And with this picture, I believe my decision has been made.....love em. Yes they can fit without flares, yes there are better wheels out there for the tuckin99 flares, and yes spacers are probably not the best solution.....but for how these things look, what they weigh, and how much they cost you simply cannot beat it. Now if my budget was doubled it'd be a much different story. Figures the 15x9 nickels are out of stock till March

 

Being the loser I am, I was curious what the weight of the spacers from Motorsport-Tech will be. After some calculations, this is what you can *roughly*(+ or - .1#'s) expect them to tip the scales at:

http://www.motorsport-tech.com/wheel_spacers.html

30mm: 1.81 lbs
25mm: 1.52 lbs
20mm: 1.22 lbs
15mm: 0.93 lbs
10mm: 0.64 lbs

SpacerWeightpicture.jpg?t=1264800763

So, worst case senario, the 30mm spacers with the 15x9 6UL's will tip the scales at 14.5 lbs (12.7 for the 6UL) and it will increase the track by 2.375". At 14.5 #'s, its still slightly lighter than the spinwerkes 15" wheel and about 1.5#'s lighter than the 16x9's. In the front I'll most likely never be able to swing the 30mm spacer (I'm going to see what I can do) so I am thinking I might run a 15-20mm spacer up front in attempt to keep the track as close to the rear as I can.

 

Do spacers that thick alter the suspension geometry of the Miata and hurt handling? I've heard differing opinions on that topic. At one point I had planned to do 15x9 6ULs with the 25mm H&R spacers and flares, but for a number of reasons decided against it. Also, is there any reason to think those spacers won't hold up for heavy track duty?

 

Any wheel and suspension other than stock probably changes Mazda's original suspension geometry....for better or worse is debatable. In my eyes, my only other option was to run a low offset wheel which is basically the same thing, so I can't see the spacers being an issue, especially since this combo will be lighter than my alternative low et wheel (ie. not Bogarts or Kodiaks).

From the limited searching I've done on this topic, if you put in the proper length studs where you can get about 9 full turns on the lug nut, there should be no issues. If you were running adapters or something, then I'd say it'd be a problem. For me there is no issues since my car is mostly for the street. I may start tracking it here and there in a year or so but I wouldn't be worried about it. If I was a die hard track junkie like Sav, I'd be saving up to get some real wheels at $500 a clip

 

Here are some Kodiaks for sale that would need 2 outer shells for a complete set that would work great for those wanting to flare.

SCCAForums.com - FS: 15x10.5, 15x8.5 Kodiak wheels 4x100

 

Sbrian2 i love how it says these wheels would fit Honda Civic's (92+) or Miata's fairly easily. How you fit a 225 in the front and a 275 wheel on the back of a miata fairly easily is beyond me


that style is the worst spacers available for sale currently. They put about an inch of leverage on the studs. That leverage can be prevented with the spacers that have their own set of studs.

 

Any data to back this statement up? Having a spacer with its own studs would be just like an adapter, which I've always heard to be a no-no. If you have any articles or sites debating this topic I'd love to give them a read....

 

Everything is easy with a sawzall. 275's on a miata is very common on competitive autocross cars.

 

I'll do the math later to back it up as i got class now however this is a very common problem on trucks since they run heavier tires however on a miata thats running slicks, the forces are much greater.

 

The antithis to this topic, but I'm trying to squeeze a 275 Hoosier under the fender and keep the car as narrow as possible - for autocross.

I bought a set of Weld Magnum import drag wheels in 15x10 with 6 inch backspacing. The wheels by themselves stick out past the peak of the fender about 1/2 inch. With tires that should be about 1 inch. I'm going to try to pull the fender enough to cover the tire.

FWIW, they clear 1.6 brakes, but I don't think they will clear 1.8 brakes. Weld sells these in a number of other backspacings that would give you more dish and fill out a flare.

And the bare wheels only weigh 12.15 lbs, or 12 lbs 3 oz.

On the car.


This is not in line with the fender, but out a ways so you can see the width.


Flyweight.

 

Whats the price on the Welds though?

 

yeah! in for price!

those wheels dont look half bad either!

 

It was around $1425 for four wheels shipped from Summit. They were special order and it took around six weeks.

They checked four times to make sure that I really wanted them.

 

damn! thats $356.25 a wheel!

 

Too rich for my blood at the moment. I'd rather get the 6UL's / spacers and start saving for more "go-fast" bits...

 

/\/\/\/\ tru dat!

 

theres no denying your a baller with those welds.

 

Thats my exact motivation when I head in the direction of diamond style wheels. I'm willing to give up that couple pounds though to skip buying spacers.

 

Not quite. They're the cheapest lightweight 15x10 available. Hardly baller status.

 

ya, I guess ur right. There still nice wheels though.