Well, I'm in the same predicament as many 8 owners, and that is....what type of tire configuration do I want to run with?

I get incliment weather here during the winter (Northern VA), so running with summer tires is trouble, especially in a RWD vehicle. I know from experience because I drive on the Potenza S03 Pole Positions on my MX6 M-edition (Which is for sale, btw...).

Anyway, I'm not exactly loaded, so going out and spending $2k on new rims and wheels isn't an option. However, I do love my performance tires.

I've got a few questions:

1) Anyone notice the speedometer error as a result of the switch to 245/40 18s away from stock? It's supposedly 4% or so, according to the miata.net tire calculator tool.

2) What is important when shopping for rims? I obviously want something strong, lightweight (for performance?), and not terribly expensive. Does such a good middle-of-the-road rim exist?

3) If you guys don't get a whole winter change-out, did you find some sweet-spot tire that fills all the roles you want it to?

Thanks

Hi Llathos,

This thread "First Snow= First test of my new Sumitomo HTR+'s!" (http://www.rx8club.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=19433) will help you.

You don't say what size tires you compared the 245/40R18s to. Comparing them to the stock 225/45R18s using http://www.1010tires.com/TireSizeCalculator.asp shows 1%.

rx8cited

"the switch to 245/40 18s away from stock"

The stock 225s are what he is referring to.

Edit: at least his grammar refers to it that way.

My combo from Tirerack of 17" Sport Fox2 wheels and Dunlop M3 run-flat snow tires was closer to $1500 than 2K as I recall. If you're looking for performance and money saving you may want to look at super-all season tires for the stock wheels, but 40 profile? (But look out for potholes -- I'm very glad I have higher profile 17" tires on relatively cheap rims -- driving around No. Va. this time of year is like threading a minefield -- despite their inferior dry grip, I'm gonna keep these snows on well into March or until they fix all the potholes -- one split a tire on my wife's 325xi and we were lucky it didn't put a pie-shaped dent in the wheel. That happened to our late, lamented 626 5-door Turbo.

Llathos, if you can make it through this winter for another month, just wait and get some all-seasons next fall (so far, I don't think any have come out that have the exact stock tire size though).

First off, there is a special now on those Sumis and it's only $454 shipped now:)

Secondly, if they are 1 inch wider, pardon my ignorance, but how does that fit the wheel?

Originally posted by Llathos
First off, there is a special now on those Sumis and it's only $454 shipped now:)

Secondly, if they are 1 inch wider, pardon my ignorance, but how does that fit the wheel?

Tires are spec'd to fit certain width/diameter wheels. Check the Specs page for the tires your are looking at on www.tirerack.com or just call them up and ask.

rx8cited

The difference between the two sizes is only 1% so it isn't even worth mentioning it! The 245's will fit on any 8-9.5 inch wide rim.