Sensible alloy wheel size on a Mk2.5?

[MElliottUK]

thinking about getting an mx5, but i would be after some nice wheels, i have found this mx5 which looks nice with the wheels.



Anyone know what size they are likely to be?

Last thing i want is the wheels to look to big.

Edited by MElliottUK on Saturday 7th April 17:32

[robbieduncan]

I'd say they are 17s. Mine is on (factory) 16s and it looks like that one has lower profile tyres. Mine:

[MElliottUK]

Thanks for the picture. By comparing yours to that one, i would say they are 17's too.

I will discount the 15's then, 16s or 17s look the way to go.

[Pierscoe1]

the ones on the red car are definately 17"

it's Lazza's car... no doubt he'll be along shortly...

edited to ad.... 16" on mine:

Edited by Pierscoe1 on Saturday 7th April 22:18

[MElliottUK]

Nice car, i was thinking about a black one with black alloys

[juansolo]

15" for handling, anything bigger for bling, added weight and a harsher ride.

[MElliottUK]

juansolo said:

15" for handling, anything bigger for bling, added weight and a harsher ride.

Yer i was thinking that, also trackdays might be easier to justify with 15's as the tyres will be cheaper i assume.

[mx-5 lazza]

Hey, that's my car! The picture was taken in the pit lane at Goodwood waiting to go on track

I have 2 sets of wheels. The ones shown above which are 17" OZ Racing Superturissmo wearing 205/40/17 Goodyear F1's and also a set of 15" Rota Circuit 10 wearing 195/50/15 F1's.
I use the 15" on the track and 17" on the road. 195/50/15 tyres cost around £40 each whereas the 17" cost over £90 each and this is the main reason I bought the 15"s.

My car on the 15" Rota's...


Don't believe what everyone will tell you about 17" wheels being too heavy and ruining the ride & handling. My car feels pretty much the same with either set of wheels. With the 15" wheels I get slightly better acceleration as the overall diameter is a little smaller and they are lighter (14.5Kg vs 19.8Kg with tyres) and harsh bumps are absorbed a little better but with the 17" wheels the ride is more confident with sharper turn-in and greater stability at speed.
When I bought my 15s the intention was to sell the 17s and I did find a buyer at a good price but I found I actually preferred the feel of the 17s on the road so had to pull out of the sale!

[MElliottUK]

Excellent, the two pictures show the comparison very well. Your car sits very well on the 17's, I have seen some that resemble monster trucks. Have you lowered the car?

[mx-5 lazza]

MElliottUK said:

Excellent, the two pictures show the comparison very well. Your car sits very well on the 17's, I have seen some that resemble monster trucks. Have you lowered the car?

Yes, it's lowered on FM Springs (the old ones that lower the car too far. The newer ones aren't quite so low) and KYB AGX shocks.

I didn't have a problem with the 17s on the track. It's just the cost of the tyres that made me buy the 15s - they will have paid for themselves once I get through a second set of tyres!
Obviously it's always preferable to have as little unsprung weight as possible but don't believe that less weight = better ride & handling. Heavier wheels might be harder on the suspension but they also force the tyres to work harder in absorbing impacts and can actually improve the ride in some circumstances. Lower profile tyres improve the speed of turn-in and wider tyres give more traction & grip.

As with most things there are pro's & con's. It's just that with wheel sizes people never seem to mention the pro's of bigger wheels.

[Beefmeister]

Does anyone know the rolling radius of the standard 15" wheels on a Mk2 1.8iS?

To get 17's, they'd have to have the same rr as the standard ones so as to not affect he speedo etc....

[MaximumJed]

Not sure about the Mk2, but fitting 17s to ours (with 205/40 tyres) has actually made the speedo much more accurate, though it still reads about 1-2mph faster than the gps at 70.