Leon van Dommelen wrote:

> The 15" Enkei was 15. So were the 15" 6-spokes. Mazda also put 18 lb 16" OEM
> wheels on the 2002 SE. It is all essentially the same car.

Well, technically, the 15" Enkei was 14.5 pounds on the '96M and '97
STO. Mazda never reached 15 pounds on any of their alloy wheels until
they went to 16".

> I do not know that Mazda was deluged by 2002 SE owners regretting the added
> weight.

Probably not, though anyone who is really concerned with wheel weight
probably swapped them for something with less weight.

> Also, do not forget that wheels are only a small part of unsprung weight.
> The tires add a lot to it (and tires on a 14" wheel are likely to be many
> lb lighter than on a 16" one.) The brakes, shocks, and suspension elements
> add more unsprung weight. Frankly, I doubt whether I would really notice
> if someone put wheels weighing another 10 lb each on my Miata. I might,
> but I sure do not guarantee it.

I think that you would notice it. I drove two '96M editions within
minutes of each other. One car had a new set of RE-71 tires on the 14.5
Enkeis. The other miata had worn-out Toyos T-1's on the 15" BBS wheels.
This was probably a bit more than a 10 pound difference, but the feel of
the two cars was completely different.
While mine gripped better with the new tires, the other car felt more
nimble and tossable to a good degree.

> How about the 1995 M-Edition BBS at 12 lb and $900 each?

$900.00 each? Is that a typo or is BBS insane? Actually, that would be
the buyers that are insane.
Those wheels are nice, but $3600.00 for a set of 15" wheels that are not
even the best on the market seems WAY, WAY, WAY too high a price to me.
My SSR's are larger (16X7), weigh almost the exact same, (they would
weigh another pound or two less than the BBS wheels if the size was the
same for both), and cost about $350.00 each, which is not inexpensive by
any means, but $900.00 for any 15 inch wheel is just nuts, unless it is
made of precious metals.

> Why not just go for the Borbets that you like?

Good call. :-)

Pat