Miata wheel question

I seem to recall this style of wheel being offered in 15 inch, but now I only see references to 16 inch. Was this just my imagination, or did they come in 15?

http://www.miata.net/faq/images/2001.jpg

I've only ever seen that wheel in a 16", but I don't know for sure that no 15s exist. Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence.

I don't think that style ever came in a 15".

I checked here and it shows only 16" http://www.miata.net/faq/wheel_weights.html

Could the 15" that you are thinking of be the '99-'02 version of 15" since it is similar to the 16" in question?

The 15" NB wheel looks more like the 14" version than the 16". Only the 16" has that nice twist.

Okay, here's why I was asking:

I picked these up today. They were advertised as 15's. I confirmed the size twice, once by e-mail and a second time by phone. I was fairly certain that they were 16's even though the seller insisted that they were 15's. When I got there, I found that I was correct and bought them.

Now, next question: Can I mount them on my 96 without spacers? The car will soon be slightly lower once I install my new FM springs. The wheel size is 16x6.5 with a 40 mm offset.

The tires are crap and need to be replaced. I'm debating whether I should use these as my track wheels, or if I would be better off with my set of 15x7's. I am not bound to a spec tire by any rules, I'm just having fun.

Would not the quick confimation have been to read (or get a picture) of the tire size? It would either end with 15 or 16.

No spacers needed.

Nice score, those are worth more than the factory 15's.

They'll bolt right up to your 96, no worries at all. I'd use the 15" wheels for track wheels, though. I think there's a better selection of tires in the yummy 205/50-15 size. Use the 16" for street pimpin'.

jrw1621 wrote: Would not the quick confimation have been to read (or get a picture) of the tire size? It would either end with 15 or 16.

The tire size was not legible in the Craigslist photo. I didn't really care either way as I just like these wheels, though I suspected that they were 16. I asked twice. The seller was adamant that they were 15's. He chose not to confirm this. Perhaps he would have asked more for them if he knew that they were 16's. I paid his full asking price.

Glad I don't need spacers.

Now, tire size suggestions for 16's on my 96?

Keith wrote: Nice score, those are worth more than the factory 15's. They'll bolt right up to your 96, no worries at all. I'd use the 15" wheels for track wheels, though. I think there's a better selection of tires in the yummy 205/50-15 size. Use the 16" for street pimpin'.

I heard that these wheels were prone to bending and had problems with them...any truth? kieth?

That's certainly true of the 17" Racing Harts fitted to the Mazdaspeed cars, but I don't know of any particular problems with these 16" ones.