175/60 fit?

[jarmchairpilot]

Hi looking at easily available sizes at local tyre dealer and he never has 155/80 or 165/80 in stock so just wondering if 175/60 r15 are safe to fit stock late bug wheel? Think they are 4.5j ?

[Dal Churchill]

I've had 215/75 15s on my stock 4.5 rims for the past 10 years with no problems.

[Rome]

Yes, the rims should be 4.5" wide. You should be able to see the width stamped into the outer wheel surface on one of the flat sections between the lug bolt holes. 4.5" started in mid 1972 for the US market. Different offsets from then thru the later years.

On my '77 I mounted 175/65 on the 4.5" rims in front. That's the base size on current MINI Hardtops in the USA. Rear has wider rims and tires. If you go with 175/60 tires, you'll have a larger speedometer error, in that the speedo shows you are going faster than actual. With my 175/65 the speedometer shows 75mph when I'm really only going 73 per roadside radar speed signs.