Suggestions on summer tires for 18"s?

[jcutner]

Hey guys,

For the winter, I'm back on my stock 16"s with all seasons (thank god for this light winter..)

But, before I put those back on, I have a set of RX-8 rims. Those rims have the original all season tires which are basically bald - so when I'm ready to switch my rims again - I'm going to need new tires.

When is a good time to start shopping for summer tires? (too early yet, for tire places to have stock?)

Also, the original tires on the rx-8's were 45... which I found rubbed a decent amount since I have pro-kits - should I considering going to 40, or 35? Or will my ride quality suffer too much?

Plus, when I got the Pro-Kits installed, I never did an alignment, so my alignment is really out of whack, so I'm thinking when I put the RX-8's back on, I'll definitely need to get an alignment too. (my wheel has to be turned slightly left to go straight, etc)

And, I don't know if this is a common issue, and if it was I'm sure you guys would be complaining about it, but I found when I had the bigger rims on, when accelerating, the car would really "shake" a lot til I was at a steady speed - where I don't get this with the stock wheels. Is this just a side effect of having bigger rims, or do they just need to be balanced / and get an alignment?

Few more things...

Since I'm in Courtice / Oshawa / Durham Region (but I don't mind traveling if necessary) what tire places would you guys recommend to get this all done? Bonus points if they do alignments too!

What should I be looking for in tires? Obviously I don't need to focus on performance tires for the RX-8 rims, cause after all, it is still a Mazda3 and the 18"s makes acceleration quite a bit slower than having the stock 16"s on there - but as long as there are good summer tires (I won't have these on in winter) that are able to provide good traction in rain as well - then that would sound good to me!

Thanks guys

[W_L89]

i think exclusive wheel and tire is in durham area.

check them out, there a club sponsor

[midnightfxgt]

A few points... I hope I address everything :)

- For a Mazda3, I recommend a 225/40/18.

- If you need an alignment, get it done right away, or when you put new tires on. Depends on how bad it is.

- Your wheel should not shake! It COULD be an alignment, but almost always indicates a balance issue. I would say do the alignment, and get the new tires. Once the new tires are on, they will be balanced as part of the install.

- Durham Region? Thats our specialty! (We're in Ajax :))

- If you want a solid performing tire that wont wear super fast, I am going to suggest the Yokohama Envigor. We will be getting these in soon, and will have some great pricing on them. They are rated for more than 100K KMs, and performance in the wet and dry is supposed to be great! Plus you get Yokohama quality.

Any questions, just ask. If you need pricing, feel free to PM me :)

-John

[midnightfxgt]

i think exclusive wheel and tire is in durham area.

check them out, there a club sponsor

Thanks :)

[W_L89]

Thanks :)

Np,

PM'd you about tires for me lol

[froggy]

A few points... I hope I address everything :)

- For a Mazda3, I recommend a 225/40/18.

- If you need an alignment, get it done right away, or when you put new tires on. Depends on how bad it is.

- Your wheel should not shake! It COULD be an alignment, but almost always indicates a balance issue. I would say do the alignment, and get the new tires. Once the new tires are on, they will be balanced as part of the install.

- Durham Region? Thats our specialty! (We're in Ajax :))

- If you want a solid performing tire that wont wear super fast, I am going to suggest the Yokohama Envigor. We will be getting these in soon, and will have some great pricing on them. They are rated for more than 100K KMs, and performance in the wet and dry is supposed to be great! Plus you get Yokohama quality.

Any questions, just ask. If you need pricing, feel free to PM me :)

-John

John I was just about to recommend you but I got beaten to the punch. I was also going to point out some things in the OP's comments, but again you beat me to the punch! You missed one thing though that surprised me, and that was the last statement that the op said.




What should I be looking for in tires? Obviously I don't need to focus on performance tires for the RX-8 rims, cause after all, it is still a Mazda3 and the 18"s makes acceleration quite a bit slower than having the stock 16"s on there - but as long as there are good summer tires (I won't have these on in winter) that are able to provide good traction in rain as well - then that would sound good to me!

Thanks guys

as long as the 18's are not significantly heavier and as long as the overall height of the 16's and 18's are within 5% there won't be any difference in acceleration. In fact if the 18's are significantly lighter than the 16's then you will have less stress on the cars driveline components. Also a Mazda 3 is still a very sporty little car and fast enough to loose your license!

[jcutner]

A few points... I hope I address everything :)

- For a Mazda3, I recommend a 225/40/18.

- If you need an alignment, get it done right away, or when you put new tires on. Depends on how bad it is.

- Your wheel should not shake! It COULD be an alignment, but almost always indicates a balance issue. I would say do the alignment, and get the new tires. Once the new tires are on, they will be balanced as part of the install.

- Durham Region? Thats our specialty! (We're in Ajax :))

- If you want a solid performing tire that wont wear super fast, I am going to suggest the Yokohama Envigor. We will be getting these in soon, and will have some great pricing on them. They are rated for more than 100K KMs, and performance in the wet and dry is supposed to be great! Plus you get Yokohama quality.

Any questions, just ask. If you need pricing, feel free to PM me :)

-John

pm'd! thanks again

[DumpInfo]

Yeah, you can't go wrong with John/Keith. I've dealt with them and recommended others. Happy enough there a sponsor and are in the east end. :winner