Need help finding right rims for my 1992 323

[jbwalker]

Hi guys, i have a 1992 mazda 323 hatch with the stock steel wheels and wanted to spice it up a little with some tidy little rims. I'm just not sure what size is best. I know the stock wheels are 13x5" and was wondering 14 or 15" rims may look a little nicer.
I live in Canada and if you have any tips / advice that would be great on what works well in your experience and if you know of any good places to buy new / second-hand rims.

I've found a picture of another 323 on google to give you an idea of what I'm looking for.

Thanks a lot!

View example here:

 

[J.P.]

I ran Miata 14" alloys on my 1994 Protege SE. They really transformed the handling with 185-60-14 tires. As a bonus, you can get a lot of nice tires at reasonable prices to fit them. If you go to 15", a friend of mine had 15" VW Corrado rims (but Miata, Ford Escort, and 4-bolt Protege options abound) on his with 195-50-15 tires. Again, a little more expensive, but there is a decent selection of good tires in that size.

For new, try www.fastwheels.ca. I got a good deal on wheels & winter tires for my Mazda 5 from them. Just eyeballing the picture you have in the link, I would say those are 15" or 16" wheels.

 

[JC-MP5]

NB Miata 15" sport wheels look great on the BG 323 and Proteges.

Here's one with them installed. http://orlando.craigslist.org/cto/2178175620.html

 

[jbwalker]

Thank you so much for the quick replies! That really helps me out a lot. It did seem like there was plenty of room in the wheel arches for larger rims. Do you know if putting larger rims on will greatly affect the accuracy of my speedometer?

Thanks so much for your help!

 

[J.P.]

Not drastically. The sizes I listed will keep it very close (larger rim, but shorter sidewall = close to oe rolling diameter). There is a calculator on 1010tires.com, and tirerack.com if you want to play around with other sizes. There are a few 195-55-14 (very limited selection), and 205-50-15 (more expensive than the 195-50-15, but very good selection).

 

[jbwalker]

Thanks again J.P. hopefully i can find some within my price range here pretty soon, if i do i shall have to post some before and after pics!

 

[Pmpkinhead]

If you're going to keep the car for awhile, I'd go with the 15"! Maybe a 195/55-15 tire or 195/60-15 tire. I like wide so I would push the width even more (205mm) if possible. Ask the tire store to give you the numbers for a +2 tire size upgrade.

 

[jbwalker]

Thanks for the advice. My only question with going wider than a 185/195 is that with no power steering it may get a little heavy driving in the city. But I'm definitely keeping my options open. (Mostly because i didn't know I had this much flexibility!)

 

[jbwalker]

There is a calculator on 1010tires.com, and tirerack.com if you want to play around with other sizes.

^^ Very helpful!

 

[J.P.]

If you're going to keep the car for awhile, I'd go with the 15"! Maybe a 195/55-15 tire or 195/60-15 tire. I like wide so I would push the width even more (205mm) if possible. Ask the tire store to give you the numbers for a +2 tire size upgrade.

Too big for that car - for 15", it would be 205-45 or 50-15. or 195-50-15 to keep the speedo within range. I have run 185 witdth tires on many cars without power steering (Mk1 Fiesta, Rabbit, Kadette, Civic...) and had no daily driving issues for parking, and manuvering.

I have seen many a driver put larger tires (205-50-15 or even larger 16 or 17"), and end up with more tire than the chassis can handle. 185-60-14 gives you a lot of choices in GOOD street, track, and auto-x tires. More rubber is great, but ask yourself - how tired is the suspension? Are the bushings front and rear still in good shape? Are the springs and struts still in good shape? Stabilizer bar bushings, and end-links? Make sure the budget is there for these items to be up to the job before loading them up with larger, stickier tires.

 

[jbwalker]

yea it seems like the 185/60r14 is looking like the best fit for what i had in mind

 

[tireboy]

on my 323 i run 14 escort lx wheels and 185/60r14 cooper cs4 hr.. no complaints . good ride and good handling .
http://s48.photobucket.com/albums/f236/tireboy/recent mazda work/..... here are some pics..

 

[jbwalker]

Thanks for the post! It's good to see them on for size comparison. I notice that yours has the tachometer in the dash, i have the 5spd with no tach, did yours come stock or did you change out your dash?

 

[tireboy]

i used the protege lx cluster .. it's plug n play...