The countdown begins.. I'm thinking I'll swap mine back on the March 31 weekend.

 

I'm waiting too... pretty excited
I figured I was being optimistic by going with next week, where are you located climacus.. I'm expecting one more dump of snow at least.

 

Im putting mine on in two weeks....

 

got mine on

 

Alot of sports cars have already come out of hibernation.

I get the tires swapped this weekend.

 

I am still waiting to swap the tires. Never know when you will get another snow.

 

my old records show I've always swapped out anywhere between mar 11-29th, and I've never been caught with a snow dump yet afterwards. So I'm doing it this weekend. New T1R's!

 

My baby woke up today....she did a groundhog deal several days ago (came out, looked around, and went back to sleep)....but she's awake now....

 

I saw a bunch of sports bikes tonight (!). Here in Toronto, we had a dumping last Friday and a big freeze until Sunday. But this week have been consistently above zero. I think it is still possible to snow once more, but the flakes should melt as it hits the ground.

 

Don't count on it. We can have inches of snow until mid april.

I have to buy new summers 'cus I hate my RE040s

 

I think we're in the clear.

I have to get up early tomorrow to get the new rubber mounted onto the new wheels for the FD. Then do a swap around for the Mazda3.

Darkbrew,

Get the RE050A Pole Position!!

Lates,

 

Ya man The groundhog cant be wrong rite? Remember in 04 we got this freakass Ice/freezing rain/snow storm on apr.4/04

 

New wheels Neo? Want to share any pics yet (he, he, he!!)? I'm looking at possibly getting some new wheels this year as well..... hopefully some suspension mods to go with it!! Can't wait for the season to begin!

 

Although, on second thought, should I trust this?:

http://www.theweathernetwork.com/wea...s/CAON0383.htm

 

April is a month where -5 to 25 is possible. I'm not putting the summers on until at least mid month.

 

I'm with Darkbrew. My slabs of new 245 T1R are waiting for install, but I think I will wait until around Easter to take the plunge. The 8 is my only car so I always need it ready to go.

 

Well, I was hoping to get the FD wheels on the 3 this weekend. But somehow my lock nut grew legs and took a walk.
Thankfully I got the new wheels on the FD.
Sorry Galaxy_8, I don't have any pics yet. I must be the only guy who still doesn't have a digicam.
I'm hoping to get the oil and spark plugs changed next weekend for her maiden voyage.

The car looks great with the new wheels!! These should have come stock with the car.
The extra meat on the wheels give the car a more aggressive stance too!

Galaxy_8,
What wheels are you planning on getting? I know finding a lightweight wheel in the proper offset is hard to come by! Just ask Agent_008 how long he took before he found some wheels he was happy with.

I have yet another week with the winters on the 3. I'll book an appointment on Sat. to get the wheels swapped now that I've lost the lock nut.

Lates,

 

In my experience, the long range temperature forecast is usually very accurate.

 

Hey Neo,
I'm looking at getting some O.Z. Superleggera 18X8.5 with a 45 offset. Should be slightly more aggressive than stock, but still no need to roll fenders or anything. They only weigh about 18.4lbs (as per Tire Rack) which is slightly lighter than stock (stockers are around 21lbs I think). I would be keeping my stock rubber as the car only has about 12,000 kms. I'm hoping to upgrade the suspension as well. Looking to get Tanabe GF210 springs (lowers the car about 1.4"/1.2" F/R) with Tanabe sway bars. This will pretty much take up my budget, so no dampers for now..... however, should the deal on the rims fall through I would probably do a different setup. I'd go with Koni shocks on Tein S-techs (1.4"/0.7" F/R drop, but stiffer spring rates) Whiteline sway bars and a Mazdaspeed rear strut tower bar. Wheels would obviously be stockers but suspension would be pretty much complete. Any RX-8 Gurus have feedback on either set-up? Thanks in advance!

 

Oh damn! You're going all fancy on us!
I know Agent_008 is thinking of doing some suspension work as well.
You'll feel the difference immediately with lighter wheels. Even Agent_008 was pleasently surprised by the improved response.

 

I don't think your OEM shocks will be too happy if you drop the car by over an inch. The rear especially is already kind of underdamped from the factory. A stiffer spring rate will make the car even bouncier and more twitchy in the rear. If money is short, I'd do sway bar first, then do spring and shocks together.

 

Thanks Neo.... just a little change for spring!

Climacus,
I appreciate your feedback, and you are 100% correct. However, this is why I would go with the Tanabe GF210 springs as their spring rates are not much higher than stock (179/146 F/R vs. 156/113 stock). The ideal situation is to swap out shocks and springs together for best results. Having said this I have been reading up alot on the suspension threads and most seem to think you can get away with a closely paired spring rate on the stock dampers although your dampers will wear out more quickly. The stock dampers only have about 12K kms and I do not plan to use the aftermarket springs on stock shocks for very long... however this setup would allow me to get lighter weight wheels. I have spent many nights thinking about what to do..... and I'm still not 100% sure! I've never changed springs without shocks before on my other vehicles, but this may be the first.

 

I doubt the rear needs much lowering or changing of springs. The front would take the most of the improvement.
I think getting springs wouldn't hurt the current shocks too much. At least till you can find a shock you like.
Otherwise the biggest improvement would be getting sway bars! The 8 has alot of roll in it. Getting those sway bars will help dramatically!

 

Probably mid-April. I'm not in a hurry though, this summer might be the last season that I have the car. Financial adjustements for a baby just don't calculate well with the car.

 

Ouch! Sacrifice the car for the good of the family.... Move on down to a Mazda5! LOL!!