OT: New wheels

[merlinmurph]

Congrats! What a nice color. Kinda funny seeing a Miata with a hardtop.

I've got a '99 with ~45K miles on it. Just a fun car.

Enjoy!

[mcteague]

Originally Posted by merlinmurph

Congrats! What a nice color. Kinda funny seeing a Miata with a hardtop.

I've got a '99 with ~45K miles on it. Just a fun car.

Enjoy!

Hard top gone! Well, most of it.

Tim

[pjm]

Nice! Always wanted one. Don’t fit.

[GregL]

Originally Posted by pjm

Nice! Always wanted one. Don’t fit.

Same here! My wife has a 1996 M-Edition NA that I have maintained to a very high standard. Fun car, but I have to tilt my head to fit with the top up and stare straight into the upper frame of the windshield with the top down.

Greg

[ridethecliche]

I haven't taken the hard top off my nb miata in well over a year. The last time I did, it was to do some work to it.

OP, enjoy the car. Mine is very heavily built (like 330 rwhp built). I miss the days when I could slam through the gears on a county road going by a cop because even though I felt like I was breaking every law known to man I was barely even at the speed limit.

The ND RF is a beautiful car.
enjoy it in good health.

Originally Posted by pjm

Nice! Always wanted one. Don’t fit.

Get an older one and do a foamectomy on the seats and or have a race shop drop the floor.

It'll still be the best fun you can have for the money!

[dookie]

Not a single wheel answer yet...

OP, I love my '99 sport pkg to death, thought the NC was criminal, and lust after an ND. Don't know what your goals or budget are, but I suggest that weight be a primary driver. Mine wears 15" RP-F1s @ 9.5lbs/ea.

[mcteague]

Originally Posted by dookie

Not a single wheel answer yet...

OP, I love my '99 sport pkg to death, thought the NC was criminal, and lust after an ND. Don't know what your goals or budget are, but I suggest that weight be a primary driver. Mine wears 15" RP-F1s @ 9.5lbs/ea.

Uh, wasn’t looking for wheel advice. I posted “new wheels” as in “new car”. I have no intention to replace the wheels. Maybe a fatter steering wheel at some point.

Tim

[ridethecliche]

Originally Posted by mcteague

Uh, wasn’t looking for wheel advice. I posted “new wheels” as in “new car”. I have no intention to replace the wheels. Maybe a fatter steering wheel at some point.

Tim

Miatas are pretty sensitive to unsprung weight. Great way to improve feel and handling in these cars is by moving to better wheels.

The ND comes with 17's right. That's not the best for handling in these cars.

The response re: not a single wheel comment yet was more in reference to how popular of a comment that is with regard to these cars. Wheels/suspension goodies are the best place to spend money to make the car better should you ever want to go in that direction.

[mcteague]

Originally Posted by ridethecliche

Miatas are pretty sensitive to unsprung weight. Great way to improve feel and handling in these cars is by moving to better wheels.

The ND comes with 17's right. That's not the best for handling in these cars.

The response re: not a single wheel comment yet was more in reference to how popular of a comment that is with regard to these cars. Wheels/suspension goodies are the best place to spend money to make the car better should you ever want to go in that direction.

Understood. Even though the MX-5 is a very light car I have doubts how much saving a couple pounds per wheel could greatly affect the handling of a 2,450 lb car. Suspension upgrades make sense for track. On the road, I think Dave Coleman and the Mazda team know what they are doing.

Tim

[foregroundmusic]

Looks great, always had a thing for MX-5's and almost pulled the trigger on a Mazdaspeed version back when that was a thing. Wound up getting a Mazdaspeed3 instead, so I could fit a bike in the back.

Enjoy

[ridethecliche]

Originally Posted by mcteague

Understood. Even though the MX-5 is a very light car I have doubts how much saving a couple pounds per wheel could greatly affect the handling of a 2,450 lb car. Suspension upgrades make sense for track. On the road, I think Dave Coleman and the Mazda team know what they are doing.

Tim

You'd be suprised re: change in feel. I'm much more familiar with previous gens of the car, but a lot of the language is similar. Ending up with the same weight wheel+tire combo and ending up with a stickier setup makes for a big change.

re Coleman and the Mazda team:
They're still shooting for a pricepoint and have to make concessions. For the intended purpose the stock billies are solid. Sadly the older 15's don't clear the ND brakes (well i guess that's a good things because the brakes are better!), but many 16's do and the wheel+tire combos can save that mentioned 10lbs or give you a much more grippy setup.

I got a chuckle out of your comment re track vs street. How many people here ride bikes that they ride because they like them vs need them? The same goes for stuff like suspension. Yeah, the stock stuff is good, but there's a lot better out there.

Regardless of what you choose to do, you picked a very fun machine. I do hope you enjoy it in good health.

Originally Posted by foregroundmusic

Looks great, always had a thing for MX-5's and almost pulled the trigger on a Mazdaspeed version back when that was a thing. Wound up getting a Mazdaspeed3 instead, so I could fit a bike in the back.

Enjoy

Mazdaspeed miata was a bit of a parts bin car. The stock tune is pretty horrible on it. They're definitely fun for what they are, but you can do far better with a stock miata and some well thought out mods!
Which gen MS3 do you have? I've always liked those and the MS6's. The torque steer on the early 3's was supposed to be something else though!

[foregroundmusic]

Originally Posted by ridethecliche

Mazdaspeed miata was a bit of a parts bin car. The stock tune is pretty horrible on it. They're definitely fun for what they are, but you can do far better with a stock miata and some well thought out mods!
Which gen MS3 do you have? I've always liked those and the MS6's. The torque steer on the early 3's was supposed to be something else though!

I had a gen 2 and the torque steer was absolutely wild. The aftermarket rear motor mount and tune helped it immensely. I got a new Fiesta ST two years ago with the Recaros and have loved it way more though, really lives up to the hype.