Heh, wow, seems like the vote is split 3 ways. Alot of mixed reactions. I didn't expect everyone to agree with the look.
Thanks for the comments guys. There is no doubt that 17s are overkill for the car, so I was left with either 16s or 15s. The car can get away with smaller wheels because its a much smaller car to begin with.
I REALLY wanted the 16s, but there are a few reasons why I didn't go for em. The 16s cost more, tires are more expensive, and lastly, my biggest concern with those wheels in the 16" was the unsprung weight. Keep in mind, Miatas are not high HP cars, and really dislike the extra weight. This combo is pretty light and I really wanted to perserve the "fun" and sporty nature the car was built for. The extra unsprung weight would have degraded handling and acceleration (its already slow enough 😉). That said, I didn't think the extra cost, performance loss, and losing some of its fun factor would have been worth the extra eye candy. Everywhere I read on the Miata forums, the 15s are just better. I was trying to convince myself 16s were okay, but the more I read, the more people would recommend the 15s over the 16s.
I think the 15s look fine, but the 16s in that rim are gorgeous on the car, but for my reasons I stated earlier, I stuck with the 15s. You guys are right, they do look very similar to the stock rim. I personally liked the design of the factory rim, it just needed more "bling", and thats what this rim did. Alot shinier, a little bit bigger, and less tire sidewall. Gives the car a better look with no compromise in performance.
Ride quality is MUCH better, simply because the treadwear is so much lower and the rubber is softer. The older set of tires bought by the PO were pieces of junk, and these are a very welcome replacement. Overall, the ride quality is a bit better. I havn't done any autocrossing on these new tires yet, so I really can't judge its performance, but I'm pretty sure these "Max-Performance" Toyos are much better than the All-Season bridgestones that were on the factory rim. So far, from wet performance, these seem a bit better, but I've only taken a few trips around. My old tires would sometimes kick the rear end out unexpectedly, and really wake you up if you wern't paying attention.
I did consider a black with polished lip, but I saw a look of it on another car that looks like mine, and I really didn't like em. Some look great on some applications (bronze wheels on a white car looks awesome), but I just didn't feel anything other than silver/grey/polish would match my Black car.
Thanks for the comments guys, keep it comin 🙂.
Discussion Zen 5 Speculation (EPYC Turin and Strix Point/Granite Ridge - Ryzen 9000)
Discussion Intel current and future Lakes & Rapids thread
