New Wheels in the Offing
Picked these up for a song over the weekend. NC Miata wheels, 17″ x 7″. Only 17lbs each. Found them on FB Marketplace by searching for “Miata wheels.” The seller was about 1.5 hours away, so I drove Nori and it performed admirably on the highway, smooth as silk at 70 mph.
A couple have some curb rash, and one has a small dent on the lip that I’ll need to get looked at, but for $200, I couldn’t pass them up, especially since these go for more than that for just one wheel on eBay.
Best of all? My ’94 “old Mazda logo” centercap snap right in:
(As an aside, weirdly, the ’93-’94 and ’95-’97 centercaps are not interchangeable despite the wheels having exactly the same dimensions and basically the same design)
Test fit:
So the OEM wheels are 15″ x 6.5″, ET45, and the new wheels are ET55. I thought about getting 10mm spacers and longer studs or shouldered nuts, but just decided to bite the bullet and get 20mm spacers. The hubs have to be removed to replace the studs (a lot of work), and the extra 10mm of poke will give the car a nicer stance as well.
Just need tires (thinking 215/45-17s) and lowering springs to avoid the monster truck on wagon wheels look. I’m strongly considering Vogtlands or Teins. Will keep you posted.