u/Gavine0515

DIY Roof rack build. Fingers crossed! Going to Bonnaroo 2026

Hello!

I crashed my 1994 Miata last week. The rear driver side tire blew out going 70MPH on the highway. I lost control, spun out, and swerved into the guard rail. Luckily, myself and my girlfriend are completely unscathed. However, I can't say the same about the car. As you can see in the pictures, it suffered some impact damage on the passenger side and rear. I think the car can be saved, as long as there is no frame damage.

I have been scratching my head trying to figure out why my tire blew out. The wheels in the rear were Vors VR7 15x9 +0mm wrapped in 225/45/15 Toyo Tire Proxes R888Rs under +35mm fiberglass widebody overfenders. I have included photos of the crash and passenger side wheel (with the same setup and ride height) to try and show the fitment I was working with.

For context, I had just gotten brand new tires installed on the brand new wheels at a local tire shop. I only had about 1 hour of driving on this setup. The fitment was great other than a very brief rubbing when I'd hit a big bump on the highway. Since it was the first drive on the new setup, I figured I'd stiffen up the BC Racing coilovers and address the slight rubbing at the next stop. Unfortunately, the car never made it there.

After the car was towed back to my house, I took a look at the wheel wells on both the driver and passenger side to see if there was anything on the frame that could have popped a tire. I could not find anything. The driver side tire that blew out is completely shredded on the inside sidewall. Almost like it got ripped to shreds by something on the frame of the car or something.

Here are my main questions:

1. Is this wheel/tire setup known to be dangerous on an NA miata? From what I read, it seemed fine. Especially since the fenders were cut for the widebody kit.

2. Is 3-4 brief tire rubs on the highway enough to completely blow out a brand new Toyo Proxes R888R tire?

3. Based on the pictures, is something simple like road debris enough to cause a blowout like that? I didn't notice anything on the road that could have caused this.

4. Was I just unlucky or was there something I obvious could have done to avoid this?

This is my first time trying to modify a car's wheel, tire, and suspension setup to this degree. In my mind, the changes I had made so far all seemed relatively minor. I would like to run a similar setup again once I fix it but I don't want to risk my life over something avoidable.

Luckily, I still have my 1990 Miata to drive around while this one gets fixed up.

Any responses are appreciated! I can provide more context or photos if needed.