24 replies to this topic

[Guess-Works.com]

Stiff ball joints can also make the steering heavy, but does sound like under inflated tyres.

[Fast Ivan]

http://www.dcmoc.co.uk/

[olosteve]

Back to basics, what tyre pressure are you running?

[Sleepy Stu]

The 13" wheels and wide tyres are the cause of heavy steering at parking speeds, with their wider 'footprint' area they are certainly not going to make the steering lighter!! They ruin the original Mini steering and handling feel and are also too heavy for the suspension and dampers/shock absorbers. Rover fitted stiffer dampers to Sportpack Mini's in an effort to improve things slightly. I have had Mini's with 10, 12 and 13" wheels over the years and switched back to 10's a couple of years back and the difference is clear, better handling, lighter steering and as the smaller tyres can generate more heat, often with better grip than 13's..

 

 

 

Unless of course you make the proper modifications to the rest of the components. However you are correct on one point that they do make the steering heavier at low manoeuvring speeds. 

[racingbob]

my steering rack was making my car stiff

 

fine now

 

parking is always a bit tight but driving is fine

 

12 x 5.5 wheels

[Chris1992]

i have 13x7 steelies... not even alloys haha, so my wheels are about as big and heavy as you can get for a mini.... and my steering is perfectly fine! 

 

i had issues with a very tight steering rack though. after replacing that its been fine. i will admit that the steering is a bit heavy at slow speeds, but its easy enough to throw around with one hand, so i would definitely have a look at the steering rack and alignment 

[Hali]

Thanks for the link Rob Mac, hmmm the wheels were definitely fully inflated so the mini probably has  more than just larger wheels affecting it and it did not have a small steering wheel.

 

 

Think I might avoid this mini as there was a few more things wrong with it (found lots of water under foot well carpet for example) thanks for all the advice guys! :) :)

[elliot341]

Definately ensure u have plenty of air in your tyres. I went from 8psi to 30 psi and believe me it made a huge amount of difference!

[Haynes]

The 145 tyres on 3.5x10" wheels on my 850 make for lovely light steering.

[Ethel]

If I was considering buying, I'd  get the wheels jacked off the floor to investigate Guessworks suggestions. All things being equal wider tyres will be a bit heavier to steer, but not by that much. You can certainly make more difference with caster, camber and offset. What was the ride height like, the condition of the suspension rubbers...?