After driving the Miata for almost a year on the stock 14" spoke wheels, I decided it was time to upgrade. I help out with local open track events with Trackmasters, and do get some track time in. The last time we were at Sears Point, I took the car out with the 185/65 14 all-season Kumhos on it. The car did OK, but the tires left something to be desired. The tires are great for all-season use, even on snow, but not for track events.

I started by reviewing my wants/needs. I wanted a lightweight 15" wheel that was economical. What 15" when so many are buying 17" or larger wheels? A few reasons. First, the wheel & tire package in that size can be very light -- nearly the stock weight of just under 30 pounds. I know that a light weight wheel & tire package allows the Miata suspension to work optimally. Heavy wheels & tires can make the car accelerate sluggishly and make it handle worse due to the higher unsprung weight. Second, the 15" wheel allowed me to get very close to the stock diameter without going to a super-low profile tire. Increasing the overall diameter of the tire throws the speedometer off, and increases the effective gearing which makes the car accelerate more sluggishly. Super-low profile tires aren't as good for my application since I drive rough roads, and potholes can cause damage to the wheel if there is less tire to absorb the impact. Third, tires are cheaper in 15" diameter. I drive some pretty coarse roads & windy roads; I can go through a set of tires in a year, and would prefer to keep those costs low.

I priced out wheels & tires at two main sources: Tire Rack, and Edge Racing. I have bought wheels & tires from Tire Rack before, and their warehouse is just over the hill from me in Reno (Sparks). Service has always been good from those guys. I've seen Edge Racing ads in Grassroots Motorsports, and their prices of packages seemed reasonable. The fact that they're in Florida increased my shipping cost, but the total package price was less than wheels that I thought were decent at Tire Rack.

Therefore, I ordered Flik Blast wheels from Edge Racing. I was told that the wheels were on backorder, and would ship in about a month. I was OK with this at the time of order. However, after 3 weeks of waiting, they still hadn't shipped. Being a bit anxious to get some new wheels on, I re-priced a set from Tire Rack. Upon repricing, I noticed that the Kazera KZ-M with Kumho Ecsta 711 tires weighed similar, and total cost to my door was similar. I emailed Edge Racing to ask on status, and they still hadn't shipped. I cancelled with Edge Racing, who was very good about it.

I placed my order via the web from Tire Rack in the evening. The next morning, I had a call from Tire Rack. They wanted me to know that these were spec racing wheels, which "is a fairly aggressive fitment and don't have center caps." After I agreed, they said they would ship the wheels from Reno that day. Since I chose 2 day FedEx delivery, that would put them at my door Monday from the initial order of Wednesday night.

On Monday, the wheels arrived as 4 individually packaged wheels. Cardboard was strapped on, covering both sides completely. I happened to open the "main" box first, which included the owner's manual, lugnuts, and lugnut adapter. The owner's manual provided information on mounting, balancing, and caring for the tires -- I hardly consider myself a novice but found it useful to read. The lug nuts were lightweight pieces that were made to fit the wheel. As they are smaller in diameter, Tire Rack provided a chrome adapter that allows me to use the stock lug wrench on them, which prevents ruining the lug nut with the wrong size or marring the wheel with the wrench. It was much appreciated. The attention to detail was definitely there -- the Kumho Ecsta 711 tires are directional, and 2 each were mounted in different directions. My only concern was the large amount of weight applied to each wheel -- a 4" strip of stick-on weight was applied on the inside outer of each wheel. I hope this doesn't reflect badly on wheel or tire quality.

I first fit the front wheels on the car by putting the floor jack under the front subframe. After properly torquing down the lugs (correct order, and correct torque using a torque wrench), I set the car down. It was apparent that these were wider wheels, coming much closer to the fender's edge in the front. The car looked a little silly with the rears still stock. I put the rears on too, stored the old tires for winter, and took it for a drive.

While I haven't yet had the chance to test the tires at the limit, they definitely were more responsive. My manual steering wasn't too heavy with the increased front end grip, responsiveness was increased, roadholding increased, and my rough road didn't become noticably more jarring than before (which was a worry of mine). However, I did notice some vibration at freeway speeds of 67-75 mph. I will contact Tire Rack and see what they say. It seemed to come from a wheel/tire I mounted on the driver's rear, but I'm not sure.

Verdict: I'm very happy with my setup. The wheels look great, perform well, and were reasonably priced. I have nothing bad to say about Edge Racing -- it seemed that their popularity is keeping them very busy. However, I must say that I continue to be impressed with Tire Rack. This wasn't the first time I've used them, and it certainly won't be the last.