tyres/wheels upgrades? brands to avoid?

[vblanche]

Hi,

First question: why do you upgrade the rims and tyres? is the point to get lighter and better looking rims?

2nd question: which brand would you recommend to avoid?

thanks
vince

[dentinger]

i tihnk most of us just upgrade for the looks.
thats what i did...
altho, if i were to buy new rims, i'd buy something that wieghed a bit less.
cuz the lighter the wheel, the better the acceleration/braking.

pretty much all rims good, just some are better than other.
imo, work/rays/bbs rims are high end, while rota/drag, etc are replicas of more expensive rims. they weigh a little more, but at least you save a ton of money..

i tihnk there was a thread on this somewhere...

[doughboyr6]

take a look at this

http://www.mazda3forums.com/index.php?topic=54249.0

below was taken from within the thread.

1.) Top tier brands:
Work, RAYS, BBS, Advan, OZ...amongst others
(some might mention HRE, iForged, DPE and the like but I think they are very overpriced and mainly for show and not about performance)

2.) Second tier (still pretty good):
SSR, Racing Hart, Wedsport, some Enkeis

3.) Cheap (but still okay) brands:
5 Zigen, Kosei, some Enkeis

4.) Crap:
Motegi, American Racing, ADR...etc

[vblanche]

thanks a lot for your reply and great list...

[Kevin@nextmod]

I wouldn't say kosei as cheap. kosei's are well known light weight rims. People love using kosei k1s for track use becuase they are that light. Also wedsport and works are so similar in prices. The cheapest wedsport 17s i got quoted was $1600 and works cheapest 17s are $1400.

But seriously. there isnt really a line thru which brand is top and which brand is cheap. In the end they all started out the same. Some brands are just really over rated. Rays are top notch because of there materials like forged and very light weight materials. But work and 5zigen uses the same materials. So how can they say work is better then 5zigen or wedsport?

[Kevin@nextmod]

Also its how you compare the prices. Do you compare the brands most expensive or the cheapest?

remember.......doesn't matter what brand you're looking for. Look at the prices and look at the style. If you find a set of rims from rota or drag that you like then they are good to you. Having rays or works doesn't mean you have taste (also doesn't mean youd o'nt have taste). It means you have more money to spend on your car then others.

[vblanche]

tenzo-R??

[doughboyr6]

just so we're clear....that list was not by me....was taken from the thread i posted....

I like the tenzo R wheels...i think they're quite popular with the civic community. Whether they are good in a performance stand point, i don't know....but i would assume they are middle ground.

[dentinger]

i want to buy some tenzoR DC5's...(IIRC), but i wanted 18's, and they only come in 18x8.... which is pushing it...
in most cases, 18x7.5 is max if your lowered....

[nicker]

since it was mentioned in here what is wrong with Montegi ? I saw a set I liked, I see they are on the heavier side. But quality ...is it there?

[Wild Weasel]

Nothing wrong with Motegi. They've even got some high-end light-weight stuff in their ROJA brand.

They're generally just lower priced and quite heavy.

You probably don't want to go with Motegi if you're looking for the performance advantage of shaving rotating unsprung mass, but they do make some good looking wheels.

[nicker]

Im not too too concerned with with weight as I am not going to be racing my car or anything. They just had a wheel I liked the look of.

I am still shopping but they are on my list.

My first choice would be Work Emotion XT7 FOR SURE. and maybe if I can save enough scratch over the winter or get a good deal on them I may just have to treat my self.

[Fuman]

can't really shed any light on Rims, as I know jack about it.
What kind of tires are you looking for. RS-A level Grip / Sidewall stiffness? or beyond?
vblanche, tires are for summer only?
whats your budget budget? (and preferred tire size)

[nicker]

not sure on my budget for tires, obviously I want the best deal

Im looking at 17s for wheels. I want somthing that is wider then stock and a little shorter but I haven't actually spec'ed anything yet.

[doughboyr6]

Im not too too concerned with with weight as I am not going to be racing my car or anything. They just had a wheel I liked the look of.

I am still shopping but they are on my list.

My first choice would be Work Emotion XT7 FOR SURE. and maybe if I can save enough scratch over the winter or get a good deal on them I may just have to treat my self.

if you like it go for it. That's what matters, you're the one who's gonna be looking at it the most. I'm glad i went with the wheel i want, because everyday after work walking to the car, i keep looking at it and am glad i got it. They are lower end in the sense that perhaps their craftsmanship or quality of materials used may be inferior. But that's just like anything, you get what you pay for and by no means is Motegi that bad. I'm sure its a lot better than others. In fact i had a set of motegis but never used them, and they were light. 17lbs for 17x7 and they were forged too.

if you get wheels, winter is the time to get them. don't wait till summer, that's what i did and i probably paid $100-$200 more than if i had bought them in the winter. BTW the XT7s may not look as good on the 3 as in the pics because of the offset, just keep that in mind....that was my first choice of wheel too...

[nicker]

whats wrong with the offset, its in spec....