Time for new tires

It’s time for new tires for my 99 Miata. I purchased the car used so I have a problem with the fact that my rims have locking bolts and there is no key. Do I have to have these broken off? The Dealer said it’s impossible to find a replacement key – does that sound right?

Also – I now have low profile tires. Are there any advantages to having low profile or are they just for looks? What is a decent tire for my stock rims on this 99 Miata.

Thanks in advance to any response to my amateur questions.

Cheers,

bax

hey baxter65, I had the same problem with my wife's used 99 miata. when i got new tires put on the had to break the old locking lug nuts off. this was at discount tire so i didn't argue with them figuring they did this for a living in all. as far as a good set of low pro's for the stock rims i would recomand the kumho. iv been running them for over a year and they seem to wear really well and they have a really deacent tread pattern. they werent expensive at all. 250 for all for with warranty (I think) anyway, how do you like the miata so far? we have owned ours for 2 year and we love it.

The advantage to having low-profile tires is that when cornering, the tires dont roll because the sidewalls are smaller. THey also lower your center of gravity.

Thanks so much for the advice. I have still not purchased the tires so I thought I would check back and see if any sent me a reply.

As for the 1999 I love it. It’s my second Miata the first one was a a1993 that was stolen at 180,000 miles. The insurance gave me a little over $4,000 for it so I did OK – but I miss it. Today was a right of passage day – the hard top came off for the first time since November.

Thanks again.

-bax

Mr. Beechariplans, I just got back from getting four new low PF Kumho tires. The local station wanted to charge me $456.00 for tires and installation so I took your advice and went to a discount place. The whole thing ended up only costing me $287.00.

So thanks again for the advice, had I not known any better I would have just spent the four.

I’m very grateful for the reply.

bax