25MM spacers with stock wheels and 245/40-18's = Flush :)
 

So I finally got around to installing my spacers and I like them. Here are some pics. I will be removing them for track days and cruises but the car rides great with the spacers and handles great too. The only ill effects are that if I take an incline quickly I rub a little in the rear for a split second but that is easily fixed and I will keep and eye on it.

The Spacers you need are:

25mm (or whatever thickness you prefer), 5x114.3 bolt pattern, and a minimum bore of 67.1

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niiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiice

stockers never looked so good!

Thanks, I just love the stock wheels so much and the way the holes play off of the dimples on the rotors. I figure this is the way the car should have sat from the beginning. Too bad my wheels were dirty in teh pics but it's raining like a mofo so I just did a quick rinse before the pics.

looking clean bro! i still think to painting the vents would look better

Yeah, everyone else likes the fender vents but I'm actually torn with them. I may get them painted VR to match the car when I get the rear aero flares painted.

ever think of painting/powdering coating the rims some other color or just planning on leaving them

Yeah I plan on painting them when I can pick up an extra set to run around on. Not sure what color, I was thinking maybe a gunmetal color.

gunmetal will look great with your vr.

WOW Looks Great man.

Thanks dude! Not as good as 18x10" Forgestars but they will have to do for now ;)

I have a little bit of rubbage in the rear at weird angles. I gotta get some people to sit in the truck so I can compress it and see where I need to roll the fenders :)

:icon_tup: Looks Great.....

Thanks, I am thinking 20MM may have been perfect but i still like it a lot.

damn you... now i want to do this.....

very nice...goods clean and stock never look so good...
________
How to roll blunts

Looking awsome. good thinking.

Thanks brother, now I just have to save for my Forgestars :)

I take it you understand why the OE wheels have the offset that they do and you just don't care what the effect these spacers have on handling and wear?

Yeah I don't plan on running them on the track or for our hard charging hill country runs and for the street I can feel no difference in terms of handling. I do understand the extra stresses in terms of the hubs but I talked to a few guys that have been running them for years on Miata's on the track and off without issues so I'll take my chances.

I made sure everything was torqued properly. Eibach made good products so I trust the spacers in terms of strength and materials. This is mainly for looks :)

^nice to know since i'll be running 10mm spacers up front soon. hubcentric of course...
I hate how my rears are flush and the fronts aren't.

nice. car looks new, too. I've always hated how the oem wheels were so recessed in the fenders as well.

with 25mm spacers and 50mm offset, does that make ur wheels 18x8 +25? i'm curious how much rub u will encounter with ur tein s drop. let us know if u will need a roll for front and rear fenders...

Slowly back your car up with one wheel in a driveway and one in the street, you'll get all the compression you'd need right there. Make sure to do it slowly though, or you may damage something...

so sick dude. are you dropped on anything? i wanna space mine but idk how itll be with the springs i have

how much do the spacers weigh?

Good question

Did it this morning and it does not touch (1/4" of room) so must only be on hard compression. I will try again on a steeper angle.

Tein S techs.

Next to nothing, they are aluminum. next time I have them off I will weigh them.

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oh and next time when you have the wheels off... would you mind snapping a pic to show how the spacer looks mounted? I want to see how much the stock studs protrude out of the spacer. Thanks!

Looks clean... nice!

The stock studs do not protrude through the spacer at all, the spacers are 1" thick, there are a few threads after the bolts are torqued. I will snap some pics maybe this weekend since I may take them off for the statewide meet.


Thanks man!

Did you put them on yourself? My friend had the 25mm on his Protege 5 and after a year some of the inside bolts seized up. However you plan to take them off and put back on a regular basis. What brand did you buy?

Yeah I put them on myself, torqued them to spec, they are Eibach. They will come off every now and then because i probably won't run them on the track. We have our statewide meet this weekend and I plan to start the run with them on and take them off if they affect handling at the limit.

But honestly I have thrown her through some short twisties and really she seems handle about the same. I was expecting a significant difference in handling. The ass end seems to slide out a tiny bit easier but that's easy to control.

This is exactly the type of thing people take from reading things online from people who have not firsthand dealt with various situations. Rid yourself of any placebo and ask if you can honestly feel a diminishing effect in handling. Some slight variants may show themselves but overall I felt overly confident with my car control when driving hard.

Yes, many have chimed in on my various threads discouraging it. I read a lot before deciding to do this and after talking to a guy in my dads Miata club who has a dedicated track car and runs spacers and after reading various articles on the subject on the Miata boards and on other sites, I decided that I would risk it. Most of the people who bash the idea don't have any first hand knowledge on the subject and are just stating opinions.

I can respect that and I'll be the first to post up any problems running the spacers.

Cool, glad to hear you did your research. Many people don't and then have issues with the spacers after. Myself, I am running 10mm rear/5mm front with +46 wheels. I also rolled the rear fenders from my previous wheel/tire setup. The rear wheels were 18x9.5 +35 and 275/35/18.

Every time I walk to my car I am happy with my decision. :) Especially when I see another 8 with stock wheels.

yeah and when i see your car next to mine... im jealous lol

Well I would love to see the Enkei's with spacers :drool:

Thanks! The reason I ask is because I might consider putting on some 20mm spacers front and back for my volk wheels. I understand that you have 25mm spacers, but I just want to make sure the studs wont protude out too much which may cause the wheel to not mount properly. wonder if the wheel cavities are deep enough.

for everyone asking for pics of the 25mm spacers installed. i found this on the ichiba website. keep in mind that the only pic they have are for their 15mm:

http://www.ichibausa.com/15albowhsp4.html

20mm and up should have no problem with studs sticking through.

that looks really clean i would do this if i wanted to keep my stockies :)

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Yea my 10mm spacers have way more stock stud sticking through lol. Probably in the realm of 15mm more stock stud. Those make your stock rims look way better.

Yeah I have always loved the stock wheels so I really could never find an aftermarket wheel that wowed me enough to spend that kind of cash. No matter what wheels you buy, you will eventually get tired of them (at least I always have).

Fixed lol

True. :lol:

x2 you almost always get tired of things and need a change. for now, i am content with my 8. lol

9k: i swear i saw you again around fredricksburg/medical rd yesterday. was that you? lol

I work in the med center so I am always around that way. Yesterday I ate lunch at Jims on fred.