changing wheel size

[the5tolls]

Hi Guys, I am looking for an education on changing wheel sizes on my 1990 stock 323. It has some black fourteen inch rims from a Mercury Tracer on it currently. I do not want anything difficult to do, no suspension mods or shoe horns to put on. But I would like to put some sort of Alloy wheel on, maybe from a Miata or maybe a Mazda 3. I would like to stay with a Mazda factory wheel if possible and I would prefer not to mess up the speedometer. Any suggestions or ideas would be appreciated! If anyone has anything for sale around Wisconsin I would like to hear about it. Thanks Bill

[DuRWooD]

Stock Miata wheels will fit, or stock Mx3 GS wheels are a nice upgrade.

[the5tolls]

would the Mx3 GS wheels be fourteen inch? If not what size tire would I need to run to keep speedo in the ballpark of being accurate?

[Foofighter8008]

If you're trying to stick with Mazda wheels, you don't have many options unless you switch to 5 lug. I would go with mx3 GS wheels or 99-00 protege wheels, both are 15 inch.

[bomdoutscort]

You can basically go 2 inches over stock and keep the speedo accurate. Also as long as that outside diameter of the wheel is the same, i'm pretty sure it wont effect mileage as long as the wheels are in the same weight ballpark, at least thats what I was told.

[the5tolls]

I really don't want to switch to five lug, I thought Miata would be an exact match? Do the mx3 GS wheels look like the regular mazda 3 wheel?

[monoxidechild]

You can basically go 2 inches over stock and keep the speedo accurate.

Not really true. You can go as big as will fit really. You just need to chose a proper tire to fit the larger wheel to end up with close to the stock diameter. Basically the larger the wheel, the smaller the sidewall on the tire. So they still end up being about the same size.

[the5tolls]

what about a 1990-2001 Protégé, they are suppose to be the 4x100, 54.1, H offset wheels, did they ever make and good looking alloy wheels for those? Am I correct that their were several different wheels made for the mx3 and mx3 GS in the early 90's? What do you guys think a fair price would be for a set of Miata wheels in fair condition? Thanks, Bill

[Foofighter8008]

You can find Miata wheels starting at $100, but like with most used wheels, finding a complete set in good condition isn't easy

[the5tolls]

I found a set for a hundred bucks about a hundred miles from my house, I bought them yesterday, the guy took eighty bucks for them. They do need some cleaning, I don't know if anyone has any ideas for cleaning alloy wheels? I was guessing buy some polish and a whole bunch of elbow grease. They are off of a 1990 Miata, so even though they will not be a factory wheel, at least they are the same vintage. Thanks Bill