Need some help choosing some new wheels, will they fit?

[wun911]

Introduction Methods:

I have 17" Enkei RPF1s they are the same weight as a set of OEM 16" rims give or take a gram. They both had the same tires new RE001 205/45R16 and 215 40 R17 respectively. They were weighed on the same industrial scales down to the last micro gram with same tyre pressure when put on the car they had the same offset. I even used valve caps on each wheel all the wheels were perfect without loss of mass from gutter rash the tyres were fitted several times to reduce the wheel balance weights to a minimum, I measured everything and averaged it with all variables accounted for like a - Racist comment removed Okibi 3/7/2013 -

Results and Discussion:

I posted my findings a long time ago I have not made this up just for this thread, they are my observations without any bias.

http://forum.miata.net/vb/printthread.php?t=331246

Initially I was also sceptical like many of you and I would have always thought the 17" wheels would weigh more than the stock 16" wheel its logical that a larger wheel would weigh more. I was also a person who didn't believe in stuffing around with wheels, I always thought some genius Asian in Japan who works at Mazda has done the calculation for me so I don't need to mess with it. I was quietly surprised that I got a slightly wider bit of rubber to the ground without adding any additional weight with a 17" wheels! This provides a little more confidence especially if your Asian and you feel your driving skills are inferior to other white people or maybe that little extra little bit of rubber on the road provides a bit of comfort to you when you try to over compensate for your lack of peripheral vision.

However there is a catch, the 17" wheel that weighs the same as the OEM 16" nobody seems to comment on the added moment of inertia MOI because its too hard to calculate, ie you now have more rubber on the peripheral edge and the the 17" wheel is about 1cm wider in overall diameter. I had assumed some intelligent Asian individual at Mazda has calculated this and decided to put on 16" wheels as OEM equipment on the NB8B, then again the SE has 17" wheels stock. I'm not a very good driver (genetic default) but overall you do notice that 17" it is a bit more "direct" a little more "firm" a little "less give" than a 45 profile tyre from the 16" and now the spedo is spot on so I'm happy with the 17" wheels I have.

Further observations:

The problem in society is, there are a lot of 'Asian slant eye' boys otherwise known as "rice boys" (due to their diet) they have the "JDM yo" mentality. (These people 'believe' that Asian made products are far superior in some way to the products sold to them locally). I find an increasing number of these JDM rice boys are 'white people' who want to be more Asian. They often run HEAVY 17" 20+ Kg wheels with cheap tires. They usually couple this with stupid amounts of offset or run 5 inch wheel studs and two or three sets of wheel spacers. Generally they would rather sacrifice their cars handling for "JDM yo rice boy looks".
They roll their guards and match this with stupid amounts of camber to tuck the wheel under the wheel arch and they act genuinely surprised when their car doesn't handle as well as it used to. They usually crash and die (remember they are either Asian or they are white and wanted to be Asian thus losing their inherent ability to drive was their original goal).

Personally I observe this behaviour and I find it difficult to understand the 'JDM yo' slant eye mentality its like looking at a white person with hepatitis...

So there must have been some normal white people who took the "rice boy slant eye's" car for a dive and found it horrible, and reported their findings on a forum and fair enough their opinion is probably justified. I assume some of these normal white people can be just as observant as an Asian person post double eye lid surgery and a plethora of scientific equipment.

In conclusion:

It's how you go about doing it. Did you chose that 17" wheel for its double dipped chrome looks and thought the added weight would be so "JDM yo"?
Maybe you spent all your money on wheels and forgot to buy some decent tires?
Maybe you should switch your diet to a different staple and stop trying to be Asian.
Maybe jaundice isn't the look you were after?

[Steampunk]

Wun, my screen won't scroll up and I can't read all of your post, it's too heavy.

[shuey]

JDM yo! nice post, wun. now go back into your rice bowl

[emily_mx5]

HAHAHA that is the greatest comment ever.

Is the OP even here anymore? haha

[Apu]

Hey wun, I'd argue that most Asians actually have better lateral peripheral vision. I'd agree that we're longtitudinally challenged.

Of course, if you're like me...beady eyed and just generally having poor eyesight (another genetic Asian trait), then you're flocked because you can't see sideways, let alone forward.

[A.Chen89]

If the op is still here try:
http://www.rimtuck.com/search/thumbnail ... ameterr=17

For the 15 versus 17 cliff notes:
Unsprung mass
Moment of inertia

[Jeo]

I think Wun's got JDM yo! confused.

NA/NB
OG's roll on 14's.
Racers/hardparkers roll on 15's.
WTF is 16"?
Old people roll on 17's.
Sexspec kids (do they still exist?) roll on 18's.
Debate over.

NC
Completely different car.
17" is acceptable.
Because barge.
No your NA/NB is not a barge even if you bought a sticker.

[fastfreddygassit]

Wun, you rock!!

[meanmx]

One minor little edit

I think Wun's got JDM yo! confused.

NA/NB
OG's roll on 14's.
Racers/hardparkers roll on 15's.
WTF is 16"?
Old people roll on 17's. (and the rest of the world)
Sexspec kids (do they still exist?) roll on 18's.
Debate over.

NC
Completely different car.
17" is acceptable.
Because barge.
No your NA/NB is not a barge even if you bought a sticker.

[Jeo]

Citation needed Ben. Show me this "rest of the world" of NA/NB's running 17's and I'll show you twice as many running 15's.

And before the same gets called on me...
Unsprung Weight Links

If your goal is to make your Miata generate more grip and handle better, run 15's. This is not a guess, or a suggestion based on stuff I read on the interweb. If you don't mind sacrifice some grip for style, run 16's or 17's.

Also pick a set of morals and stick to them FFG. You call Lokiel on making religious inferences but applaud Wun on making racial and religious slurs?

[meanmx]

Rest of the world category has to fit somewhere and generally when the rest of the world get rims they'll generally get larger. This is a generalisation . This is how the rest of the normal non forum world works. This is why you see 22's under family cars. Hey I'm happy to go in the old man category, although I think some old men might be upset with their 14 stock rims.

[shuey]

Also pick a set of morals and stick to them FFG. You call Lokiel on making religious inferences but applaud Wun on making racial and religious slurs?

If somebody had to be offended, it should be me cos I'm Asian too and he's making us look bad but I'll let it go cos I quietly suspect that Wun may also be a fellow countrymen too. But I guess we should all agree that Asians can build mean cars despite all out short-comings (pun intended)

Now should we refrain from trolling and steer back to topic?

[Okibi]

Not a fan of religious and/or racist comments.

Also not a fan of forum members turning a thread into a sh*t fight to try and get the thread locked.

Ok so, can we all note that the overwhelming consensus, whether it be from personal experience, or just repeated what one has read, that 17" are too big/heavy and should be avoided if possible.

Now that that is out of the way, can everyone stop with their opinions, because the poor bloke didn't actually ask about diameter nor weight..

Thanks Emily.

I can understand that members want to make sure the OP realised he could be making the handling of his MX-5 worse with the new wheels especially if they're heavier or if the tyres chosen aren't as good because larger tyres cost more.

[bootz]

Hardparking, sounds rude.

[fastfreddygassit]

Also pick a set of morals and stick to them FFG. You call Lokiel on making religious inferences but applaud Wun on making racial and religious slurs?

I beg your pardon? Pick a set of morals?
I said that Dr Wun rocks...his self-depricating humour can be over the top but he rocks due to his meticulous nature and attention to detail. His measurement of wheel weights was carried out in 2009 at VUT (up the road from me).
He took empirical and objective measurements and then followed up with his subjective opinion on turn-in, ride comfort, handling, etc. Do a search and read his articles.
What Dr Wun has done is challenge the following:

Ok so, can we all note that the overwhelming consensus, whether it be from personal experience, or just repeated what one has read, that 17" are too big/heavy and should be avoided if possible.

He PROVED that some 17's aren't too big/heavy. He didn't have to denigrate and offend followers of the Bible or the Quran to support his argument as Simon did. And that is my issue with Simon.

I can't understand why anyone puts any credence in the Bible or Koran (I was raised a Catholic and never understood blind faith - even in kindergarten, it's the engineer in me) but I respect people's religious beliefs (unless they're a fanatic and trying to shove it down my throat).

A lot of MX5 owners swear by 15's. Good on them!
I have tried 14, 15, 16, and 17 inch rims on my NA. I know what I like. I really couldn't care less what you like.
The original poster (Mr Sexy) has a NB SE which comes stock with 17's and he wants to find out if the wide XXR's will fit without rubbing.
Hence why I am following this thread, as I'd love some XXR 17's for my SE.
Obviously you have a problem with me so take it up via PM.