Starting off with a plea from Gabe for a set of wheels for winter. As it turns out, he is not a fan of the Crown Spokes. Anything you can do to help would be greatly appreciated! And Todd is looking for a drivers side parcel shelf. Anyone willing to help out leave a note below.
Then, Todd tells a horror story concerning the ‘widow makers’. Oh no, you’ll have to listen to find out what he means. I can say that winter roads can, possibly, cause some embarrassment, not to mention serious car damage. Lessons to live by people.
Gabe didn’t really take 24 hours to build a clubman. That’s the magic of the internets right there! Long live the tubes!
Not quite 175K miles, but I’ll be there by the end of the week. Watch the Flickr for when it does happen.
We finally get around to talking about The Motoringfile Gift Guide and what we would like to have off of it.
R50/R53 owners looking for some cool accessories might want to put a call into the parts desk. There are some smokin’ hot deals to be had. Check it out.
Yes I did, in fact, buy skinyourfridge.com. Watch for it!
And, finally, add another classic TV show theme song to our repertoire, and Gabe doesn’t know about the Rockford Files! Someone back us up here.
Woofcast 205: [audio:http://www.whiteroofradio.com/podcasts/woof205.mp3]
What!?! S-Lites don’t fit?
That’s not true. Some later S-lites sure do, at least. Todd ran S-Lites on the GP. Same brakes and lugs, right? Mine came off an ’04. They fit over the brakes and the bolt holds are just over 16mm (which means they fit the new 14mm bolts). Just went on the car with some Dunlop Winterspot M3’s.
There are a few other R56S owners on NAM who’ve showed off their S-Lites as well.
Gabe,
I think s-lites should fit an R56 fine. I have a very late 06 R53 with the updated r56 standard faux-JCW brakes which have the new fine threaded lugs. It came with s-lites from the factory, and I also have a set of R105 wheels that I bought used (they where made in late 2005 probably). No problems running either set of wheels.
>That’s not true. Some later S-lites sure do, at least. Todd ran S-Lites on the GP. Same brakes and lugs, right?
To clarify – this has nothing to do with the wheels fitting over the brakes. The only question mark is how well they will fit with the different lugs. Todd is the one who told me they may not fit so if he had S-lites on his GP that would be a surprise.
A couple of things because I have no idea what I said I this show since I haven’t heard it yet 🙂
– I believe s-lites do fit and wouldn’t cause any issues but the fact that MINI makes a new S-lite with a new part number to specifically fit the R56 and late ’06 R53s shouldn’t go unnoticed.
– I don’t really want S-lites. I’ve had two sets on two different MINI. They’re heavy and I’d rather have something a little less common.
>I think s-lites should fit an R56 fine. I have a very late 06 R53 with the updated r56 standard faux-JCW brakes which have the new fine threaded lugs.
Congrats on getting the faux-JCW brakes first off! I wonder if your car has the new updated s-lites that MINI now has available for purchase with the R56?
There’s an internal memo that was posted on MotoringFile last year about this issue and it was pretty cut and dry on what should be fitted to cars with the new size. It’s somewhere on the site if someone wants to do some digging.
Is there any more information about the CF dash available?
I understand you don’t prefer S-Lites… but than again, you were pretty much begging for any free wheels… so beggers shouldn’t be choosers!
I guess I was mistaken about Todd running other wheels on his GP. Sorry. I can say I’ve seen a GP with S-Lites (in person) and the S-Lites I have off an ’04 fit (lugs and all) on my R56S.
I had R99s on my GP last winter – <a href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2206/2087113549_5377678f39_o.jpg" rel="nofollow">see here</a>. S-lites would be the same fit as those R99s but it never felt quite right so I sold them after a few weeks on the GP. I was later told by a MINI USA rep that “some” R50/53 wheels would fit an R56 but not vice versa. Since then, as far as I know, the entire MINI wheel line has been re-tooled to fit the newer 14mm bolts and hubs.
See <a href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2231/2087912960_67ebb62cef_o.jpg" rel="nofollow">HERE</a> for detail on the bolt differences. The 12mm R50/R53 bolt appears to have a slightly different taper where it meets the wheel. I guess you can make up your own mind as to what to do but I say keep R50/53 wheels on an R50/53 and keep R56 wheels on an R56.
Gabe forgive me if this is a ridiculous question but can you explain what, if anything, is stopping you from putting all season tyres on your 18″ Ultraleggera’s?
I like my Crown Spokes :embarrassed:
MINI of Dallas had a clearance sale on R99s, but I couldn’t do it… sigh.
>Gabe forgive me if this is a ridiculous question but can you explain what, if anything, is stopping you from putting all season tyres on your 18″ Ultraleggera’s?
Good question. Here are some answers:
1. I don’t want to make my wheels square from the winter chicago roads.
2. I don’t want to subject the OZs to salt.
3. Constantly installing and removing tires will eventually degrade them.
>I understand you don’t prefer S-Lites… but than again, you were pretty much begging for any free wheels… so beggers shouldn’t be choosers!
Asking politely doesn’t make good podcasting 🙂