'01 NB2 aka MisF1re: http://mazdaroadster.net/showthread....218#post207218
'97 M aka Warbird, gone but not forgotten: http://mazdaroadster.net/showthread....B&goto=newpost
Instagram: @greasemonkey2000
05-04-17: So far so good and Misfire's namesake seems to be a thing of the past! Thanks again to Pat aka patsmx5 and Henry aka hnguyen037 for their assistance/advice/help!
A few parts coming in this week and so far I received a awesome 310mm Sparco Extreme 2 circa 2001 from Calvin aka mashi2choco2....
...and today I received a NB driver side air bag defeat from Ken @ GarageStar.
Tomorrow I should be receiving a CircuitSports hub and slim quick release thanks to Henry aka hnguyen037 and my set of 195/60/14 Falken Azenis RT615K+ should be here from Tire Rack which had a FANTASTIC deal that I couldn't pass up. Of course I have the oem five spoke 15'' wheels so what wheels will said tires be going on...well I will give y'all one clue...they have F1 in the name!
'01 NB2 aka MisF1re: http://mazdaroadster.net/showthread....218#post207218
'97 M aka Warbird, gone but not forgotten: http://mazdaroadster.net/showthread....B&goto=newpost
Instagram: @greasemonkey2000
HarryB (05-05-2017),JamieH (05-04-2017),NCGreasemonkey (05-04-2017),Paul B (05-04-2017),tsingson (05-06-2017)
Steering wheel definitely fits the F1 inspired theme...oh and RPF1s are my second favourite wheels on NBs! Looking great Chad!
Greasemonkey2000 (05-06-2017)
@HarryB:Thanks! The Sparco definitely looks the parts but 310mm...is the smallest wheel I have ever used and the double cut makes it seem even smaller, more on that in a bit. Well your first favorite wheels, I'm guessing is Watanabe's? Which is what I wanted...14x8.5"(-6 offset)(iirc) but at almost $1900 for a new set and don't think they fit under stock fenders....I just didn't have the money to do them.
'01 NB2 aka MisF1re: http://mazdaroadster.net/showthread....218#post207218
'97 M aka Warbird, gone but not forgotten: http://mazdaroadster.net/showthread....B&goto=newpost
Instagram: @greasemonkey2000
HarryB (05-06-2017)
05-05-17: Received a few more parts that I was expecting. The FedEx guy showed up first and dropped off the tires....
...a set of four new Falken Azenis RT615K+ in 195/60/14. They are supposed to have a superior trade compound compared to the previous RT615K's. I was going to get Toyo R888's in 225/45/14 but wasn't sure what kind of life I would get out of a 100tw tire on the street and since I have gotten 15k+ miles out of Hankook RS3's(200tw) I figured I would be better going with a 200tw tire this time around.
The USPS employee showed up much later than usual and dropped off the mail only minutes before I got home from work and left these for me in the mailbox...
.....CircuitSports 55mm hub and CircuitSports V2 slim quick release, thanks again Henry aka hnguyen037! I started on the install but didn't finish up(just need to wire up the horn) so more pics/etc when I get that done.
'01 NB2 aka MisF1re: http://mazdaroadster.net/showthread....218#post207218
'97 M aka Warbird, gone but not forgotten: http://mazdaroadster.net/showthread....B&goto=newpost
Instagram: @greasemonkey2000
Greasemonkey2000 (05-06-2017)
I am glad I have made someone happy in this life. Enjoy!!
You should see what I did with mine.
Greasemonkey2000 (05-06-2017)
I originally wanted 14x7 RPF1's from Warbird but didn't have the budget at the time and thought I was going to do a BBK which the latter is still possible with Flyin Miata's 'little big brake kit' if I'm not mistaken. I am excited about them!
Indeed, thanks again! Look forward to seeing what you did Eli!
'01 NB2 aka MisF1re: http://mazdaroadster.net/showthread....218#post207218
'97 M aka Warbird, gone but not forgotten: http://mazdaroadster.net/showthread....B&goto=newpost
Instagram: @greasemonkey2000
05-06-17: Thank you USPS for dropping off my 949 Racing forged aluminum lug nuts and valve stems!
And not much later the FedEx guy dropped of these....
...14x7 +19mm Enkei RPF1's! Big thanks to Ly aka aarrow w/ Pann Auto for the great deal on these and getting them shipped the same day! Ly is always very helpful in trying to secure great deals so hit him up for most aftermarket automotive parts, especially if you are in Cali!
So why did I choose to go with 14's? Well I originally was going to go with 15x10 6UL's with 245 RS4's BUT after looking at a BUNCH of pics of several different wheel/tire combo's on NB's I decided 14's really would give me the desired look and should give me enough grip with some 200tw or 100tw tires.
I REALLY wanted some wide(8"-9") 14" Watanabe's but I just didn't have the nearly $2k budget JUST for the wheels plus that would have pretty much meant that 100tw tires like Toyo R888's would be about the only tire choice. I did want to do Toyo R888's but with the 100tw I wasn't sure what kind of life I would get out of them as a daily. Since I have had 200tw tires in the form of 225/45/15 Hankook RS3's and Toyo R1R's and getting over 15k miles out of the RS3's I was confident I should be able to get similar miles out of the Falken RT615K+'s.
Some have brought up grip concerns with this combination with boost but they will definitely offer MUCH better grip than the current 195/55/15 Yokohama YK580's that on Misfire currently. I may still get 15x9 or 15x10's down the road if these don't offer satisfactory grip.
Plus at just 8.6lbs per 14x7 RPF1 wheel and 19lbs per 195/60/14 RT6115K+ tire vs the current 15x6 OEM 5 spoke at 13.1lbs and 19lbs for the 195/55/15 YK580 tire there is a unsprung weight savings of 4.5lbs per corner or 18lbs total! I will weigh both setups and measure width for comparison sake. Also this setup cost about $400 less vs the 15x10's/245's which would have been 37% more $$ and weighed about 35-36lbs per corner vs the approx. 27-28lbs the 14's should be, so a weight savings of about 30% over 15x10's/245's.
I will hopefully get them mounted up this coming Monday or Tuesday. I can't wait!!!
'01 NB2 aka MisF1re: http://mazdaroadster.net/showthread....218#post207218
'97 M aka Warbird, gone but not forgotten: http://mazdaroadster.net/showthread....B&goto=newpost
Instagram: @greasemonkey2000
They look absolutely stunning. Adam's Bucky sold me on these on 14" a while back. Kudos for the calcs at the end of the post, looks like what I do every time; but let's face it, at the end emotion prevails!
Greasemonkey2000 (05-06-2017)
Appreciate it, Harry!
'01 NB2 aka MisF1re: http://mazdaroadster.net/showthread....218#post207218
'97 M aka Warbird, gone but not forgotten: http://mazdaroadster.net/showthread....B&goto=newpost
Instagram: @greasemonkey2000
05-06-17, cont'd: Tackled the horn for the Sparco and THOUGHT I could modify the stock clockspring to work with the Circuit Sports hub and spent about 2.5+hours doing so.
The end result was the horn worked as intended but would also sometimes go off when turning the steering wheel and made the resistance of turning the wheel much higher than it should be. So I will probably just install a push button for a horn until/if I decide to try again.
The 310mm Sparco Extreme 2 feels even smaller than I expected....do I like it? I can't honestly say yet. I think 330mm would be perfect. I had a 340mm D cut and didn't like it...felt too big so thus why I think a similar style 330mm would be perfect. Here are some comparison pics of the 310mm/12.2'' Sparco and OEM Nardi(360mm/14.2''):
Here is why I NEEDED something smaller...
...whenever wearing thick soled shoes/boots and moving my left foot from the clutch to dead pedal my knee would jam up against the steering wheel. If the door cards didn't protrude like they do then this probably wouldn't be an issue.
In the same position with the 310mm Sparco Extreme 2 and Circuit Sports 55mm hub and Circuit Sports V2 slim 23.5mm quick release...
..plenty of knee/leg room. Can't tell from this angle but I obviously have about 2'' more room. Also this is more or less my view of the gauges, so some gauge cut off but that is okay since I plan on getting some custom Revlimiter gauges that will have a 1 o'clock zero position.
Just another view to show the size difference.
Time will tell if the steering wheel will stay but if it doesn't, whatever I get will definitely be no bigger than 330mm.
'01 NB2 aka MisF1re: http://mazdaroadster.net/showthread....218#post207218
'97 M aka Warbird, gone but not forgotten: http://mazdaroadster.net/showthread....B&goto=newpost
Instagram: @greasemonkey2000
I like where this is going. You may need to get some guages from Adam so you can see what's going on with such a small wheel... oh the horror./s
Nudge, nudge.
Greasemonkey2000 (05-07-2017)
I tried the 14s on my NB and while they looked nice, I did prefer the 15s. Hence the powdercoated 15x8 +28. But the 14s felt awesome when accelerating. And I second hitting up Ly. Gave me a banging deal on my RPFs.
Greasemonkey2000 (05-07-2017)