes had bigger callipers and led to an increase in wheel size to 12 inches and 145/70 R12 tyres.
Mini enthusiasts also tell of a rare 13-inch Mini fitment, the 175/50 R13. Of course you can’t buy the original tyres off the shelf any more, so classic Minis have now become the domain of vintage and classic tyre distributors, a growing niche within the car tyre segment. According to Mini blogs and forums, hobby orientated products such as Yokohama’s A539 are filling the cap. Mini aficionados also recommend Falken and Nankang’s own ‘hobby’ fitments.
Mini tyre Size revolution
The Mini tyre size revolution came at the turn of the millennium when, after the production of the classic Mini range ceased, the model was reborn into a more modern and, it has to be said, larger version.
This initially came on 175/65 R15 H tyres, but a number of different core fitments are available. While 175/65 R15, 175/60 R16 and 195/55 R16 may be the main Mini sizes, the 2018 Mini Cooper S has the option of 225/35 R19 tyres, nine inches bigger than the first edition 59 years earlier, and a huge 11 inches bigger than the initial plans!
The top five Mini tyres
As can be noted from the above piece, key tyre sizes for the modern Mini include: 175/65 R15, 175/60 R16 and 195/55 R16. Tyres & Accessories’ sister publication WhatTyre.com put the first of these (175/65 R15) through its 100,000 tyre-plus database, in order to find out which tyres scored highest on its objective meta-scoring system. To come in the top five, in a particular size, was quite an achievement, so here’s a quick summary of the top five tyres for the modern Mini.
- 5 Pirelli’s Cinturato P1 scored 6.97, according to the tyre score. It was one decibel quieter than the fourth and third-placed Kumho, and GT Radial tyres, but hadn’t had the same range of magazine test success (according to their database). Still, Pirelli made huge quantities of original equipment tyres for Minis over the years, so they remain a solid option.
- 4 GT Radial’s Champiro FE1 came equal third, with exactly the same score as the Kumho KH27. It too offered a strong “B” wet grip rating and had a strong showing in magazine tests across Europe.
- 3 The Kumho KH27 ranked in joint third place when it came to the bespoke tyre score system, scoring 7.58 out of 10. While it was neck and neck with the Hankook tyres in terms of wet-grip and rolling resistance, it was slightly louder in terms of pass-by noise.
- 2 Hankook’s Kinergy Eco K425 ranked second, also with a score of 7.58, although it had a “B” wet grip rating. Like the Dunlop, Hankook’s tyre was successfully tested across Europe, and Hankook renewed its OE supply deal in 2014.
- 1 The Dunlop SP Sport Fast Response scored highest on their system, with 7.88 out of 10. It boasted an impressive “A” rating for wet grip on the European Tyre Label, and it was also a magazine tyre test winner and featured in nine tests across Europe.
From here, the only way is up, in size terms at least. While 175/65 R15, 175/60 R16 and 195/55 R16 may be the core Mini fitments; the 2018 Mini Cooper S has the option of 225/35 R19 tyres. There are even customisers using up to 21-inch sizes!
Source:https://www.tyrepress.com/2019/08/from-mini-to-maxi-six-decades-of-mini-tyres/
