Tire size question
 

When I bought our 1999 Miata it came with a set of 14" rims and 16" rims, the tires mounted on the 16 rims were 215/50/16, I want to put 205/45/16 on the front and 225/45/16 Hoosiers on the rear, my question is will the 225's fit?

how wide are the stock 16s, 6.5?

it all depends on the offset and width of the wheel. one thing to note is that miatas dont like different size wheels or tires front to rear. i say go for 225 all around.

I have 225 hoosiers all around on mine. but I have 9" wide wheels

First answer why you want to do this? Does the car ever see the track?

Ok do you guys not ever read the previus posts people make this guys wife sees plenty of track time in the car and he is her dedicated mechanic as it where. This being said unless your car is lowered a shit ton or your wheels are a weird ass wide offset then 225 50 r 15 fits on most any miata i have ever seen the apropriate sized 16 should fit as well. I would make sure the wheel is atleast 7 inches to do it though becouse you could run into sealing issues if the rim is to narrow obviusly. On my stockish ride height 1992 and fairly standard offset wheels my 225's have 0 rubbing in the back and only a spot on the inner fender well of each front tire under high laod turns. Wich since then has worn down so isnt even a factor anymore.

Most of the people on this site are afraid to put enough rubber on there car to be able to control the little power they make. i am glad you are thinking on the correct lines GL to ya.

If I could afford the 275/35/15's I would run them, but that would take some work to make them fit right.

The rims I'm going to use are 16x7 Zigen FNO1-RC's. The car sits an inch lower in the front so i figured the 205's would tuck in nicely plus the slightly narrowed size would make the steering easier for Sue to steer during autoxing. Thanks for covering my back Magnam-5 :) And yes our car is not street legal and used for racing only. I have a three month plan for our car, this month it's tires (since Sue almost wore the Falkins off last weekend and slid around the course like she was drifting! She still was the fasted girl on the track (there were 4 others) but she is still learning how to harness the 300HP.) I'm also doing a Radiator flush, installing louvers in the hood and bleeding the brake system with Super Blue. (It stays hot in Nevada even in the winter). Next month is new gauges (adding two more) and MOMO removable steering wheel and if the engine holds together till December we're planning on having the bottom half beefed up since we know very little about the history of our car.

215-40/16?? I ran that size when I had 16"s.

Staggered tires on Miata = Fail

I hope you realize that more traction in the rear than the front will push that front end around even more. Do you understand the physics involved? Under steer vs. over steer....

I think he understands the physics of it seeing as his car is on the track alot.
He stated he had 300 hp, which I would think tends to slide the rear of the car when using the loud pedal.

My vote is 225's all the way around.

For all you smaller front nay sayers, go take a look at most race cars:rolleyes:

Thanks for all of your input guys. I've decided to go with 205's all around for now. If I do need a larger tire I'll spend the time and money to cut fenders and add flares when I can fit that into my budget.

you should be able to fit 225s without problems with those wheels. im running 15x7 +33 5zigen fn01rc w/ 225/45/15 on NA

Mid engined. I'd rather set up my suspension properly than compensate with tire sizes.

+1

meh sounds like you know what you want now pitcrew now get out there and tell ole sue to post up some damn time slips so we can check out her bad assery.

I believe he also bought the Miata already built and is not completely familiar with the car. Anyone with much track experience in a car as well-balanced as a Miata will know that matching tires is important. I am about to pick up my 4th Miata in just over 7 years and would like to think I know a thing or two about them.

As for the 300hp, it's useless if one can't control it properly.

I know my car would slide all over the track when i used full hp even on my 225 gforce sports. Its something you just get used to throttle oversteer is awesome. And understeer is a fail.

I have been running g-force sports for almost 4 years on the street and like them for that purpose, but they are not a track tire. Decent for the cheap price though, especially on the freeway in the rain.

Focus on the tire material man, i had my wrangler with 325s on there and i could do a brake/gas burnout at the same time with the fairly stock motor (intake, exhaust, bored out throttle body.. few other minor mods). I could even burn out all 4 in a straight line....simply those tires sucked. Drove around for 15k miles, didnt see a mm of wear on them

Bought them with 1/2" of thread, sold the vehicle with 1/2" of thread on em 15k miles after :)

Got the tires ordered and on the way Here's Sue's time from her first autox in the Miata, not the fasted as you can see but she was the fasted lady by 5 seconds!

Top Times Of Day Time Class # Driver
Raw time 45.785 F125 71 Marc Segal
Pax 43.072 BSP 328 Aaron Godwin
Stock 54.106 SS 11 Tom Skaggs
Street Prepared 50.142 BSP 328 Aaron Godwin
Prepared 53.454 EP 09 Marlon Tecson
Modified 51.942 DM 34 Eric Waugh
Touring 52.665 ST 50 David Hironaka
Street Modified 50.737 SSM 97 DOUG ROWSE
Kart 45.785 F125 71 Marc Segal
Stock Ladies 63.591 SSL 14 Barbara Kostelaz
Street Prepared Ladies 63.412 BSPL 18 Lindsay Totten
Street Modified Ladies 57.623 SSML 85 SUE STODDARD

hell yeah

Are 225s bowing out over a 7" wheel?

I've got some rota 15x7s and I want to go up to a 225/45/15, but the 205s on there seem to be a good size for the 7" wheel.

Sorry to bring back a old forum but I rather do this than start a new forum. What do you guys think about Running 225 on 17x7 wheels.

forum != thread


17x7? Why? What car?

17" is too large. Go 15 or 16. Also:

MiataTurbo.net/forum is a forum.
This is a thread.

Oh, you wacky guys...

http://img40.imagefra.me/img/img40/2...km_931e917.jpg

But yeah. 17x7s would go great on a late 90s Corvette. The Miata, however, is pretty sensitive to unsprung weight, and your shocks will thank you if there's at least a little bit of sidewall on the tires.

Long story short: It can obviously be made to fit, but it's not an ideal choice from a handling or ride quality standpoint.

Well The 17's on my Miata or work emotion which are forged wheels my wheels are lighter than the 15's on my civic. Only way I am downgrading to 16's is if I come across a set of Te37's or Ce28's in bronze.

Well, then it's pretty much decided. You asked what we thought about it, we think it's a bad idea, and you're doing it anyway.

Good luck with that.


Interestingly, Work doesn't see to list the weight of any of their wheel at their website. Always the mark of serious manufacturer, no?

From a Mitsu forum, I find the weight on the Emotion 11R in 17x7 quoted as 18.4 lbs, from a different forum, I find the XT7 at ~20 lbs. Well split the difference at just call it 19 lbs.

I'm having trouble finding a good tire in 225/(n)-17, where n is any number that yields a decent OD. TR has the Yoko S-drive in 225/35, but those suck. The next step up (225/40) is available in the Hoosier A6 and R6 (which I don't think you want) and then you get to 225/45, which seems to be where the action is. This size is available in the RE-11, the RE070, the Star Spec, the R-S3, the R1R, the AD07, etc. Average dia is about 25", and weight seems to be running in the 25-26 lb range, on average.

Ok, so you're at ~44.5 lbs for the wheel and tire package, and you're running a size that the car just isn't going to like from a geometric standpoint.

By comparison, take a common 15x7 wheel like the Enkei RP-F1, which is 9.8 lbs. Wrap it in a 225/45-15 Hankook R-S3 (22 lbs) and you're at 31.8 lbs (12.7 lbs less per corner, a 28.5% reduction) and you also have a more favorable geometry to boot.


But you won't do it- you're too cool to be rockin' on 15s! :D

Never really understood what was so wrong with 15s...

http://img687.imageshack.us/img687/640/206fk.jpg

But then again I haven't been tainted by any of the other .nets.

Well my original question wasn't weather 17's will fit or should I put 17's on my car. My question was how would 225's fit . The car came with the 17's, my friend has the same suspension setup as me with 15 SSR's and I can't feel any difference. I would be willing to down grade to 16's but they would have to be Works, or Volks. By the way I plan on running Star spec since they are dirt cheap.

Well, why not sell those 17s, and use that money for 15s or 16s. Probably save on tires too.

Also why only Works or Volks??

I see some 16x7 +35 on their site that aren't half bad. No weight listed though.

Because they are relativity cheap (here in japan) and they are good wheels. I been through over 5 sets of works and volk wheels and they take abuse.

Oh man so you got all that JDM tyte shit. JDM clothes, JDM food, JDM shoes!

Well either way, if you are going just on looks, and you enjoy the 17s more power to you. Seems to be a lot of :hustler: going on in this thread anyways.

Thanks for the help Joe Perez and taking the time to write all that to help me out.