Rota wheels

[Combover]

How much lighter are Rota wheels than the standard Mazda items? Are they good enough quality to justify the expense?

Cheers.

[Herman Toothrot]

Rota are on the cheap end of the lightweight wheel market, they are light in certain syles, the white 5 spoke ones being the lightest, can't remember what they are called, same weight as OZ Ultrleggeras I think. So that would make them substantially lighter than 15" mazda wheels and about the same as stock 14"'s

[hornetrider]

Depends which wheel. They are definitely quality items and I considered some 16" deep dish Rota Cups the last time I changed tyres. Did a bit of digging and they weigh 20lb a corner - my 5 sits on 15" BBS which are 12lb a corner.

I believe though that the Cups are heavy, whereas other Rotas are very light. There is a wheel weight link on the miata forum.... I'll just get the link

Here you go http://www.miata.net/faq/wheel_weights.html

[redgriff500]

Some of the Mazda wheels are REALLY light.

In 14" the BBS are very light

In 15" the BBS of MK1 special editions and curved 5 spoke of the 1.8iS MK2 are probably the best.

[MX-5 Lazza]

I have some Rota Circuit 10 in 15" which I use on the track (I have OZ Superturissmo in 17" for road use). I weighed them when I got them and they are 5.1Kg which is 11.2lb each. I think they claim 4.9Kg but very few wheels are actually as light as the manufacturers claim (I had OZ Superlegerra on my last car and they were heavier than claimed too) though they won't be far out.




The only problem I have with them is that the centre-caps are almost impossible to fit without breaking them and they soon fall off. I expect there must be a way around this but as I only use them on track-days I don't really care about centre-caps.

[Herman Toothrot]

Looks better with your 17" on it, is the car a lot lower now as well? I was admiring it at Tonys on the weekend, kicking myself I didn't ask for a sit in your Elise seats they looked good don't know if I could live with them mind with the fixed back

[kevham]

I've got a set of Rota Circuit 8 in 15" which weigh slightly less than Lazza's.

[MX-5 Lazza]

Herman Toothrot said:

Looks better with your 17" on it, is the car a lot lower now as well? I was admiring it at Tonys on the weekend, kicking myself I didn't ask for a sit in your Elise seats they looked good don't know if I could live with them mind with the fixed back

I agree, which is why the 17s are usually used on the road and the 15s are reserved for track use.

The main reason I have the Rotas is partly because light weight alloys are better on track but mostly because 195/50/15 F1s are about £45 each compared to £90 each for 205/40/17

The suspension is the same now as it was in those pictures with the Rotas. 17" wheels fill the arches much better than 15" making the car look lower though that's mostly an optical illusion. 205/40/17 is actually almost an inch bigger diameter than 195/50/15 so the car actually rides 1/2 inch higher with the 17s.

Were you at Tony's? You should have introduced yourself! (or do I already know you? I'm useless with names & faces )

[MX-5 Lazza]

kevham said:

I've got a set of Rota Circuit 8 in 15" which weigh slightly less than Lazza's.

Hi Kev - good to see you on here

[CY88]

16" Rota Cups here (with lowered springs).....



They are actually slightly heavier that the eunos wheels with the scallop-backed spokes that the car came with...

..but i wanted a fat lip

[Herman Toothrot]

MX-5 Lazza said:

Were you at Tony's? You should have introduced yourself! (or do I already know you? I'm useless with names & faces )

Yes I was there, I turned up late and was parked at the end of the row, the scruffy black mk1. I said hello very briefly when looking over your car just as everyone was making a move to the pub.

[kevham]

MX-5 Lazza said:

kevham said:

I've got a set of Rota Circuit 8 in 15" which weigh slightly less than Lazza's.

Hi Kev - good to see you on here

I've only been a member since 2001, mate! I just don't have the time to post much.

[Combover]

I don't like the Cups if i'm being honest.

Lazza, how much did your Rotas cost if you don't mind me asking? Is there a noticable difference between the feel of those and the stock Mazda items?

Edited by Combover on Saturday 2nd February 17:07

[MX-5 Lazza]

My C10s cost me £340 (without tyres) from TopGear in Basingstoke.
I can't say if they feel different from stock wheels as I've never had stock wheels on this car - I bought it with the 17" OZ wheels
To be honest I feel little difference between the heavy 17s and the light 15s. With the 15s the acceleration is a little more immediate and slow speed turn-in is slightly quicker and with the 17s the high-speed stability & ride is slightly better but there isn't really much in it.
I know that kind of flies in the face of peoples general perception of 15" compared to 17" but I find that those with the most to say on the subject have the least experience

Of course it might well be a different story with Mk1s.
I used to have a Mk1 Berkeley. I replaced the (heavy 15" ) wheels with a set of lightweight 15" OZ Superturissmo and to be honest it destroyed the ride! Turn-in was slightly sharper but it tram-lined horribly and it reacted very harshly to small bumps. Before I sold the car I refitted the stock wheels and the ride was returned to normal. It wasn't caused by alignment as I had thet set to the Lanny settings and checked every 6 months. According to the place that did the alignment OZ SuperL were very "stiff" and didn't have any give in them which contributed to the changes. Rotas are much "softer" so shouldn't have the same effect.

Edited by MX-5 Lazza on Sunday 3rd February 10:31

[kevham]

Only thing I would add to Lazza's words of wisdom are that larger wheels will tend to be heavier and heavier wheels put a greater strain on your suspension components - bushes, in particular - if regularly driven hard (eg on track).