maita wheel price check

[mattswabb]

A local guy has a set (4) of 1995 miata wheels with 185/60R14 tires he claims are in excellent condition. He is asking $220 for the set. I am going to look at them tomorrow or the next day. Is this a good deal? I was thinking a lower profile tire might be better.

matt

[Safety Guy]

If the tires are really in good shape, you don't mind the larger diameter setup, and the wheels are the style you like, sounds good to me.

Are they the older seven spoke 14 X 5.5" "Minilite" style wheels or the lighter 14 X 6" wheels? If the latter are they the lighter "hollow spoke" type?

I still think it's a good deal if it's what you want and it's all in good shape.

Seems to me the Minilite style seven spoke wheels alone go for around $180 to $200 on ebay. Then add shipping.

I don't like the idea of 185/60-14s though. Too tall, unless they're for winter driving. I wouldn't mind a set of Blizzaks or other good snows in this size for winter, especially if I had a bigger engine to "tone down" the power in the slippery areas.

On paper, 185/60-13s are 6mm taller than 175/60-13s (stock height). Now add half an inch (12.5mm) for the 14" wheel radius increase and you get a tire ride height increase of about 18mm from stock. Figure a few mms smaller diameter due to tire wear and give or take a few more mms for "real world" tire sizing instead of pure math calculations.

Also go to one of the tire diameter calculators and see what the speedo error would be at different speeds if you're interested in that.

(Ed. to add forget about the Minilite style comments. I just realized you said they were '95s and I think the older wheels weren't offered past '93 or so.)

Karl