Make a German Car Whore love a Miata! Flyin M Miata thread!

Well I'm striking out on finding used wheels.  Just nothing in the size or offset that I need that makes sense to buy used. Either they're too expensive or too expensive when I factor in having to replace the tires.  Then the risk of getting a bent wheel and all that.

So I'm going to buy new.  Goodwin Racing has these for sale, they seem good, proper offset and all.  @KeithTanner, will they clear your Wilwood brake kits?

Plan is to get 225-45-15 tires but since its winter, most of the good auto-x tires are sold out.  I can't get RE71R, RS4's, or BFG Rivals.  Only thing available are BFG Rival S 1.5's and RS3's.  Suggestions between the two?  Car will be a 3 season driver, auto-x/track car.  Probably won't get a ton of mileage put on it.

https://www.good-win-racing.com/Mazda-Performance-Part/61-1369GM.html

Bridgestone does not make a 225/45-15 RE71R at any time of the year. Don't bother looking hard.

The Rival is not a happy tire with standing water. I prefer the Hankook for a street car. My own NA has 225/45-15 Hankooks.

I don't know if the Traklite Gear will clear our brakes. In the front, they're a standard Wilwood fitment so Goodwin should be able to tell you. 

In reply to Keith Tanner :

On Goodwins website the car they show with the wheels looks like it has Wilwood brakes but I plan on calling them this morning to chat.  Want to make sure it'll clear Wilwoods.

Give some thought to going with 205/50-15...  you're not giving up much performance, it will still work fine on a 15x8, and you should be able to find a decent tire for your use.  TR has ZIIIs, RE-71Rs and several other choices in stock.  It also opens up options for more street oriented tires like the Conti ECS...

In reply to Rodan :

I always like to go with the widest tire I can fit, hence using the 8" wheel.  If I could fit a 9" wheel without issue I'd do that. Especially since the car has a decent amount of power, wider is better! I am planning on borrowing my friends fender roller and rolling all the fenders on the car.  Might as well give as much clearance as I can...

Well, that plan is out.  Not only does Goodwin think those wheels won't clear a Wilwood kit, they also only have ONE wheel in stock.

So, back to ordering directly from Tire Rack or Discount Tire.  If I order from Discount Tire I can get the RS3 tires but all they stock or show are 15x7.5 wheels, not the 15x8 I want.  Tire Rack has 15x8 wheels but only has the Rival S 1.5's in stock in the 225-45 size I want.

Argh!!

On a positive note I may have found another hard top locally.  Guy just totalled his car and may sell it, up in the air as to whether he's going to buy the car back and move all the parts off of it onto another miata chassis.

Goodwin didn't have any other wheel options that you liked?  They have probably the best overall selection of Miata wheels around, and many of them are very good values.

I ran 15x8 (+35) Rota RB's on a turbo Miata track car for years. Reasonable weight, price & availability.

http://www.wheeldude.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=390

In reply to Rodan :

They do, they just don't sell tires.  So I figured it was easier to buy a package from either Discount Tire or Tire Rack.  I'm rethinking that now, as if I buy the wheels from Goodwin I can get the RS3 tires from Discount Tire locally.  I like the Konig Dekagrams in bronze as well as the Advanti S1 in bronze

Ugh, spending $1200-1300 on wheels/tires is difficult when I have so little into the car!  I should be looking at it the other way, that I have so little into it so spending the money on the wheels/tires isn't a big deal but I'm having a hard time with that.   I almost just want to throw a set of Azenis on the factory wheels and call it a day but then if I ever decide to do a big brake kit I either need to spend money again on 15"wheels or run the little/big kit from FM.  With stock rear brakes or the rear wilwood that doesn't have a parking brake.

Decisions....

I'm not sure of the reasoning behind the brake upgrades.

Stock stuff seems to work well for autocross and with proper pads and fluid, for track days/HPDE.

Certainly, dropping unsprung weight is a good thing along with stiffer calipers, but its so far down the list of "needs" with regards to a Miata that I'd just focus on getting some decently lightweight wheels, sticky tires and get yourself to fit properly.

In reply to docwyte :

I try not to think about the cost of mods compared to the car with my NA since I effectively got it for free (it's a long story!).  Just think about what you want to do with it, and if the enjoyment you'll get is worth it.

Upgrading to 15s is a good investment, as the selection of 14" tires has been dwindling, and that's not going to change.

I usually get tires through our local Discount Tire... I have a good relationship with them, and it's hard to beat the sales/rebates, especially if you use their credit card.  Lately, Tire Rack has wrangled exclusives on many of the performance tires, and that's thrown a wrench in the works at times.

As far as big brakes, on shorter/slower tracks on 'street' tires, you can get away with stock brakes and good pads.  Once you're on <200TW tires, or on faster tracks you'll see a big benefit from a big brake kit.  It made a huge difference on my NA, and that's at ~140hp.  Start adding power and it's even more of a benefit, and it's not just performance... it's peace of mind knowing you've got dependable and powerful brakes available.

You can get away with stock NB/sport brakes/good pads, but you'll be changing pads/rotors at a higher rate, and as noted earlier in the thread, some of those parts can be pricey.

In reply to Stefan :

Because I'll most likely smoke the stock brakes at the track, particularly with ~220rwhp.  I'd rather buy once if I can.  Plus there's really only the Azenis available in 14's, if they stop making them, I'll have to get 15's anyways.

In reply to Rodan :

Yeah, I'm just gonna buy em from Goodwin and pick up the RS3's from Discount Tire.  Plan is to run the stock brakes, with new fluid, at auto-x's and see what shape they're in.  I'm sure I'll need to replace them soon and at that point,instead of upgrading to the NB/Sport Brakes I'll just pull the trigger on a Wilwood setup.

docwyte said:

In reply to Stefan :

Because I'll most likely smoke the stock brakes at the track, particularly with ~220rwhp.  I'd rather buy once if I can.  Plus there's really only the Azenis available in 14's, if they stop making them, I'll have to get 15's anyways.

Riiight, ok.  I suspect you may be surprised at how well the brakes work with decent pads and fluid, but its your money and car. That said, I've not seen where you've solved the fitment issue for the squishy bits behind the steering wheel :)

In reply to Stefan :

I may be surprised but I can't see spending money on new rotors/pads to find out that I'm overwhelming them at the track.  That's money wasted IMO.  My local track is hard on brakes, as am I.  I don't plan on buying brakes right off the bat, just swapping out the fluid and getting the car up and going.

I just don't want to spend money on 14" tires and then discover I have to re buy wheels and brakes.

Yeah, gotta work on the ergonomics to get me in there properly.  I'll start with a foamectomy and momo steering wheel and see how that works. 

If someone is headed from DFW to Denver I have Kosei T1Rs in 15”x7” and federal rs-rr 595s (zero miles) I could part with at $400 to $500.  It appears I’m going to be tearing up 18s on the Boxster and 17s on the Mustang for the forseeable future.

That’d be great if we could set up a GRM relay!

got pics of the wheels?

In reply to docwyte :

replied with photo in relay thread.  These are perfect Miata wheels for many reasons (weight, looks, cost, strength).

Saw em, they look great!  Bummer about the bent stock wheels, kosei’s are straight?

if we can’t get a relay going what about putting them on Greyhound?

In reply to docwyte :

I suppose I could do that.  I’m not sure I trust the hound though.

Yeah, I’ve never used them before.  Only UPS/FedEx.

Two sets of wheels/tires thru them will be a pretty penny unfortunately 

In reply to docwyte :

It’s not the wheels it’s the ones mounted with tires that will cost too much.

In reply to AnthonyGS :

Yup.  Would you sell me just the Kosei's?

In reply to docwyte :

I hate to be a jerk, but not really in my best interest.  With the parts I’m going to put on my 94 (new shocks, bump stops, rollbar and front sway; and new top) I think having them along with the car helps my chance to find the right buyer.  If no one buys it, I may just build an autocross rental car out of it too.  Or I might just abuse the lil thing myself.  I hate paying for car storage, but it’s not the worst thing ever.  I wish I had more room at home.  I’m just going  to have the tires swapoed to the Kosei’s and ditch the two bad wheels.