2005 MazdaSpeed wheels/tires

I've got a 2005 MX5 Turbo that came loaded up with fancy, still like, new Toyo tires and Racing Hart wheels. Total mileage 7000 miles as of

07/2010. I'm considering making this car my daily driver. In which case I'd opt for lesser wheels and a good set of Michelin all weather tires. Any idea how to sell the unnecessary wheel/tire set and for how much? And what practical set would I replace them with. I really have no need for anything but basic transportation quality components. I've babied that car long enough. Time to use it for other than nice weather weekend jaunts.
Reply to
bowman
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Please explain why you would purchase a performance vehicle and want to put all weather tires on it. You could probably get a set of 14" steel miata wheels pretty cheap. Sorry to be snotty, but I couldn't resist. I could understand putting all weather tires on a regular Miata and even an automatic transmission, but on a Mazdaspeed?

Reply to
Frank Berger

Frank,

I don't think that the 14" wheels will clear the Mazdaspeed brakes, but........those can be swapped out for smaller rotors and pads. ;-)

Bowman, you will need to find out how small a wheel will still clear your brakes, and I would at least go for a "higher-performance" all-season tire set.

As far as which wheels, a set of factory alloys from a Miata owner who has upgraded is probably your best bet. I see them on Craigslist all the time.

I have found the Pirelli P5 to be a decently-performing all-season tire, but it will always be a matter of compromises, and one that is lost on an all-season tire is performance.

To me, the wheels/tires, and brakes, are the two (equally) most important parts of the car, and it would go against everything in my nature to take these down to less than factory standards. My goal has always been the opposite of that.

Pat

Reply to
pws

if you plan on making it your primary daily driver, and use the car to commute to work, my first question would be to ask where you are located... an all season will not cut it in the north east in snow. it could get you home in some conditions but if you expect to reliably use the car in the winter then you owe it to yourself to get a set of winter tires mounted something basic, even steelies (and if that is the case then keep using the racing hart wheels as your summer set).

Reply to
Christopher Muto

There's a fine idea (Chris's seem sooo smart ;-) but, if after all this you do still want to sell the OEM (and allot of people do, to go to a more durable / comfortable set up with equal performance) set up they go for about $750 in really fine shape with decent tires mounted. Actually, you probably can get about the same w/o tires as there's some savings on shipping and most people tend to want something other than the OEM tires which, iirc, aren't the best or the longest lasting.Personally, I think 16" wheels suit the NB perfectly, striking a balance between form and function, if you know what I mean.

Good luck, Chris

99BBB
Reply to
Chris D'Agnolo

Does anyone know what years or year/model combos that Mazda started using brakes too large to clear 14" Miata wheels?

Also, I think that there is at least one factory setup that actually requires 16" wheels or larger? (please correct me if this is false)

A lot of auto-crossers use 13X8 wheels, so those obviously clear at least the smaller brakes. I guess that some, if not all of the M2 owners who have run this wheel/tire combination have had to down-size the brake size to make the

13" wheels fit.

It seems like I remember one specific year as being larger than anything else that they offered for the first two generations of Miata.

It makes sense that the largest rotors would be on the MSM, but it seems like it was on a 2001-2003 release, if my memory if holding at all.

Pat

Reply to
pws

i should be more specific... all seasons on a maita will not cut it in the north east in the snow... the car is just too light, tires too wide, and the rear wheel drive means there is now weight on top of the driving wheels... honda and other front wheel drives are ok in the snow with just all seasons in all but the very worst weather... but that is not the case with the miata.

Reply to
Christopher Muto

Pat, My 99 probably came with 14" wheels from the factory. It was (is) a base model car and that was still the standard in 99. I have a set of 14" steelies that fit and work fine with my brakes. I think 99 was the last year but I may stand to be corrected.

Chris

99BBB
Reply to
Chris D'Agnolo

IIRC, the Sport Package came with larger brakes, Hard-S suspension, Torsen, and 16" wheels. It was an option for the first few years of the NB. Later (~2002?) the larger brakes and wheels became standard.

I could be totally wrong. I never paid much attention to the NB, since I had no interest in owning one.

See above. However, quite a few aftermarket 15" wheels will fit over the larger brakes. That would be the way to go, with light weight and good tire choices at reasonable cost.

I don't know if 13" wheels fit any brakes after 1993. It's hard to imagine anyone swapping in smaller rotors, though autocrossing certainly doesn't demand much in the way of stopping prowess.

Reply to
Lanny Chambers

My 1991 Miata has a '99 head, (on a '94 block), a '99 torsen rear end, and a few other odds and ends from the NB.

Even before I started to like how the NB looks, I was interested in the multitude of parts that can be swapped between the NA and NB, like brakes, wheels and the top. I REALLY wanted that Nardi steering wheel to replace that blocky thing that the NA has. (I have a Momo Champion steering wheel in mine, it looks even better than the NB Nardi, imo, but no air bag, for better or worse, and hopefully never to matter)

For the record, the original Miata is still my favorite one as far as looks go, but I actually like how all of the OEM miata/MX-5 variations look now.

I always forget, did you go with 15's or 16's?

I have seen at least two NB's with the 13X8 wheel setup. The 14" steelies clear the brakes on Chris D.'s 1999 model, maybe one inch down from that fits as long as it is not on the largest sizes of factory rotors.

I am guessing that the wheel design has a lot to do with it since the largest factory rotor is well under 13"? Can a wheel be designed that is barely larger than the rotor? Not my area.

I have never seen anyone looking for a smaller brake setup, only the reverse, like my 1996 brackets, pads and rotors that are installed on my

1991 model.

Pat

Reply to
pws

"Can a wheel be designed that is barely larger than the rotor?"

Make that, can a wheel that is barely larger than the rotor, and that also operates properly with that same rotor, be designed and then built?

There are too damn many engineers around here to set myself up that easily. ;-)

Pat

Reply to
pws

Thank you sir,

Now my question is, what in the heck are you (still) doing with a set of steelies? ;-)

I have seen a 2000 model with 14" factory alloys, and it seems like 15" was standard by 2001, maybe 2002. Was 1999 the last year that steel wheels were an option?

Just looking to increase my useless miata trivia skills.........

Pat

Reply to
pws

15x6.5 Rota Slipstream.
Reply to
Lanny Chambers

I replaced the 14" steel wheels on my '96 with a set of 14" alloys from a

1999 model, so at lease they were still available if not standard that year.
Reply to
Frank Berger

16x7 Rota Slipstream. Thanks for the tip!
Reply to
Carbon

Chris D.'s 1999 Miata also came with 14" steelies, so they were also doing those for at least 3 years after your car was made.

1999 may have been the last year before alloys became standard on every model, as I don't think I have ever seen steel wheels on any miata from 2000 to now. If someone knows for sure, feel free to chime in.

Speaking of alloys, I was told that if I put factory alloys on my Accord that currently has steel wheels, that the highway driving comfort would decrease somewhat due to the steel wheels having a small amount of "flex", that the alloys have none of, or at least less of.

Is this a bunch of crap or not? I just figured that the alloy wheels weighing a few pounds less than the steelies would make the ride more comfortable from the lesser un-sprung weight.

Thanks!

Pat

Reply to
pws

I'd say someone's feeding you a line of crap (or, misinformation). I don't believe for a second that flex in the wheel has anything to do wit comfort level. And, you are correct that lowering unsprung weight should benefit both ride and handling. Whether that difference is noticeable on your butt dino depends on the severity of the change!

Lighter is GOOD! ;-)

Chris

99BBB
Reply to
Chris D'Agnolo

Obviously you don't recall Buick's "Roadhugging Weight" slogan of the

1950s!
Reply to
XS11E

I researched it a bit and can find nothing related to comfort, just the differences of steel bending versus alloys that tend to break. For my use, the alloys would be better in every possible way.

OTOH, the steel wheels on there now work fine, this is far from a performance vehicle, and I probably will not own it for long enough to replace the tires on it.

There is a good chance that I will sell both the Miata and the Honda Accord this year. Where to go from there, I am not sure yet.

Pat

Reply to
pws

That's even better than Pontiac's "wide-track" advertising!

I had a friend in high school who slid off the road in his Datsun 280Z, and started looking at 1960's Camaros because of their "road-hugging weight", as he put it.

He was sure that he would have made that curve if he had just had more weight pushing down.

Pat

Reply to
pws

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