OEM wheel options

[Whos ur dadd]

Considering all my options for rims and summer rubber. I think the Mazda6 17\"ers will fit. Not entirely thrilled with going +2 due to the unsprung weight though. Anyone know the weight of these things (w/o tires), maybe 21lbs? What is the weight of the 15 alloys?

I think the best scenario would be for me to pick up someone\'s SP 16 alloys (if anyone\'s upgrading, PM me!). +1 would be better in terms of weight and in terms of pricing for tires. Not a lot of sporty tires for 195-65-15 me thinks.

I think these other models are wheel options:

Mazda6
Protege5

Anything else?

[chaser]

Why not OEM Mazda 3 17\" alloy? I think they look better than 6\'s 17\". Unless you want something stands out a bit ;)

[Whos ur dadd]

Originally posted by chaser


Why not OEM Mazda 3 17\" alloy? I think they look better than 6\'s 17\". Unless you want something stands out a bit ;)

Weight of the rims and price of 17\" performance tires are the reasons. I think 16\" OEMs would weigh less than the 17\" OEMs and the cost of tires should be a little less too.

[Dr Butcher]

Go with a set of 16\" steelies and spinner hubcaps. Ghetto fabulous baby! You\'ll be the envy of the WalMart parking lot! :p

Depends on your budget, go cheap and heavy or expensive and light. If you want the stock look, check the the Mazda 3 forums as there\'s usually a few sets on there for sale. I don\'t really know about weight differences between the 15\'s, and 16\'s but I believe the stock 17\'s were about 21 pounds.

the 195/65 R15 are pretty much the farthest thing from sporty. They\'re like doughnuts wrapped around your rims. I have that size for my winters but for the summer I went to a 17\" rim. :)

Edit: Spelling. Friggin small text! The f\'s look like r\'s at a glance... Grrrrf. :D

[Whos ur dadd]

Originally posted by Dr Butcher

the 195/65 R15 are pretty much the farthest thing from sporty. They\'re like doughnuts wrapped around your rims. I have that size for my winters but for the summer I went to a 17\" rim. :)



I bet they look sweet and cornering must be much crisper. But how\'s the ride?

And yes, I think the 15s look like donuts too. I would mind less if there were good summer rubber in that size...

[Dr Butcher]

The ride is a little more harsh in the 17\'s over the 15\'s but that\'s to be expected, every time you upsize your rim you lose a bit of cushion the sidewall offers. It feels like it handles better because there isn\'t as much \'roll\' as you take corners at speed so it\'s a bit of a tradeoff. I went with aftermarket 17\'s and they\'re on a rim that\'s 1/2 an inch wider than stock, so I went with a bit of a wider tire. I think they look pretty sexy.

I\'m sure you can find a more performance oriented tire in the 195/65R15, but in the end it\'s going to look stock, IMO I wouldn\'t pay extra for that. :p

http://ca.geocities.com/cplaht/105_0517resized.jpg

[Whos ur dadd]

Nice! Got any full side pics? Sorry, can\'t access cardomain from work :(

For a sporty tire like the Toyo T1-S or Goodyear F1 in a 17\" size, they are going for $250 each. If I could have gotten a low profile tire in 15\", I would be looking at $125 a tire.

[Dr Butcher]

Most of my hosted images are at an angle. I do have a closeup of the rim/tire though.

http://ca.geocities.com/cplaht/104_0491resized.jpg

When changing the size of your rim, do the best to keep the outside diameter of the tire the same as stock. This way you won\'t have speedometer and mileage issues. The 195/65R15 has the same diameter as the 205/55R16 which has the same diameter as the 205/50R17. I believe my summers are 225/45R17 which has one extra revolution per mile over the stock tires which is negligble.

You wouldn\'t want to go with low profile 15\'s, it\'d throw off your speedometer. Even worse, you\'d end up making your car look like this:

http://www.hotcars.hpg.ig.com.br/galeria/lowrider/1293_1027447497.jpg

[AfterBurner]

Just looking at your first picture of your car Dr. Butcher and the sign on the side of the road seems a bit excessive. LOL. Sharp left turn at 90 km/h!! Where is that?

[Dr Butcher]

YES! Someone noticed! I chopped that pic for shyts and giggles. The guys on M3F noticed it right away. :)

It\'s the road opposite of Whittamore\'s Berry Farm parking lot, take it south and you\'ll hit the bend. I think it\'s really a 20kph turn. ;)

[Whos ur dadd]

Originally posted by Whos ur dadd

I think these other models are wheel options:

Mazda6


I think the M6 have too high an offset. They are 17x7 with +60 offset. Too high no?

[///M]

I never knew the Mazda6 had such a high stock offset. They must have trouble finding aftermarket rims that fit properly...52.5mm on the 3 is bad enough - it really limits your choice in rims.