Enough guesswork! TireTrends (in Vancouver, www.tiretrends.com ) has made arrangements with a local Mazda dealer to take 2 16" alloys and 2 17" alloys over to test fit them on an RX-8. This is booked for Tuesday, so we'll have definite answers about a couple of 16" options or non-options then.

Sorry Eastern guys that want to buy local, but Talon Tire seems to be missing in the 16" alloy questions, and Tire Trends has a great reputation for internet service for Canadians and is making the effort to answer our questions! (I had asked them about shipping me a wheel or two at my expense to test-fit, and they offered to take the time to test fit locally. That's customer service!)

Here's the wheels they're trying (look them up on their web site to see what they look like):Regards,
Gordon

 

Any news on this?

 

It seems they were too busy to get to the Mazda dealer yesterday - they've promised to try again today (Wednesday). (Their shipping guy is sick or something, so everyone else is helping out to get current orders out the door).

Regards,
Gordon

 

Apparently Talon Tire is also about to try a Steel 16"!

Just trying to get ahold of "Canada" from montreal to go test fit it.

 

Ok it seems like no 16" alloy will fit either

But we have some 17" alloys that will fit for sure, tiretrends has been great going down to a dealer and trying them.

I'm going to call talon tomorrow and see what they have to say as well.

 

Kal Tire also has 17" x 7" and 7.5" that fit. I tried them on my car, no issues.

They are offering $130 a wheel if you mention the "RX-8 Group Buy"

 

I just ordered my winter setup from Bob at www.tiretrends.com.

Wheels are Konig Holes , 17x7, bolt pattern 5x114.3, offset 45mm, weight 16.1 lbs. They're pricier than others offered at $255, but cheaper wheels like the FRD30 are 21 lbs each or more. My Mazda $500 is going towards the lighter wheels! Since the car will be wearing these for 5 months + every year, I figured I shouldn't shortchange it - I'll appreciate the lighter wheels every winter every year!

For tires, I chose the Pirelli Winter210 SnowSport, size 215/55-17. They are very slightly taller than OEM, but one width narrower, so should bite better in snow.

I should have them within a week!

Regards,
Gordon

 

Gord; thanks for this info. I'll order mine same way
I think. Is there a penalty for Toronto destination?
Can anyone recommend a Toronto address/individual to
coordinate deliveries?
gb

 

I spoke with Bob at tire trends a few minutes ago. They ship via Purolator. If you purchase tires with the wheels, they will mount, balance and ship to us in the GTA. He quoted me $1810.10 for 17" FRD 6 wheels and the same tires Gord bought. Wheels are $169 right now, but heavier than what Gord bought. Tires are $236.40. That price includes everything to the door here in the GTA.

Just wondering if you need someone to coordinate as they will ship directly to your door.

Next question. Where's Talon Tire in this?

 

Guys, Talon is suppose to post something TONIGHT!

They are trying the last resort steel wheel. John said he would check group pricing for the alloys, but he said he doesn't sell that many of that type so his price is not as good as tiretrends.

Hopefully he will post tonight and we will know for sure!

 

Well... it turns out that TireTrends didn't have the 17" Holes in stock, so while they test fit the 16" version and other 17" wheels this week, they're not 100% certain that the spokes on the 17" Konig Holes clears the side of the brake caliper! So they'll get the wheels in Mon or Tues, and if they can arrange for another test fit they will, otherwise they'll send me 1 wheel to test.

As for the tires - Pirelli had previously told them the W210 in this size were in stock, but when TireTrends went to order them this afternoon Pirelli said that they were supposed to be in, but hadn't arrived yet. So my order isn't quite as firm as I'd have liked yet!

Regards,
Gordon

 

I hope you find that those 17" rims actually clear the calipers. Yesterday I went to Talon Tire where we tried another 16" steel rim from the US. Although it did fit great on the rear, hub-centric and all, it wouldn't fit on the front because of the brake calipers.

We will press on, relentlessly (sigh), with more rims as Talon Tire gets them in to test out.

 

Ok, well I'm convinced that we will have to go with 17" alloys.

Now we'll see if Talon Tire can get us a good price on wheels. He told me that his price might not be so good on the alloys

I guess he will look into them now.

 

I posted another thread "Talon Tire Group Buy"

Talon was able to beat Tiretrends wheel pricing, which is great! And they are still looking into a 16" alloy.

Also the group buy is not a 1 item purchase, you can pick and choose, as long as well ALL buy he's game for a discount!

 

I'd be interested, but I really want a lighter wheel than the 21-lb 17" FRD30. Talon's website doesn't even show wheels or weights - how are we to know what they offer or can get?

Regards,
Gordon

 

I think they can get anything, you can search 1010tire or tiretrends, his pricing would be similar. He beat tiretrends pricing for the FRD30.

He can order whatever, if your interested I can call or you can call and find out what his price is.

 

Let's roll it back a couple of months to the great winter tire size debate ...

Gord purchased 215/55/17
canzoomer seemed pretty commited to 205/55/17

My math agrees with canzoomer, the 205 is closer to the stock diameter. Gord's logic that smaller contact patch is better for winter (I agree with that) seems to point at the 205 as the superior option. Obviously tire selection in the different sizes will influence things heavily.

 

Good luck finding 205/55/17 THAT'S the problem!

 

You are right. They are almost all 50, not 55.. Apparently 205/55/17 is not a standard size.
You CAN go to a 215 instead and preserve teh 55% ratio, or live with 50.
Still 50 is OK as it falls within our speedometer error range in most cases.

1010 tires offered me a couple of good choices in that, and KAL tire has Nokian in that too.
But i opted for the Nokian WS (all season) in 225/45/R17.
It is a better choice for us who are not in heavy snow zones, but who have to do a lot of driving on ice, light snow, and in wet conditions. It is a tire that does all seasons well except summer, but that is what we have our original tires and wheels for.

Anyway, some choices:
Michelin Pilot Alpin Next Generation in 215/55/17
http://www.1010tires.com/tire.asp?ti...ext+Generation

Bridgestone Blizzak LM22 205/50/17
http://www.1010tires.com/tire.asp?ti...lizzak+LM%2D22

Pirelli Winter 240 Snowsport 205/50/17
http://www.1010tires.com/tire.asp?ti...+240+Snowsport

 

It's kind of funny that you guys revived this thread right after I ordered my winter tires from Tire Rack. I went with the narrowest size that I could find (205/50r17) and figured that the small amount of speedometer error was an acceptable trade-off for the increased snow traction.

After listening to Gord96BRG push the Pirelli Winter SnowSports I decided to go with:

Pirelli Winter 240 SnowSport 205/50VR17
Kazera KZ-V 17x7

What did everyone else purchase?

 

I've been dealing with www.tiretrends.com , and they've gone through the tire availability of the different models with me. They can not get any of the Pirelli Winter210 215/55-17s from Pirelli yet, so now I'm getting the Toyo Garit HT in 215/55-17. Their contacts at Michelin now tell them that they will not be bringing the Pilot Alpin NG to Canada this year in the 215/55-17 size, even though 1010Tires shows it. It's pretty hard to sort out the truth when all the online vendors are showing different variations on available sizes and models!

My concern with the shorter diameter tires wasn't so much the speedo error but simply the slight reduction in ground clearance. It's only fractions of inches, so it shouldn't really be a problem. I found it interesting that Tire Rack recommends the 225/50-17 size for the RX-8 since TR normally pushes narrower tires for winter use, so I went to the Bridgestone web site and a few other manufacturers' web sites, and found from the spec sheets that even though their winter sizes are nominally 225 (say 225/50-17), the actual tread width runs about 1/2" narrower than a 225 nominal width on a summer tire. The WS-50 vs. RE-040 OEM size is a good example of this. So even a 225 winter tire is slightly narrower than the OEM tire.

PS - the 17x7 Konig Holes wheel just barely clears the outside of the brake caliper - clearance is about 3 or 4 mm! There's a possibility that the valve stem wouldn't clear the caliper - I have to get a valve stem fitted to my test wheel and check again. Based on the tight clearance on this wheel, I can't imagine that any 16" alloy could clear those giant front brakes, despite 2 assurances now that Mazda's RX-8 OEM 16" wheels do clear the GT/Sport/CDN front brakes.

Regards,
Gordon

 

Gordon,
Thanks for the detailed response. I'll make sure that I test fit the wheels as soon as I receive them just to make sure that I will not have any clearance problems.

 

I think Tire Rack is pretty good about test-fitting before they recommend wheels. Those Kazera wheels look pretty good - 17 lbs for the 17" size, and the price is great even after shipping/duty/exchange. I've been tempted on several occasions in the past month to forget about the Konig wheels and just order from Tire Rack!

Regards,
Gordon

 

I got my wheels and tires installed today.

17" wheels, and Nokian Hakka WR All Season 225/45/R17's

Cost me $130 each for the wheels, $231.21 each for the tires.
With install balance, chrome valve stems and caps, GST, etc. I paid a total of $1,627.09 to KAL Tire here in Edmonton.

Nice clearance, and they feel quite good on dry pavement.

I will post pics tomorrow.

 

I received my winter tires (17x7 Kazera KZ-V w/ Pirelli Winter SnowSport) today and installed one to make sure they would fit. I had about 5mm of clearance between the caliper and the inside of the rim so it looks like it is all good!

P.S. There is extra space in the wheel well because I had just softly lowered the car from the jack.