Side view
Front view
Somewhat closer
Close up view. But the surface of the rims is smooth; even though
it does seem so here. They are really very
nice looking wheels
Why these wheels? I wanted to put wider tires on my car, (for my Sebring supercharger), but without increasing the unsprung weight. Increasing unsprung weight hurts both comfort and performance. So I asked the Tire Rack whether they had lighter wheels than the 10.5 pound 14 inch standard alloys on the 1996 PEP package. They said no.
You can get Japanese lighter weight wheels, but I thought all of them too flashy. The BBS wheels are much better looking. I like their looks even better than my stock 14" alloys, in fact.
So after a lot of thinking and advice from the Miata Usenet group, I ended up buying 4 used 1995 BBS wheels from MazMart and had them refurbished at AAA Rims. The wheels where scuffed but seemed further OK, so I believe the most important thing AAA Rims did was refinish them. However, they do completely refurbish the wheels. In any case, the wheels look new and I have no trace of the famous 65 mph shimmy.
I left the plastic and aluminum wheel caps as they were. The plastic had small chips in it, probably from stones, but it is invisible unless you get close, so I did not think it worthwhile to spend $65 per cap to get new ones.
The MazMart wheels arrived the same week that I ordered them, and AAA Rims was very helpful all throughout the process and my decision making. They also were very responsive to E-mail. Thanks Timothy!
Then I ordered 195/50 R15 (front) and 205/50 R15 (rear) tires from the Tire Rack. The smaller front tires to reduce hydroplaning danger, the wider rears to provide more rubber for my Sebring. The way I see it, the front tires will probably push aside some of the water for the rears anyway. I chose Yokohama AVS Intermediates, since I understand SP 8000 tires wear down very quickly. The Yokos have a good reputation for the Miata.
I had some difficulty with Tire Rack, who started running credit card checks the next day instead of shipping (and leaving a message on my work phone at 5:50 pm on Friday evening, with the contact person not around until Monday morning), so there was needless delay. Obviously the credit check could have been done when I ordered, or at least the same day, and they could have left me a person to contact who was actually available during the weekend. (I could not even reach the person on Monday and ended up talking to someone else after all.)
These unfavorable experiences are similar to these of Nick Horianopolous on the Miata Newsgroup. I will try Discount Tire the next time and see whether they are any better.
New BBS wheels are about $650 each from Roebuck Mazda. So I did save consoderable, while my wheels absolutely look new.
Side view
Front view
Somewhat closer
Close up view. But the surface of the rims is smooth; even though
it does seem so here. They are really very
nice looking wheels