17" rims on GS?

[xilton]

Hi Guys,

I guess I suck at searching since I can't find what I want. Can 17" be fitted on a mazda3 GS? I know by default it,s usually 15" or 16" but low profile 17"? I guess OEM rims are different then non oem rims also. I have no idea. And if yes, any changes to be made to the suspension etc... I'm not very good at car stuff so don't be too technical please if it needs to be :)

Thanks all.

[JSI]

Short answer "Yes"

[Tizmee24]

Just stick to this spec:
Offset : 45 to 50 ( if lowered)
Width : 7 to 7.5
Tires size : 205 to 215
Thats if your going to buy a 17" rims
In that case you won't have any problem. And YES GS can lifted the 17" rims

[xilton]

Super, thanks

[Rob23]

17s would fit perfect with no modification. if your looking for rims and tires check out Simply Tire, theyre sponsers on here. theyre really helpful if your not sure what you want.

[Tizmee24]

17s would fit perfect with no modification. if your looking for rims and tires check out Simply Tire, theyre sponsers on here. theyre really helpful if your not sure what you want.

+1 thats where i bought mine.
And some more sponsors like
Tires23, nextmod .....

[zakman]

just try to stick to a lighter rim so that u dont lose any power and add weight. stocks a believe are around 23ish pounds so anything lower in weight is ideal and after that like others have said stick to the specs and ur on ur way to a great new look. good luck

[Kappa]

i have seen 20's on a gs... lol

[mazdabetty]

hmm I wanted to upgrade to 17's from my stock 15's as well, but I'm afraid of how large the wheel gap is gonna look... I think it would get even bigger with 17's no? SUV style!!!! hahahha... changes to suspension might need to be made purely for aesthetics...

[Kappa]

welll your going from a 15" rim to a 17" rim and as long as you pick a bigger tire i dont think the wheel gap with change.. i know my winter wheels are 16" but my summers are 17" and the tire is the same size.. i think maybe im wrong though

[fini]

hmm I wanted to upgrade to 17's from my stock 15's as well, but I'm afraid of how large the wheel gap is gonna look... I think it would get even bigger with 17's no? SUV style!!!! hahahha... changes to suspension might need to be made purely for aesthetics...

the stock ride height of the cars GX, GS and GT are all the same.
now consider that the stock wheels for GT's were 17" and they didn't look like SUV's. so you should be fine and don't need to worry about that at all provided you get the proper aspect ratio of tire.

when you get into 18" though, it will def look like riding on stilts.

[mazdabetty]

^ are they all the same? Even for different years? Cuz my mom has an 06 GS and running stock 16's. When I parked beside her car, it looked a LOT lower than mine... which was weird.... that means on 17's my ride would be even higher!!

[aris]

^ are they all the same? Even for different years? Cuz my mom has an 06 GS and running stock 16's. When I parked beside her car, it looked a LOT lower than mine... which was weird.... that means on 17's my ride would be even higher!!

Not realy...my brother GF has a GT which has 205/50/17 and i got the GS and mine came with 205/55/16

here is the chart to show that they are the same height

Specification Sidewall Radius Diameter Circumference Revs/Mile Difference
205/50-17 4.0in 12.5in 25.1in 78.8in 804 0.0%
205/55-16 4.4in 12.4in 24.9in 78.2in 811 -0.8%

[fini]

^ are they all the same? Even for different years? Cuz my mom has an 06 GS and running stock 16's. When I parked beside her car, it looked a LOT lower than mine... which was weird.... that means on 17's my ride would be even higher!!

Maybe she has more weight in the car or something.


Not realy...my brother GF has a GT which has 205/50/17 and i got the GS and mine came with 205/55/16

here is the chart to show that they are the same height

Specification Sidewall Radius Diameter Circumference Revs/Mile Difference
205/50-17 4.0in 12.5in 25.1in 78.8in 804 0.0%
205/55-16 4.4in 12.4in 24.9in 78.2in 811 -0.8%

The wheel diameters may slightly vary, which may change the OVERALL height of the car. I meant "ride height" in terms that describe the suspension, offset, etc that would give a SUV look. Since all things are equal, the larger wheels on a GT which carries the same shell and components as a GX (except the ammenities) would provide an "acceptable" look. unlesss Mazdabetty thinks stock GT's look like they are on stilts. then that's a different story. It's basically a perception of the ratio of tire side wall to wheel diameter to fender gap.

[mazdabetty]

Maybe she has more weight in the car or something.

Hmm no she doesn't keep too much in her car... not enough that would show such a significant difference in height anyway. I'll have to snap a pic of it next time I'm home. Very strange.

And no I don't think stock GT's look like they're on stilts :chuckle I was only afraid of my car cuz it seemed so much taller than a car on 16's. Thanks for the info!

[tweak_s]

Remember mazdabetty that the profile of the tire is different as aristeidis pointed out and that alone may just make the gap seem different as the tires seem different.

[bigmikey]

Just stick to this spec:
Offset : 45 to 50 ( if lowered)
Width : 7 to 7.5
Tires size : 205 to 215
Thats if your going to buy a 17" rims
In that case you won't have any problem. And YES GS can lifted the 17" rims

That's really helpful... thanks
you say offset should be 45 - 50 if lowered
but, if it's not lowered, could you go to an offset of 40 or 42?

[Kappa]

Remember mazdabetty that the profile of the tire is different as aristeidis pointed out and that alone may just make the gap seem different as the tires seem different.

isnt that what i said first ... lol

[aris]

That's really helpful... thanks
you say offset should be 45 - 50 if lowered
but, if it's not lowered, could you go to an offset of 40 or 42?

Maybe this will help you..I'm running 17x7.5 offset 45 tire size 225/45/17

[taz4432]

As has been said. The GTs came with 17s and there should be no issues if you go with the specs mentioned above. There will *not* be an issue if you go with the OEM 17" rims, which is probably the cheapest way to get to 17s since the stock wheels aren't too heavy (for stock wheels, that is).

[cnelson]

just bought a o6 Mazda 3 I we believe it has 195/65/ R15 snow tires. We bought 215/50/R17 tires on Mazda rims proceeded to put them on and they rub when turning as sharp as possible inside on the plastic wheel well, is there any solutions to this or are they just to wide of a tire.

[aris]

just bought a o6 Mazda 3 I we believe it has 195/65/ R15 snow tires. We bought 215/50/R17 tires on Mazda rims proceeded to put them on and they rub when turning as sharp as possible inside on the plastic wheel well, is there any solutions to this or are they just to wide of a tire.

Yes their is a soloution..put the proper tire size..you should either have 205/50/17 or 215/45/17

[Tizmee24]

That's really helpful... thanks
you say offset should be 45 - 50 if lowered
but, if it's not lowered, could you go to an offset of 40 or 42?

What's size is the width? If 8" and you have 3 people at the back and you run some unexpected bump for sure it will rub even though youre not lowered ....

[bigmikey]

What's size is the width? If 8" and you have 3 people at the back and you run some unexpected bump for sure it will rub even though youre not lowered ....

the width would be 7"
i'm looking for some second hand rims, and it's a spec i'm seeing a lot of
7" wide and +40 offset

[Tizmee24]

the width would be 7"
i'm looking for some second hand rims, and it's a spec i'm seeing a lot of
7" wide and +40 offset

Don't do it you going to have a problem in the future ... Just like i wrote on the first reply stick to those spec ... And you wont regret it.

[aris]

the width would be 7"
i'm looking for some second hand rims, and it's a spec i'm seeing a lot of
7" wide and +40 offset

A 7" rim you should stay with a 42 to a 45 offset

[bigmikey]

can you lower a car if you're running 215/50 R17 tires or will the size of the tire wall be too high?

[aris]

can you lower a car if you're running 215/50 R17 tires or will the size of the tire wall be too high?

You might not rube..but i can't confirm this..

[jova87]

15" Non lowered(stock)
http://i623.photobucket.com/albums/tt317/jova1987/IMG_0107.jpg

17" Non lowered(stock)
http://i623.photobucket.com/albums/tt317/jova1987/IMG_0124-1.jpg

15" Lowered(Prokit)
http://i623.photobucket.com/albums/tt317/jova1987/IMG_0616.jpg

17" lowered(prokit)
http://i623.photobucket.com/albums/tt317/jova1987/IMG00084-20100318-1319.jpg

[jova87]

the 15" tires in the pics are stock size

and the 17's are 215 45 17

[Rob23]

stock 17s are actually 205/50/17
but you can run up to 215/45/17 if you want

[jova87]

never claimed the tires on my 17's were stock... i was refering to the springs... stock springs vs. prokit...

[joe_rocket65]

http://miata.net/garage/tirecalc.html

You can use this to help figure out what size tire for new rim to keep similar dimentions or how much off your speedo with be if you decide to change things up.

[joe_rocket65]

PS i'm going to be running 17x7s with 215/45R17s which will have my speedo reading slightly high (1%) but to look at the difference will hardly be noticable.