Mazda Talk Forums

I hope this is ok in this section. I have a 93 miata 5spd and i know the weight of the rim/tire combo plays a big factor with the acceleration of the car. What is a respectable wheel/tire combo weight to be around and be good? I understand anything over 15lbs of rim only you may start to notice, but I'm curious on rim with tire weight specs to keep in mind. Plus help me with the offset situation of rims. What offset is best to get the best look of the rims pushed out to the corners and fit a 205/40 or 45/16 under the average miata. I keep seeing .43-.45 asked for but I see some pics in here of .30 and looks pretty good. Some i think i lost myself in the math. PLEASE HELP!

WE like the combo as light as possible. Particularly on the early and very light weight 1.6 cars I like a street setup such as the Heliums which are 15x6.5 and 11 pounds matched with an light tire in a 195/50/15 size. That puts the total at under 30 pounds per corner and makes for excellent ride quality and performance.

at 34lbs per rim and tire.... would i be getting into the feel it in the seat of the pants combo?

Yeah, you are going to feel it. Most folks notice a change of as little as 2-3 pounds in a Miata wheel and tire combo.

Brian,

Would you happen to know the weight of stock 14 inch alloys on a 1990 model. The ones that look like Panasport/Konig Rewind, but have 7 spokes instead of 8, I believe. Thanks.

Stas

Yes, stock 90-93 'turtle' wheels are 12 pounds and change and 14x5.5 inches. Rather interesting is that the 94-97 factory 14 inch wheel was about two pounds lighter and yet half an inch wider at 14x6 and 10.2 to 10.8 pounds. Factory 13 inch wheels starting in 99 were 13 pounds and change. In between some special editions had BBS wheels that were under 10 pounds and some models (STO) had 15 inch wheels that were 15 pounds and more. Overall, the factory wheels were pretty light compared to most aftermarket choices which is one of the reasons we focus on wheels that are extra light.

Brian,

Like him, I have a 93 with the daisy stock 14's. I am wanting to upgrade also with a nicer rim and wider (more stable) tire. Most of the nice packages are 15's. Is it reasonably easy to upgrade especially moving from 4 stud to 5?

You are not changing to a 5 lug.....you are staying with 4x100 bolt pattern and all the 15 inch choices in the 1990-2005 Miata wheels section of our website are 4x100. Thus, the update is easy...you just bolt them on.