Run 14"s with near stock total diameter.

[sketchman]

I want 14"s, but I'd rather not have the jacked up look. Plus my car is mostly stock, so not much power getting to the road as it is. I've found some cheap tires that keep(VERY nearly) the same overall diameter as stock, so I thought I'd share, as I see most guys running tall ones that have bigger wheels.

185/55/14 Marangoni VERSO. Shipped from tireeasy.com will be $240.00.
Not bad IMO. Obviously I'm not caring about the rubber compound or tread pattern, and really anything in 185 will be worlds better than the 155s I have now, so it doesn't matter anyway.

If I've done the math correctly, I'll only be off by .2" total diameter.
21.7" - 155/80/12
21.9" - 185/55/14
22.7" - 185/60/14

[chrisofna]

185/60/R14s are probably significantly cheaper to buy and easier to find.

[drddan]

Here: figure out any size tire you can think of

http://www.miata.net/garage/tirecalc.html

[sketchman]

185/60/R14s are probably significantly cheaper to buy and easier to find.

They don't seem to be from my quick searchings and the 55s keep it just that little tiny bit closer. I know it probably makes very little difference. I'm just obsessive sometimes.

[FestYboy]

the 55s will keep you from rubbing the spring perch as well...

[25Horseplay]

195/45/14 fit real nice without any rubbing. They are almost the stock height too. Although they are a bit pricey!

[villageidiot]

i picked up a set of falken ziex ze912's today in 185 60 14 flavor. 240 bucks mounted and balanced from my wholesale tire guy. im in the process of doing the suspension and brakes so they arent on the car yet.

[alpaccino]

195/45/14 fit real nice without any rubbing. They are almost the stock height too. Although they are a bit pricey!

I think they look nice too, but what about the weight of the wheels, I would like to keep the weight of the wheel as close to the stock weight, what is the weight of the stock wheels, by any chance, I would like to buy di new rims lighter or about the same weight as the stock

[sketchman]

^When mine get mounted I'll weigh one and compare it to stock tire/wheel weight and post it up. They will either be on 14" steelies or alloys. IDK yet. Depends on what I can find cheaper.

[Safety Guy]

Sketch, are you still running Festiva bolt pattern?

Also, tirerack.com will list all of their diameters in the specs tab so you can check your work.

That is, if they have that size (not 185/55-14, unfortunately).

I'm going to be tending towards those Marangonis myself this spring.

Al, if you're worried about weight and you have the Aspire swap, you can't do much better than any of the 14" Miata alloys. I only paid around the following prices for mine:

'99-up five spokes: $125 (14 X 6", 12.7#)
Daisies: $80 (14 X 5.5", 12.3#)
Solid spokes $60 (seven spoke, 14 X 6", 11.5#)

As you can see, I paid too much for the heaviest ones. The other two sets just "appeared" on CL. The last, cheapest & lightest set was only a few blocks away!

Compare the above weights with these:

13 X 4.5" Aspire alloys: 13#
13 X 5.5" VW alloys: 15#

A lot of the aftermarket wheels are not as light as the Miatas, and will cost you much more. Here's a link to the Miata wheels and weights:

http://www.miata.net/faq/wheel_weights.html

My wheels are the second, fourth and ninth pictures down.

Near me on CL there is a guy selling polished hollow spokes and asking $400 for the set. Since I got essentially the same wheels only a pound heavier each for sixty bucks, I am not tempted.

Karl

[Safety Guy]

Sketch, I just read your last post. If you are sticking with the stock Festiva bolt pattern, you haven't bought them yet, and you're ordering from tires-easy.com, I'd find a set of Metro 13 X 5" steelies and go with either the 175/60s or the 165/65s. Lots of choices in the latter.

Both of the above sizes are perfect for stock Festivas, plus Metro rims bolt right on and the centerbore is perfect, too. A little larger tire would be the Marangoni in 165/70-13 at under $35 each. I ran this size on Lux for awhile in a Hercules and they did well.

FYI, I ordered my 165/70-12s from tires-easy and they came promptly, were a little cheaper than the Yokos, and ran well on the front of Twinstiva. Did okay in the snow, too. I'll probably be ordering from them again.

Karl

[sketchman]

^ I just won a set of Enkeis in 14", so it'll definitely be 14" tires, and the best option so far does seem to be the cheapie Italians.
These. Oh, and they are 114.3.

[alpaccino]

safety guy, i don't have the aspire swap, in jamaica thats impossible to get, only mazdas are available. Right now i have the demio (still small) setup thats y i'm really concerned about the weight of the complete wheel (rim & tire) if i know the stock weight then i can work arround it. Question the offset of the stock wheel is 40mm, is it that the new rim must be 40mm or it can be above or below and 40mm is the max i still don't fully understand the tire offset thing

[FestYboy]

Offset is from rim centerline. your main concern is backspacing which is distance from inside rim lip to mounting flange. BUT you can derive backspacing from knowing total rim width and offset. Example: you have a 14x6.5" rim with a 42mm offset. with this info, you know that your backspacing is 3.25" PLUS 42mm (1.65") = 4.9". Now this number can't be more than the distance from your hub to your shock tube or you'll have contact and this is bad.

[ejp2fast]

195/45/14 fit real nice without any rubbing. They are almost the stock height too. Although they are a bit pricey!

Just put some 195/45/14's on in this thread