What a Difference! Miata Wheel & Tire Upgrade + Grip Test!
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- Опубликовано: 5 авг 2024
- This is an upgrade that every car guy / gal thinks about doing at some point: wheels and tires! My 1991 Mazda Miata had some very tired old aftermarket 14" wheels and worn all-season tires on it. I was used to them, but I knew it was time to step things up after I upgraded my suspension (see my previous videos).
So, here's what I got: VTO Classic 8 wheels in 15x7, 38mm offset. The tires are Continental ExtremeContact Sport summer performance tires, in 205-50-VR15 (20mm wider compared to my old tires, which are 185-60-R14).
WOW what a difference this makes, both in terms of looks and performance. The VTO wheels look perfect on the NA Miata, very much an OEM+ type of upgrade, similar in style to the factory alloy Daisy wheels, but a larger diameter / width, and overall much nicer looking. The Continental ECS tires take the car to a whole new level. It feels like an actual sports car now, that can carve up corners like nothing else. The grip is fantastic.
In this video, I thought it would be fun to try to quantify the difference in grip, from the old tires to the new ones. So I downloaded an app that would show me a readout of my iphone's accelerometer, stuck it to the windshield, and recorded what happened. This is a bit of a subjective, real-world test, not in a controlled environment by any means, but the results still show.
Hope you enjoy this, stay tuned for more!
CHAPTERS:
0:00 - Intro
1:24 - Old Tires Grip Test
2:43 - Wheel Swap & Comparison
5:04 - New Tires Grip Test
9:49 - Conclusions
Thanks for following along with this project, there's always more to come! Please subscribe if you like this kind of thing. For random updates and behind-the-scenes stuff, check out my IG: / andrewdoescarstuff 
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Your voice, the editing, the music, and the overall chill vibes your videos have are so outstanding compared to other high-energy car video producers. Please keep uploading more videos like this, because videos like these are so nice to wind down with.
Wow, thank you! That's nice to hear. I shall continue!
To be honest, your style, video "put together", sense of humour i would watch you mowing the lawn!! Keep making the content. I especially like the camera where you can see the suspension working.
Thanks, I appreciate that! Luckily I don’t have a lawn.
I really enjoy your videos Andrew. You have a very cool and chilled out personality, and are extremely thorough and professional with very high production values. I own a red '94 MX5 so I'm especially loving your videos featuring your Miata.
I appreciate that! Nice taste in cars, too.
I still love my RPF1's, but those look great! Nice custom center caps!
Thanks! And I do like the RPF1's, very classic sporty light wheels. I just wanted to go a different direction.
Nice stuff Andrew! I like how you filmed this episode. Tire and wheel combo looks great :)
Thanks Metod! It was a surprising amount of work for a video with not much actual information in it, haha.
A late congratulations to you and your NA. Spectacular. My NA and I are looking forward to a set of Dunlop Magnesium wheels like off an old Jaguar D Type, spinners and all! Some day... Thank you for your chill and grounded content.
I also went from 14's with old ratty 185 wides on my NB, to the same exact continental as you in 205 on some konig countergrams. The difference is shocking.
This helped me a lot! Just got a ‘90 and will get these tires asap. Everyone recommends them more than anything else.
They are fantastic, probably the best thing I've done to the car. Though the whole package put together, with the chassis stiffening and suspension upgrades, all added up with good tires, is just amazing to drive now.
Looks great. Love these sensible upgrades. Cool haircut by the way. I'm bald and maybe a bit envious😂
Haha, thanks! I'm trying to enjoy having hair while I can.
The last shot looks like a magazine commercial from the 90s. So nice :-)
Never pass up a good puddle :)
Great video, as usual! For reference, one of the most maligned and disparaged cars, with one of the best "off the showroom floor" chassis, was the 3rd Gen Toyota MR-S, from 1999 to 2007, and it's 300ft skidpad test was right at 1g!
I have heard good things about those! Looks like fun.
Great wheel choice the car looks fantastic! Thanks for your excellent videos.
Thanks, I appreciate it!
Watched 3 videos straight. All videos well made. Professional but still cool and relaxed. Congrats man. I’m a fan.
Thanks for that!
It’s hard to beat Minilites (classic look) so my hat is off. If they perform as well as they look, you win!
Way better.
Your car looks extremely tidy - well done.
Thank you!
Excellent! Thanks for posting! Very inspiring! Wheels remind me of the Panasport wheels.
Thanks! And yes, the Panasports are what I originally wanted, but found out they don't make the Miata offset anymore. Too bad! I am happy with these VTOs though.
They look great, and I appreciate the way you care for your car.
I did a similar change on my wheels and tires on my 93 Konig wheels which looked like the wheels you compared yours too. I also went for the look that I liked. Good videos !
Nice! Sounds like you have your priorities in order. Thanks!
Andrew, just finished all three videos on shocks and suspension upgrades to your MX-5. These are the best Produced and documented videos and easiest to understand out of all videos I’ve watched on this topic!!!! Kudos to you. And your NA looks fabulous!!!
I’m about to upgrade my ‘04 Mazdaspeed with Koni Special Active Shocks along with OEM shocks. Keeping all of the rest suspension stock as MSM’s come stock with all of the extra braces and larger sway bars.
Please keep up the videos. I need to paint calipers red as part of my aesthetic upgrades. Thanks again!
Jim Gruber
apollo Beach, FL
PS wish I had those curvy roads down here in Tampa area.
Well thanks very much! It's a lot of work to put these together, so I appreciate comments like these. I'm still going to do the rear brakes on this car at some point (kinda got distracted by other projects) as well as suspension bushings and who knows what else.
I agree with the others. A mic'd up, no commentary, pure driving video would be appreciated.
Good to hear! This would be fun, I can definitely make it happen.
A pure driving video would be awesome!
Thanks for the feedback, I will aim to do this fairly soon!
Andrew, great vid as always. I still have 14" wheels on my 1992, and am thinking about 15" wheels and new tires. Did you have to roll the fenders at all?
Thanks! No modifications needed for these wheels. They are 15x7, +38mm offset. My ride height is pretty stock so that probably helps too.
Caps are a great touch. Be honest, when you park it do you look over your shoulder for one more glance?
I even looked back with the old wheels, but now even more so!
I have the Fm springs and been wanting to pull the trigger on the koni and fm springs for a while. Surprisingly not a lot of videos out there for them.
I think a lot of people get wrapped up in the idea of performance adjustable coilovers, when it's really not neccessary for normal / spirited driving on public roads, which is what most of us are doing. I'd rather have less adjustments to potentially get wrong, and just have quality components that are set up right to begin with.
@@AndrewDoesCarStuffYou’re 100% correct. If you’re not the kind of weirdo who’s willing to pull the tires off 100 times learning how to adjust your first coilover setup keep it simple and buy a non adjustable setup.
Great to see enjoyment from your investment...so pretty sure your Miata has the SAME bolt spacing pattern 4-100 as your Manta, so try them on the Manta?
Thanks! And you're right, it does have the same bolt pattern. I have thought the same thing, these would look great on the Manta too. No idea if the size and offset will fit, but it would be a fun experiment.
yes! please do a drive video
The people have spoken! Will do.
Can’t wait!
Hey Andrew, wondering now that you've had the tires for 4-5 months, any further thoughts? Still very satisfied? I'm thinking of going the same route with the ECS tires. Thanks
Yep I'm still very happy with them! Grippy and smooth. One thing I've noticed is that because they are softer / stickier than my old all-seasons, more debris sticks to them and kicks up into the body. I usually notice when first setting off, I can hear lots of little pieces hitting the rockers until I get going and they clean off. Probably comes with the territory with any performance tires though.
Quick question please, bought a used set of American Racing looks similar to ones OEM w/ large tear drop holes from 90's? mine has lug hole slot meant for washers. your lugs look like what I need! w/ a flat end that mat to rim. do you remember your brand? + where you purchase or stock's #. Thanks very much for the video.👍👍👍
I got the lug nuts from the same company I got the wheels from: VTO. Always a good idea in my opinion to buy them from the same place. Anyway there's not actually washers or shoulders on mine, it's just a conical style. If you have flat areas on your lug holes then you might need shouldered lug nuts. If in doubt, maybe take them to a wheel/tire shop and get their opinion.
Sorry if this is covered somewhere, is your Miata stock or has it been lowered at all?
I have the Flyin' Miata Koni suspension package, so it came with slightly lower springs. The difference is very slight. I have a couple videos that cover the whole suspension project. It's a really nice setup.
👍👍😎👍👍
What shift knob is that? Link please! 😄
It's by Jass Performance, the smaller "Type-R" version: mossmiata.com/903-395-cp-shift-knobs-by-jass-performance
Mine is actually laser engraved from the Miata Reunion in 2022, so pretty cool piece. It gets shinier over time from my hand polishing it, haha.
5lbs a corner extra isn’t that bad. Most people wouldn’t notice. Those tires look super grippy.
I noticed your suspension sits a little higher than mine. Did you set the spring perch to the highest setting?
Yeah it's on the highest setting, as recommended by FM. Did you put them in a different spot? I have no complaints about the height, it's nice to not worry much about scraping.
@@AndrewDoesCarStuff yeah mines set on the middle perch. Sits a 1/2 inch or so lower. Other than that it’s at FM’s specs and alignment. I don’t like too low either. Btw your video on motor mounts is super helpful. I just got a set and gonna put them in the next few weeks.
Joe Pera gets a Miata.