5 replies to this topic

[minimanclive]

I was thinking about this today. All the drum brake Minis except the Mini Special kept their wheels under the arches without the need for plastic extension arches. The original Cooper S and 1275 GT also managed to keep their wheels under the arches without the need for the extension arches. So why when they fitted the bigger disc brakes in 1984 didn't they fit a set of wheels with the right offset to keep them under the original arches? Was there a technical reason for making the car track wider (is the 8.4" setup wider than the Cooper S 7.5") , or were the wheels borrowed from something else in traditional British Leyland style? I suppose we were lucky not to get the metric wheels off the Metro.

[SMP]

I'm guessing a bit here - but 1984 also brought the change to 12" wheels? Is it likely that if the wheel offset were kept the same the slightly bigger dia would have caused the tyres to rub under the arches somewhere on the front inner wings on full lock?

[minimanclive]

I'm guessing a bit here - but 1984 also brought the change to 12" wheels? Is it likely that if the wheel offset were kept the same the slightly bigger dia would have caused the tyres to rub under the arches somewhere on the front inner wings on full lock?

The 1275GT was available with 12" wheels and that didn't have extra arches.

1275GT on 10" wheels. no arches


1275GT on 12" wheels. no arches.
http://www.classican...ure.php?id=6520

[MRA]

The picture above is of 10" not 12"

It is more likely to do with the king pin inclination angle and where it intersects with the tyre on the road...... bigger diameter needs to be moved out to compensate

[mini13]

do any mini setup's actually get near to intersecting the centre of the tyre at the ground?

[minimanclive]

The picture didn't link properly. It's hard to find pictures of stanadard 1275GTs on anything other than 10" rostyles or denovos.







If the pictures work, 3 1275GTs, standard 12" wheels, no plastic arches in sight.