mx5cartalk.com

Hi,

I have a standard 91 MX5. I am about to buy some alloy wheels.
I have been looking around and have opted for a 5 or 6 spoke wheel with thin spokes, if that makes sense.

I like the Hart Racing wheels, but the price is too much.

Anyway, I found some wheels but they said they only have them in 17' and not 16'. I am thinking that maybe they might be too big???

And they are 6.5' across?

What do people think about the size of wheels on my car???

Thanks for any advice!

Mike

Hey mikey...

As someone who has recently spent ages looking for rims for the car, I'll love to see if I can help

What kind of attributes are you looking for? Light weight? Looks? Handling? That should narrow it down a bit. Also, what's your budget? In terms of size, go for either a 6.5\" or 7\" wide rim, and for a 91 NA either a 15\" or 16\" will be fine.

I like the look of 17's on NA's but the cheap ones are often heavy. Anything smaller looks a bit tiny IMO. The smaller ones are often better though as they are lighter which lowers your unsprung weight.

Check out these - http://www.aus-cartalk.com/viewtopic.php?t=22735

They're replicas so can't be too expensive and they sound like what you're after. You can get them any colour of course...

Moggy wrote:Check out these - http://www.aus-cartalk.com/viewtopic.php?t=22735

They're replicas so can't be too expensive and they sound like what you're after. You can get them any colour of course...

Wait....that's my car!

hey mikey,

Weight is probably going to be the biggest problem with running 17inch wheels. Try and keep it to 6.5 width, as it's illegal here in vic to go more that 1 inch over standard.

Get yourself a set of nice 15inch wheels, they suit the size of the car, are lighter, give better handling than 17inch wheels, and tyres dont cost the world.

green_comet wrote:hey mikey,

Get yourself a set of nice 15inch wheels, they suit the size of the car, are lighter, give better handling than 17inch wheels, and tyres dont cost the world.

What he said.

May I also recommend Buddy Club P1's. I think they may be what you're after. Last time I checked they're $900 for a set of 4. Good price for a decent brand. Made in Japan

hey deez,
is your car displayed on jdmst? looks familiar...

The P1's are hot.

The P1s are very hot! If i'd known about them I would have definately given them a hard think over! Do they come in Silver or Hyper Chrome/Silver?

Here are my babies. They are Starcorp Racing Light. 15x6.5 $850 with Nankang NS-II Sport fitted and balanced.



If you want to keep the feel of the car the same as it is now, don't go 17s. If it is all about how sexy the car is, then go for it. I personally think that my rims are perfect (that's why I bought them)... Everyone else will have a different opinion. We need more detail about what you are looking for.

Boags

And good luck finding a 16\" wheel. They seem to be the orphan size that no one makes. It took me ages to find a 16*7\" 4 stud rim that was OK looking and fairly light. Everything I liked seemed to come in 12, 13, 14, 15,.........17, 18, 19, 20, and 22\" and if they made a 16\" it was only 5 stud. aaaaaaaahhhhhh I'm not in love with the wheels I did end up finding but they were the best of a bad bunch.

Boags'MX5 wrote:The P1s are very hot! If i'd known about them I would have definately given them a hard think over! Do they come in Silver or Hyper Chrome/Silver?

Hmm...AFAIK none of the Buddy Clubs come in silver or hyper silver....they only have white, black, bronze, gunmetal, and hyper black.

Im having a time trying to find 15x7's. it seems you can easily find 16x7's in many styles but as soon as you make that jusmp to lower profile tyres(205/45R16) the price sharply increases, that is why I want to stick to 15's. Check out Enkei if you get a chance they do some nice ones and shouldn't be TOO exy, but they mainly come in 16 up. Or the P1's seem to occasionally pop up on ebay for cheap.

zoomzoom wrote:Im having a time trying to find 15x7's. it seems you can easily find 16x7's in many styles but as soon as you make that jusmp to lower profile tyres(205/45R16) the price sharply increases, that is why I want to stick to 15's. Check out Enkei if you get a chance they do some nice ones and shouldn't be TOO exy, but they mainly come in 16 up. Or the P1's seem to occasionally pop up on ebay for cheap.

A few brands do make 15x7's, Buddy Club for one, so does Black Racing, Weds Sport and of course, Rays. If you have the time check out the OzHonda forum on www.ozhonda.com Have a look under the traders section, there are TONS of guys who sell rims and that's where I bought mine from as well

Enkei's are actually quite expensive. If you're after something Jap in the lower end of the price spectrum then Buddy Club's are the most bang for your buck. However, one thing to keep in mind is that the less expensive they are, they heavier they weigh. Those P1 SF's are good quality but aren't exactly that light. That's why I bought replicas instead

Happy rim hunting!

My rims are 15x6.5, weigh less than 5kg each and cost $850 with tyres.

It can be done.

I have 17's and love them. I didn't find that much of a difference in performance from a heavier wheel and to be perfectly honest the only place that it will make a difference is on the track. The handling once you lower the car is not any worse either. Hey I had no trouble keeping up going to Arthurs Seat. Buy what you like to look at unless you are doing track work. BTW if you do get 17's the car needs lowering!!!! sh*t around corners otherwise because the centre of gravity is too high.

Ben

I've got P1's in 15x7 +17, fit really well with a light rolling of the rear guards.

I might be selling them soon, ~$1200 with near-new Yoko A539's