Finding the right Wheel and tyre for a flared NA

zhenjie · Postby **zhenjie** » Sat Mar 18, 2006 10:21 pm

Time off work and I finally get some time to know my 5 a little more.

Since its a recent import one of the main priorities for me now is to change the tyres as the ones from Japan were dry, cracked and had uneven wear which I suspect was from circuit racing and drifting.

I took it to the local tyre and auto today to look at options. The friendly guy there was amazed to see a set of 195/50/15 tyres stretched to their limits on the car's 15x~7.5-8\" rims (I didn't know they were that wide). Crazy japanese! We tried getting a set of Potenza G3 (195/50 as well) onto the rims. Two different hydraulic machines and two different tyre places later and it still wouldn't go on. We were dumbfounded as to how Japs managed to get a skinny tyre onto the rims.

I could have put on some 205 or 215 treads on the wheels and drove away but I'm having second thoughts and thinking about getting a new wheel/tyre set for the 5. I'll outline my reasons/concerns.

1) The 15 x 7.5-8\" rims. Definitely drift look. I'm led to believe the width of this rim are be to wide and would affect the handling performance of the MX-5?

2) 10mm Spacers. The front and rears came with 10mm spacers on each side. Due to the width of the wheels these spacers have been added so it clears the suspension. I think the Jap owner also did it for looks. I'm not overly concerned with the spacers, but for legality and safety I would prefer to get rid of them.

There are a few things putting me off from getting new wheels. First is cost. I feel like I'm wasting a good set of rims. My main concern however is finding a set of wheels that are wide enough and/or have enough negative(?) offset to push the wheels out and fill out the flares.

I'd like to hear peoples opinion on this. I have a week to make a decision to simply stick on new treads on the existing setup or change it all together with new wheels.

zhenjie · Postby **zhenjie** » Sat Mar 18, 2006 10:25 pm

Picture to give you an idea of what it looks like currently. Note that under the KG Works bolted Flares the Japs have cut away at the original fenders/panels to give the wheels more room. toppyoushimonai!

StanTheMan · Postby **StanTheMan** » Sat Mar 18, 2006 10:35 pm

1) they will affect the handling only because they get hevier.
2) any more than 6.5 inch wheels on an early NA need to be singned by the same guy who does a blue slip. or fully engineered depending how wide you want to go.
3) maximum change in offset of wheels is about 12.5mm per side
3) spacers are illegal to be fitted to a road car. AFAIK

now you have the choice to just go ahead with it. Having said that..... most of our cars have something illegal fitted to them in one way or another.

but flares & wide wheels would have to be a Cop magnet in my opinion. so once they start giving you the once over. they will not stop at just giving it the glance.

if ALL THIS IS FOR A ROAD CAR.....I'd be trying to make it legal.

Babalouie · Postby **Babalouie** » Sat Mar 18, 2006 10:52 pm

Those flares are pretty wide, but you know what?

I think you would be able to pull these off, Konig Rewind:

No one else can run them because their 15x7's either come in a +40 or a zero offset. A 15x7 in a zero offset would fill those flares perfectly IMHO, and without spacers too.

I'm not sure what the Konigs weigh (but 15x7 shouldn't be that bad), but it looks like those flares stick out about 20mm past the body (is that about right?) and I would have said that 15x7s with a +20 offset is the max you can run without flares.

As for handling, well I think you're on your own here

But there has to be a reason why racers fit flares and dish-offset wheels if they can...

To be honest, the max you will be able to run if you want to be legal is a 15x6.5 with a +37 offset....and that will be about 50mm inset from the edges of the flares and would look a bit funny.

zhenjie · Postby **zhenjie** » Sat Mar 18, 2006 11:27 pm

The Konig's look fantastic Babalouie. Thats the sort of wheel I'm looking for.

Cant seem to Google an Australian dealer of these tyres so I'm guessing they might be rare. I know alot of Toyota AE86's have these wheels.

Babalouie · Postby **Babalouie** » Sat Mar 18, 2006 11:42 pm

zhenjie wrote:The Konig's look fantastic Babalouie. Thats the sort of wheel I'm looking for.

Cant seem to Google an Australian dealer of these tyres so I'm guessing they might be rare. I know alot of Toyota AE86's have these wheels.

Scroll thru some of the older threads on this forum...we were discussing these wheels a few mths ago and I think someone said there was a local tyre shop that listed them.

phatMX · Postby **phatMX** » Sat Mar 18, 2006 11:45 pm

i know what you mean about the stretched wheels I have a set of 14x7 with 185/60 on my NA. The fronts are fine and just within the gaurds, the rears... well its debatable.. But I have never had trouble with police even with the rollbar and kit.

Babalouie · Postby **Babalouie** » Sat Mar 18, 2006 11:46 pm

I don't think legality is a possible outcome in this case but heck with those Konigs it sure will look pretty nice!

green_comet · Postby **green_comet** » Sun Mar 19, 2006 9:56 am

Hey those are the konigs i wanted to get a couple years back...

They are avaliable through ozzytyres in nsw..

http://www.ozzytyres.com.au/page.php?load=wheels_more&WheelType=Tuner&mag_images_id=211&mag_id=142

give them and ring and ask..

Babalouie · Postby **Babalouie** » Sun Mar 19, 2006 10:08 am

To do it properly though, you should have a look to see what offset the existing wheels are...I was just guessing that the flares were 20mm

zhenjie · Postby **zhenjie** » Mon Mar 20, 2006 4:42 pm

yer, the flares add an extra inch or so.

I've emailed Ozzytyres and also a US guy who has them. *fingers crossed*

Babalouie · Postby **Babalouie** » Mon Mar 20, 2006 4:49 pm

Keep us informed...should look pretty awesome

clubman1 · Postby **clubman1** » Wed Mar 22, 2006 11:08 am

These ones are listed on ebay

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll ... %3AIT&rd=1

...they would probably fit if you were after a 14 x 6 rim ...and didn't mind the look of a Performance Superlite. The +12 offset means they will foul the guard of a standard MX5 unless the guards are rolled.

...oh ...yeah ...it's my posting on ebay :oops:

cheers

clubman1

zhenjie · Postby **zhenjie** » Wed Mar 22, 2006 4:00 pm

The rims look good clubman1 but I'd much prefer size 15\" and zero offset.

Ozztyres and goodwin racing have both gotten back to me with pricing for the Konig Rewinds.

Ozztyres shipped from Australia: $275 delivered
Goodwing racing from USA: US$95 + $90 delivery = ~AUD$265 before tax.

Slightly higher then what I was expecting so I'm going to take my time and evaluate alternatives.