Which wheels fit my Mazda MX-5?

How do I choose wheels for my Mazda MX-5?

This is our comprehensive wheel fitment guide covering all options specific to the Mazda MX-5. Below you’ll find ideal MX-5 wheels and tyres, as well as options that require rolling, pulling or bolt-on wide arch extensions. But first, let’s go over some wheel-related terminology to make sure we’re all on the same page.

Wheel Terminology

PCD

PCD stands for pitch circle diameter. PCD is the number of, and distance between, all the holes in the wheel. For example, the MX-5 NA has a PCD of 4×100, which means it has 4 holes that are 100mm apart. This is the first thing you need to consider when looking at wheel options, as anything other than the exact PCD of your car will not fit.

Browse our range of Alloy Wheels for the MX-5

Wheel Diameter

The next thing to consider is the wheel diameter. Expressed in inches, this is the distance from the top to the bottom of the wheel. Fitting a larger diameter wheel can have a significant effect on the aesthetics, handling and wheel fitment on your car. Bigger wheels usually allow larger brakes to be fitted, and doing so is often a compromise between increasing unsprung weight and increasing stopping power.

Wheel Width

Wheel width is expressed as a number before a J, for example, an 8J wheel has a width of 8 inches (20.32 cm). Fitting wider wheels allows for wider tyres and more tyre contact with the road. However, going too wide will cause issues with the wheel hitting the arch. Width and offset are measurements that need to be looked at together, as an 8J wheel with the same offset as a 6J wheel won’t necessarily fit under the same arch.

Wheel Offset

Offset is the distance between the centre-line of the wheel and the hub mounting face and is expressed as positive or negative. For example, if a wheel has an offset of ET20, it means the wheel hub face will be 20mm away from the centre line. Since this figure is positive, the hub mounting will be closer to the outer edge of the wheel. If the offset was ET-20 (negative 20), the hub face will still be 20mm away from the centre-line but would be closer to the inside edge of the wheel. An offset of ET0 would have the mounting face directly in the centre of the wheel. Lowering the offset effectively pushes the whole wheel away from the car. If this is too low, the tyre will start to rub against the arches and arch liners under full lock.

Making wider wheels fit

Often times, a wider wheel will fit but will catch the arch on bigger bumps in the road. There are a couple of solutions in the car builder’s arsenal, from a light roll that would be otherwise undetectable to full-blown bolt-on wide arches, to take the most extreme wheels with huge widths and negative offsets. Below we’ve detailed the process for each so you can decide what wheels—and what modifications to make them fit—are right for you.

Arch Rolling

This is the term you’ll usually hear when talking about wheels, and is the process of flattening the lip on the inside of your wheel arch. Most cars have a small horizontal lip that protrudes inwards along the inside of the wheel arches. This lip is typically the first piece of bodywork the tyres interfere with when fitting aftermarket wheels.

Flattening this lip—often referred to as arch rolling—is usually essential to create the clearance required for flush fitment. When rolling this lip, you’ll be pushing it up and flattening it against the inside of your arch. This works best on rust-free arches and can be achieved with a heat gun or hairdryer to gently soften the paint and an arch forming tool.

Arch pulling

Arch pulling goes one step further than rolling by using an arch forming tool to pull the wheel arch out further from the body. The metal can be deformed a considerable amount to provide the extra clearance required, and when combined with extreme amounts of camber can fit for all but the most extreme wheels.

Bolt-On Wide Arches

Sometimes a wheel is so wide and has such an extreme negative offset that the only way it will fit is by cutting away the original arch and installing bolt-on wide arches. Doing so can afford huge amounts of extra clearance, but it is important to note that such wide wheels can then rub on the arch liners and body of the vehicle. Such fitments require a no-compromise approach to preventing the tyres from rubbing the body under full lock.

Spigot Rings

Spigot rings are an often overlooked but important part of a properly fitted wheel. These take up the space between the hub and the mounting face of the wheel, ensuring the load is spread evenly from the face of the wheel to the hub, rather than all the load going through the wheel studs. Many spigot rings are made of plastic, which is appropriate for fast road use, but for anything more serious we would recommend metal rings. Due to their proximity to the brakes, a plastic set of spigot rings can easily be melted on track.

Fitment Options

Based on measurements we’ve taken on various arch setups, we’ve calculated a rough guide for every width and offset for each Mazda MX-5 Model. This guide is ideally to be used for fast road and track cars and assumes you’ll be using the correct size tyre for the wheel and a reasonable amount of camber. In the tables below each offset is suggested as a minimum for the indicated size.

With narrower wheels, the maximum offset is usually only limited by how far inside the arch you would like the wheel to sit. However, the widest wheels that also have a very high offset could potentially foul the suspension strut. It is also worth noting that it is possible to fit more extreme sizes with lower offsets by using a narrower tyre and/or large amounts of camber through the addition of adjustable camber arms. Every wheel we list also has a guide of how the wheel should fit your model.

Mazda MX-5 NA & NB (1989-2005)

Width	7	7.5	8	8.5	9	9.5	10
	Use Offset Higher Than
Stock Arches	ET25	ET30	ET36	ET42	ET48	X	X
Rolled Arches	ET12	ET18	ET24	ET30	ET36	ET42	ET48
Pulled Arches	ET0	ET6	ET12	ET18	ET24	ET30	ET36
Wide Arches	ET-12	ET-6	ET0	ET6	ET12	ET18	ET24

Our favourites for Mazda MX-5 NA & NB

Mazda MX-5 NC (2006-2015)

Width	7	7.5	8	8.5	9	9.5	10
	Use Offset Higher Than
Stock Arches	ET35	ET42	ET48	ET54	ET60	X	X
Rolled Arches	ET24	ET30	ET36	ET42	ET48	ET54	ET60
Pulled Arches	ET12	ET18	ET24	ET30	ET36	ET42	ET48
Wide Arches	ET0	ET6	ET12	ET18	ET24	ET30	ET36

Our favourites for Mazda MX-5 NC

Mazda MX-5 ND (2016-present)

Width	7	7.5	8	8.5	9	9.5	10
	Use Offset Higher Than
Stock Arches	ET30	ET36	ET42	ET48	ET54	X	X
Rolled Arches	ET18	ET24	ET30	ET36	ET42	ET48	ET54
Pulled Arches	ET6	ET12	ET18	ET24	ET30	ET36	ET42
Wide Arches	ET-6	ET0	ET6	ET12	ET18	ET24	ET30

Our favourites for Mazda MX-5 ND

Tyre Fitment

These are our recommended tyre widths per wheel width. It’s physically possible to fit narrower tyres to a wider rim, however, (for track cars especially) we don’t recommend this. This is the first number written on tyre sizes, for example, 195/50R15.

Wheel size (inches)	14 Inch Wheel (mm)	15 Inch Wheel (mm)	16 Inch Wheel (mm)	17 Inch Wheel (mm)	18 Inch Wheel (mm)
5.5	185
6.0	195	195	195
6.5	205	195/205	195/205	195/205
7.0		195/205	195/205	205/215	215
7.5		195/205/215	195/205/215	215/225	215/225
8.0		205/215	205/215	225/235	225/235
8.5		215/225	215/225	235/245	235/245
9.0				245/255	255/265
9.5					255/265

Fast road and track tyres

Wheel Torque Specs

Setting your wheel nuts to the correct torque is essential to ensure the wheels stay securely attached to your car. Below is a table of the factory specified torque ranges for each model. Every torque wrench will have an amount of error so we recommend going to the exact middle of the range.

	Factory Spec (Nm)	Factory Spec (ft/lb)	Middle of range (Nm/ft-lb)
NA	89-117	66-86	103 / 76
NB	89-117	66-86	103 / 76
NC	88-118	65-87	103 / 76
ND	108-147	80-108	128 / 94