WHAT WHEELS REALLY FIT YOUR 2005-2015 MAZDA MIATA - NC MIATA FITMENT GUIDE

INTRO: 0:00
BASIC FITMENT INFO: 1:36
RECOMMENDED NC MIATA WHEEL SPECS: 2:06
WHEEL WEIGHT: 3:03
ROLLING FENDERS:4:00
NC MIATA WITH KONIG HELIOGRAM: 4:54
NC MIATA WITH ADVAN TC-4: 5:48
NC MIATA WITH VOLK ZE40: 6:51
NC MIATA WITH ENKEI RPF1: 7:43
NC MIATA WITH ADVAN RG4: 8:29
NC MIATA WITH WORK CR KIWAMI: 9:43
NC MIATA WITH WEDSSPORT TC105X: 10:35
NC MIATA WITH MST TIME ATTACK: 11:31
WRAP UP: 12:30

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Today we’re looking at the largest of the Miatas — the NC. This is the generation where Mazda seemed to hint they were going in the direction of every other car maker ever ‘bigger = better’, but instead did a U-turn and went straight back to making golf carts for the ND. Let’s face it this generation looks a bit like a soap bar on wheels, especially the NC1. The good thing is there are a lot of ways we can address this: a Mazdaspeed bumper, wider fender flares, and one of the best performance and visual enhancers, new wheels…. Wheels and tires happen to be our specialty and this guide is going to teach you all about wheel fitment for your NC.

This guide is specifically for the Miata MX-5, 2005 to 2015.
This is a wide range of years and as you probably know, there are a few sub-generations including the NC1, NC2, and NC3 - so far the longest run of any Miata generation. The cool thing is that all of these share the same wheel fitment.

Basic fitment info
Lug pattern: 5x114.3 Lug thread: m12x1.5 Center bore: 66.1 mm Lug torque: 80-90 ft/lbs
Be careful with the lug pattern. If you're coming from a different generation of Miata, you’re probably familiar with the classic 4x100 lug pattern. The NC uses a 5 lug pattern with a 114.3 PCD, which was reverted for the 2015+ ND. Generally speaking, 5x114.3 gives you more options.

Recommended specs for aftermarket wheels
At a glance, 17” wheels are by far the most popular size for this platform, but that doesn’t mean they’re strictly required. If you like meaty tires, you could with a 16” wheel. 18s are a bit controversial on a Miata, but they’re still very possible to run — in our opinion, there best on stance builds.

What about width and offset? Factory wheels come in at 16x6.5 or 17x7 +55; we can do a lot better. 8” wide wheels are super popular because they’re easy to fit, yet give a lot more contact patch. 9” is about as wide as we’d recommend on stock fenders. Offset is all over the place. Sometimes you’ll see offsets in the high 50’s, while others go all the way down to a +20, or sometimes even lower. We’ll show examples of high and lower offsets so you can pick what’s right for you.

Wheel weight
It’s not a secret. These cars aren’t that powerful. After all, you get a whopping 125HP from the 1.8. And torque? … well… a kid on their Huffy makes more peddling uphill. Wheels are unsprung weight, meaning that adding extra in this category will make your car feel (even more) gutless.

This is why people are always talking about wheel weight when the subject of aftermarket wheels comes up. For reference, here are the weights of the factory wheels.

Stock 16” - 15 lbs/piece
Stock 17” - 17 lbs/piece
Aftermarket wheels might weigh a bit more due to being wider, but generally, we want to keep them as close as possible to factory weight. The extra weight of 18s is one of the motivations to run smaller sizes.