I have been working the Miata To-Do List. The first order of business was to replace the wheels and tires. The car came from its previous owner with Z-Racing wheels, which are BBS knock-offs and actually look pretty good, but I was set on the König Rewinds, which I have liked ever since I saw them in Grassroots Motorsports’ 2004 SEMA coverage from last year (GM, Feb. 2005). The new wheels will also allow more tire under the car. I will be going from a 185/60R14 Fuzion HRi M+S(!) to the 205/50R15 Falken Azenis RT615, which is a DOT approved R compound tire. I haven’t driven on them yet, but I expect the increase in grip will be incredible.
I ordered the wheels from Good-Win Racing for $95 each and the tires from Vulcan Tire for $72 each. I ordered online from both companies and the transactions went perfectly. As usual, I took everything to Discount Tire for mounting and balancing. They said it would take about an hour, so I ran off to Borders for the latest Grassroots Motorsports. I also picked-up a Miata project book, which had really nice descriptions and photographs of some of the very projects I have on my to-do list, like the rollbar installation, brake replacement and timing belt service. Later, I found out that the Grassroots Motorsports just so happened to feature a lengthy article highlighting the Miata, with details about its history, model changes, upgrades, and resources. The article was written by Keith Tanner, who also wrote the Miata project book that I had just bought!
I picked-up the wheels and tires from Discount, went home and mounted them on the car. I also took time to weigh each combination. The added grip would come at a price. The 14″ combination weighed 32.8 lbs. and the 15″ combination weighed 35.6 lbs. An increase of 2.8 lbs. per corner really isn’t bad considering the advantage of the increased tire width, but because of the Miata’s low weight and low power, it is very sensitive to unsprung weight. There are wheels available that would have allowed this change in size and actually decreased the unsprung weight at each corner, but those wheels are more expensive, aren’t legal for Spec Miata racing (wheels must weigh at least 13 lbs.), and most importantly, I simply wanted these wheels because of how they look. I must say that I am very pleased with how they look on the car, though the car looks to have a stock suspension as tall as an Audi stock suspension. It might look as though the wheels stick-out from the body, but they do not.
I will post driving impressions later, as well as larger, more fashionable photographs. The tale of the tape:
- Z-Racing wheel (14×6, ET30): 13.8 lbs. (extrapolated)
- König Rewind (15×7, ET40): 14.6 lbs. (König)Â
- Fuzion HRi (185/60R14): 19 lbs. (TireRack)
- Falken Azenis RT615 (205/50R15): 21.2 lbs. (Falken Tire)
In further To-Do List news, I have confirmed that my brake pads do need replacing, so I have ordered a set, which should be here this week. Also, on Friday, I purchased a used Hard Dog Sport Rollbar, which will be installed at a later date. Today, if I can gather all of the materials that I need, I will try to repair the Miata’s rear plastic window.
jimmy Â
