What a Difference! Miata Wheel & Tire Upgrade + Grip Test!

This is an upgrade that every car guy / gal thinks about doing at some point: wheels and tires! My 1991 Mazda Miata had some very tired old aftermarket 14" wheels and worn all-season tires on it. I was used to them, but I knew it was time to step things up after I upgraded my suspension (see my previous videos).

So, here's what I got: VTO Classic 8 wheels in 15x7, 38mm offset. The tires are Continental ExtremeContact Sport summer performance tires, in 205-50-VR15 (20mm wider compared to my old tires, which are 185-60-R14).

WOW what a difference this makes, both in terms of looks and performance. The VTO wheels look perfect on the NA Miata, very much an OEM+ type of upgrade, similar in style to the factory alloy Daisy wheels, but a larger diameter / width, and overall much nicer looking. The Continental ECS tires take the car to a whole new level. It feels like an actual sports car now, that can carve up corners like nothing else. The grip is fantastic.

In this video, I thought it would be fun to try to quantify the difference in grip, from the old tires to the new ones. So I downloaded an app that would show me a readout of my iphone's accelerometer, stuck it to the windshield, and recorded what happened. This is a bit of a subjective, real-world test, not in a controlled environment by any means, but the results still show.

Hope you enjoy this, stay tuned for more!

CHAPTERS:

0:00 - Intro
1:24 - Old Tires Grip Test
2:43 - Wheel Swap & Comparison
5:04 - New Tires Grip Test
9:49 - Conclusions

Thanks for following along with this project, there's always more to come! Please subscribe if you like this kind of thing. For random updates and behind-the-scenes stuff, check out my IG:   / andrewdoescarstuff