I did a search but came up dry, anyone rolling on 17'' for performance/lighter weight? How does it look? are there any pics? I believe a 17'' wheel will still clear the larger brake calipers on the sports equiped cars.

 

I know Alexcisneros is rolling on 17s and he has a staggered set up.

 

I use 17's for the winter... have about a .25" clearance from the stock calipers.

 

Lots of people are running 17" wheels for their winter tires. Try searching on that, you'll get lots of hits.

As for me, I'm seriously thinking of going to 17" light weight wheels after I wear out my Pirelli PZeros. Less wheel and tire weight and lower final drive ratio means more performance. Canzoomer GTech-clocked a 13.78 second quarter mile with 17" wheels and his ECU mod putting out ~25 WHP. That's a significant gain.

 

Is it just me, or is it really hard to find a site that shows wheel weights? I'm looking at tirerack.com and I can't find anything.

 

http://www.wheelspecs.com/specs/



and yes I run 17's on the car.

Lost 30lbs of unsprung weight

 

Which wheels? Width? Offset? Must...absorb....more....info...

 

https://www.rx8club.com/vbgarage.php?do=view&id=5323

 

Hi! I got 17inch Prodrive GC-010E(7.5, offset42) with Falken ZIEKS ZE512(225/50), both may not be sold in US. Abt.2.5kgs(5.5lbs) diet per pair from the original 16inch rim & tire! Maybe dralmin lugnuts helps a little bit more.
This forged rim is not only light but also harder than cast rims, I cannot tell the difference though

I believe that 17inch rims & tires are the best balance of weight, comfort, ride and looks. 18 & 19inch rims make big gap between the brake disk and the rim, which I don't like. There must be enough gap btween big caliper, like Brembo, and 17inch rim(depends on manufacturers though)

Enjoy your 17inch!

 

I like the wheels, I want to go 17s as well. As soon as I buy Alexcisneros' set! Hey what kind of exhaust is that, looks great.

 

I use the 17" wheels on my car. The weight savings was huge. The wheels are roughly 15 lbs. for a 17x8. I am using the Kosei K-1 TS with a 38mm offset. (widens the track) I think the weight savings of a 17" wheel tire package or an 18" package is huge, and with the limited power of the RX-8 it makes a big difference in the get up and go. I drove the car to the dyno yesterday with the 18" stock wheels and it was noticably less lively then with the 17" wheels.
Here is how it looks at stock ride height, with the MAzdaSPeed springs the space over the tire is gone and it looks just as good as the 18' wheels. I use the 245/40-17 tires.

 

with that size you picked up a bit of gearing too

I run a 245/45 17 up front to keep a close to OEM rolling diameter...

...BTW Lou, I'm getting used to the color so deal's off :p


:D

 

Bastardo!!!!!!!!!!!!

My wife is happy about it!

 

Lol
:D

 

AlexJ: So, running on 17's with 245s and the the car lowered, do you think you have room for anything wider than a 245? I too am looking at going with 17s (more tires available to choose from for auto-x), and I have the RB springs, which I don't believe drop the car as far as the MS springs...and the other Alex(Cisneros that is) - correct me if I'm wrong, but you are still running on stock springs, yes?

 

I am almost positive you can go up to a 255 maybe a 265 but that is questionable. With the 245 I have clearence with no rubbing even at full lock and full suspension travel.

Alex

 

Yep, Stock springs...

Since I'm waiting on the Tanabe coilovers I went with a 245 in the front and a 275 in the rear. With the different offset and the lowered suspension I'm not sure if the 275 would fit on the front and since my last name isn't Hilton or Rockefeller I'd rather switch to 275's later than sooner

I went with the 17 X 8 in the front so that if I stay 245/275 I get some Understeer (I prefer it, I've been driving AWD for 11years and it's what I know :p ) and if I switch to 275/275 the narrow rim will have more slip angle than the rear ( )

 

Thanks for the replies...255 is where I'm looking right now...of course, my SCCA region just lost their event site, so I might not be going to all the expense of getting a dedicated set of auto-x wheels if I'm not going to be doing it monthly.

 

Are you going to be running in BSP, STU, or other?

 

I am running BSP right now (my mods - springs, front and rear sways, flywheel)...I have to check up on the rules and see what all I can do to the -8 to stay in STU...plus my region doesn't do STU...

 

tell ya the truth I think the flywheel kicks you out of Street Prepared and into Modified.

Main difference between STU and BSP is that STU requires a cat, max 275 tire and treadwear of >=140

If you are running BSP (I won't tell ) then you should buy some AutoX rims and hoosiers (or other R compounds). Same goes for Modified (check rule book).

If you get new rims for only AutoX, then go with the AO32R Yoko in a 255/40 17 and pick up the gearing. Otherwise you can hold off and wait till I (or someone) get the coilovers put in.

BTW: www.edgeracing.com has decent weight cheap rims :D

 

You read my mind on the A032R...they lead the running for the tires...followed by Hoosier R3S04...I am looking at Sparco NT-R rims (I see you have the same ones), in 17x9 45 all the way around...oh, and from a website with the rules as far as street prepared:

Any metal clutch assembly, metal flywheel or metal torque converter that uses the standard attachment to the crankshaft may be used.

 

oooh, did not know that :D

cool! So get the tires and run BSP

 

that's the plan...maybe i can pay for them next week when I'm in Vegas :D

 

The exhaust is BSR from Mazda Accessory Service.
http://m-acce.com/www/bsr.htm