New Wheels

chris · Post by **chris** » Thu Jun 07, 2012 12:49 pm

Okay, so I am getting to the wheels of my car.. Time to swap them out.. I am a total Noob when it comes to wheels.. What should I be looking for. i.e. Off set, stud measurements etc :s Sorry! http://www.trademe.co.nz/motors/car-par ... 666372.htm

Would they fit?

Born_disturbed · Post by **Born_disturbed** » Thu Jun 07, 2012 12:57 pm

chris · Post by **chris** » Thu Jun 07, 2012 12:58 pm

That was easy!

Thank you un named stranger that I have never met before!

Born_disturbed · Post by **Born_disturbed** » Thu Jun 07, 2012 1:01 pm

Lol shut up

Mr. Shine · Post by **Mr. Shine** » Thu Jun 07, 2012 2:56 pm

I'd be conscious of weight if you're not turbocharging or otherwise noticeably increasing the car's power. Factory MX-5 wheels are very lightweight as it is, and many aftermarket "lightweight" wheels are actually noticeably heavier.

What you're looking for is a stud pattern of 4x100, offset of probably 35 or less, depending on width, and you'll possibly want hub centric rings to match the MX-5's hub diameter of 54.1mm to whatever the wheel's centre bore diameter is.

chris · Post by **chris** » Thu Jun 07, 2012 3:22 pm

I am planning on a turbo, although these wheels are purely for looks (yes yes, rice if you will) and I am looking at getting proper track wheels that I will fork out a fair amount on

Angreal · Post by **Angreal** » Thu Jun 07, 2012 3:28 pm

I've been eyeing up the Bronze 6UL wheels from 949Racing or the Enkei Bronze RP-F1 wheels. I think I'll wait until I have some forced induction though.

chris · Post by **chris** » Thu Jun 07, 2012 3:31 pm

Do you think I will really notice that much of a difference just for every day driving?

WideOpenThrottle · Post by **WideOpenThrottle** » Thu Jun 07, 2012 3:36 pm

Angreal wrote:I've been eyeing up the Bronze 6UL wheels from 949Racing or the Enkei Bronze RP-F1 wheels. I think I'll wait until I have some forced induction though.

Have you any idea what thats gonna cost you in freight,duty & currency conversion? ouch.ouch ouch!

Just to send a box smaller than a shoe box cost me US $50.00 & because you will be over the NZ $400.00 threshhold you will be stung for duty on everything!!!

Furai · Post by **Furai** » Thu Jun 07, 2012 4:04 pm

Do you want to roll your guards or not? I wouldnt go for DTMs or fakeys but thats just me.

chris · Post by **chris** » Thu Jun 07, 2012 4:12 pm

I was planning on it, yes

haha Im just going for looks on the street

warrior · Post by **warrior** » Thu Jun 07, 2012 5:48 pm

Chris people get all messed up about the weight of wheels, for a road car you WILL NOT notice the diffrence of a little weight increase. People put 17inch wheels on there cars that weigh quite a bit more and are still very happy with them. Choose the lightest wheel that you like and you will be very happy............99% of people buy wheels on looks.

SLYDIT · Post by **SLYDIT** » Thu Jun 07, 2012 6:48 pm

they look like the mags that are for sale in the classifieds with tyres... hint hint

harlansmart · Post by **harlansmart** » Thu Jun 07, 2012 6:58 pm

6UL's and RP-F1's are awesome, but I've a feeling the Enkie can't be had in 8" (correct me if I'm wrong) - have had RP-F1's on a GTR and they're very very light relative to size...

Vader Miata should soon sport a set of 8 x 15 at 25p forged WORK monobloc's w/ 225/50 T1-R's but would not put this set-up on a 'low power Miata' as unsprung weight is crucial and I can feel that it heavily affects both handling and acceleration on my 2 Miata's.

On my car the 8 x 15's require roll and most likely a bit more besides I think as I am going for gippess maximus hence 225/50's although they'll still be very traction'less compared to the semi's currently run.

You could run 8 or 9" with not much effort with stretched on 195 or 205 but why?

last_resort14 · Post by **last_resort14** » Thu Jun 07, 2012 7:13 pm

I have the Axis Banzais, Heres a pic so you can see how they fit etc

Havent noticed anything weight wise, but have always had turbo.
I weighed these wheels against my friends Buddyclub p1's, which were only 6.5 inches wide from memory, with the same size tyres on and the Banzais were lighter.

Heres how i have them now, with a 25mm spacer and the centres painted grey

chris · Post by **chris** » Thu Jun 07, 2012 7:22 pm

Awesome

Cheers for the reply Warrior, I am looking at these wheels for STREET use only. And looking at finding a light weight set for track

WideOpenThrottle · Post by **WideOpenThrottle** » Thu Jun 07, 2012 7:47 pm

I have got heavy 17" road wheels/tyres [18kg each corner] which were horrible on my 1600 NA but after i turbo'd it the car was fine but i only use them on the road.

At the moment they are on our unmodified 1800 NB & they still make the car a little sluggish and require more use of the gears, and they don't like fast sharp corners as they want tramline a bit if you don't have power-steer.

Mr. Shine · Post by **Mr. Shine** » Thu Jun 07, 2012 8:19 pm

warrior wrote:Chris people get all messed up about the weight of wheels, for a road car you WILL NOT notice the diffrence of a little weight increase.

It's not a matter of "getting all messed up" over the weight, it's just pointing out that you're potentially hindering your car's performance rather than helping it. It's less an issue for most other cars out there because their factory wheels aren't particularly light.

It's like putting a carbon fibre bonnet on an MX-5, as many of the cheap ones could end up actually weighing the same or more than the factory aluminium one

Of course, Chris is now aware (which was my intent in mentioning it) and is more than happy to go ahead regardless, which is great too because those Banzais (and other OG/Axis/DTM/Rota/etc. wheels) really do look good, despite being beefier than factory!

Angreal · Post by **Angreal** » Thu Jun 07, 2012 8:24 pm

I was wondering about 8 inch wheels. Do they have tyres that come wider or do you just have to stretch them out a bit? Does stretching them affect handling?

Mr. Shine · Post by **Mr. Shine** » Thu Jun 07, 2012 9:12 pm

Angreal wrote:I was wondering about 8 inch wheels. Do they have tyres that come wider or do you just have to stretch them out a bit? Does stretching them affect handling?

You'll need to fit wider tyres, I think 205/50R15 is the minimum width and correct profile for a 15x8" wheel.

Kieran · Post by **Kieran** » Fri Jun 08, 2012 11:12 am

195/50r15 on a 15x8 is only needed if you are low enough not to have any clearance in the upper fender
Whats your ride height?

Angreal · Post by **Angreal** » Fri Jun 08, 2012 11:31 am

Ride height is lower than stock but still pretty high

Higher than it previously was in that I no longer scrape speed bumps. I guess I can fit stock tyres. I'm thinking I might end up putting in an order for the 6UL 15x8 bronze as a Christmas present next year, already blown my car budget this year by a long way

Kieran · Post by **Kieran** » Fri Jun 08, 2012 11:50 am

If your happy with your ride height and not going to lower it before you need a new set of tyres I would fit the widest rubber you can
Remember the wider you go the lower the profile can be
for example
185 lowest profile usually 60
195 45(expensive) most common 50(cheapest)
205 45
225 40
235 35
etc
I really want some 265s or something on a 15x10 would look beefy as hell

mazline · Post by **mazline** » Fri Jun 08, 2012 5:20 pm

http://www.mx5forum.co.nz/ads_item.php?id=356

maybe ?

Mr. Shine · Post by **Mr. Shine** » Fri Jun 08, 2012 7:38 pm

Kieran wrote:195/50r15 on a 15x8 is only needed if you are low enough not to have any clearance in the upper fender

I'm not sure that 195s on an 8" wheel will be acceptable for WoF purposes, though it comes under whether or not they're an "appropriate selection for wheel width" or something like that. Also note that outer rolling circumference must be no more than 5% greater than factory. I do know that appropriate tyre widths are something they're starting to pay more attention to, so possibly something to keep in mind.

New Wheels

New Wheels

Who is online