I just bolted a set of 17x9 ricboy rims on my 92 miata since the car
came with some very cheap aftermarket wheels which could not be balanced.
The 17's came off one our VW's that was hit head on. 225/45/17's potenza
re040's on the rear and 215/40/17's toyo proxes fz4's in the front. It only
rubs when the suspension is at full travel. I have about 2 inches of gap in
the wheel well in the rear even though the tire is about 2 inches taller
than stock. I was pretty suprised it didn't rub much. My gearing is high as
hell though..... need forced induction :) Also it rides on stock suspension
at the moment too. I don't think I can lower the car much without rubbing
unless I stiffened it quite a bit. Although switching to something like a
205/40/17 could probably be done with these wide of rims and let me lower it
1.5 inches. Hoosier makes the R3S03 in that size. Just don't hit anything :)
The tires I mounted were just ones we had laying around. At first I thought
my little miata would look goofy with 17's, but it starting to grow on me.
When I get some money I'll put some 205/40/17's and try some new springs and
see if I can drive it down the street with out the need to put clear
taillights, a coffee can and a huge wing on the back :p~
Really my opinion is that huge tires would just slow he miata down. The
factory alloys are very light. If I start to autocross the miata, I'd
probably just run on factory wheels. The unsprung weight of the huge wheels
and tires is probably a little much for the miata for anything more than
street driving.
Actually does anyone know of some factory miata alloy wheel's for sale in
good shape?
-Mike
Poor boy trying to make his litle roadster driveable.
92 1.6l Miata
85 VW GTi
70 VW Beetle
> > From: Reijo Silvennoinen <rase@istar.ca>
>
> > Miatae can get a 225 on the rears but only a 205 on the front before
rubbing
> > sets in - on the inside. The 205's fill out the fender wells quite
nicely
> > on my '90 and I've noticed the very slightest of rub on my front
anti-sway
> > bar under extreme conditions but is of no consequence.
>
>
> It all depends on how low the car is and the construction of
> the tire. My turbo Miata has moderately low Flyin' Miata springs
> from Dealer Alternative (the crack pusher that sold me most of the
> car's stuff). The car has 215-45-15 Toyo T1-Ss all around. They
> clear just fine in the rear and _barely_ rubbed the front fenderwells
> when the suspension was compressed and the tires were full tread
> depth. I haven't heard rubbing for months. Pics are available at
> http://albums.photopoint.com/j/AlbumList?u=869586 in the "94 Miata
> Turbo" album.
> As long as offsets are reasonable, a Miata with near-stock
> height might even be able to use a 225 street tire up front. It
> would depend on whether it was a "fat" 225 or a "skinny" one. We all
> know how tire widh varies across makes/models.
> I used to use 225-50-14 BFG R1s as the autox tires on my B Stock
> 96 Miata R. It's high as a 4 x 4 but there was a little rubbing on
> the suspension at full lock. The only time I get full lock at an
> autox is puttering around in the paddock.
> Just for grins, I once placed my dad's Z28 tires next to my
> Miata. They were 245-??-16 R1s. The width wasn't too bad but they
> were too tall to fit in the fenderwell. :-)
>
> My datapoints. YMMV.
>
>
> Mike Lowe mikelowe@pointecom.net http://www.pointecom.net/~mikelowe
> '96 Miata R (Go go gerbil power!)
> '94 Miata FM2 Turbo (Gerbils on crack!)
>
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