- This topic has 3 replies, 4 voices, and was last updated November 4, 2005 at 7:59 pm by
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I am interested in minilite type wheels. There are at least 3 brands currently being offered: original minilites from England, panasports, and the “minilite style” wheels sold by Victoria British (and possibly others).
What are the cost-strength-appearance-weight trade-offs involved?
What did you buy and why?
Thanks in advance for your participation. -
Todd, the Mini-Lites on my Tiger were there when I purchased the car. They are the “made in England” variety, and are 15″ diameter and 6.5″ wide. I have never measured the backspace. The wheels look good but the paint is not perfect. The wheels are not balanced well and they show no signs of any damage whatsoever. Two wheels balance with about 1/2oz of weight and the other two need almost 8 oz each. The wheels have been completely gone through and found to be out of balance without tires mounted. If I was to purchase Mini-Lites again I would make certain the wheels were true and balanced BEFORE mounting a tire on them. As soon as you mount a tire the wheels are yours, no matter what is wrong with them from the factory. The other thing comes from wheel design. The outer lip makes weight attachment impossible so you must use stick on wheel weights on the inside of the wheel. Some aftermarket big brakes take up all the space inside the wheel which leaves very little room for weights, so keep that in mind if you plan on future brake upgrades. I honestly do not think Mini-Lites are bad wheels, but because of my experiences, and because they are cast instead of forged, there are probably better wheels available…but I be they are also $$$$$.
Good luck. -
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When I bought my Tiger it had 14″ Minator (Minilite style) rims from Victoria British, and they looked ok. Like it was mentioned (by mikeflbmer), the center hub areas on two wheels seemed to be ground out a bit, but I don’t recall exactly what was done since I sold the rims. the work was very minor
I felt Tigers looked better with a bigger wheel and slightly more aggressive finish/style. So I bought 15″ Panasport wheels because the centers are painted silver but the outer edges are machined to show a brighter natural aluminum finish. Also with 15″ there is still a good selection of tires to pick out there.
Paul B
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