WEAPON X

I had aftermarket 17's on my last car and the potholes bent the rims up every other month. Now I'm lookin to get the Gt package w/ the 18's on em. I live in the bronx where the roads are treacherous. Should I consider gettin the 16's?

red_base 95

It also depends on sidewall height for the tires. Low profile tires will not protect your rims as well as those tires with a bigger aspect ratio. If your running around a town known for it's potholes with 35 or 40 series tires, you're going to end up with bent rims, regardless of the size of the rim.

I think OEM tire size is 225/45 for the 18's. A 225/55 on the 16's would give you a little more protection without sacrificing too much performance. You could probably move up to a 55 series tire on the 18's without any concerns about driveability. Sidewall height for the OEM 225/45 is 101.25 mm (45% of tread width). For the 225/55, it increases to 123.75 mm, about 20% larger. The larger size will fill the wheel wells a bit more.

Good luck.

RotaryXTypeSH

what brand of rims did u get....i wont be getting thos ....but i do think that u get what u paid for because if u pay for good quality strong rims then it wont be bent that easily......sry to say this but ur rims must be cheap.....:o

WEAPON X

Yeah they were Konigs, pretty cheap. That's why I asked if the joints you put up were Konigs cuz I was gonna tell you mine were gettin bent all the time. I heard Oz makes the strongest rims.
But I think I had 215/35's or 40's which red base said aren't good.
Plus I had the imagines that have a polished lip.
But do you guys think I should get thicker tires w/ the factory 18's or I'm straight w/ what they come w/.

red_base 95

I think you'll be ok with the OEM tire size and OEM rims. I know that Mazda went to great lengths to reduce weight, but doubt they cheaped out on the wheels. Mazda wants as few complaints about this car as possible. I wouldn't worry about the 18's

35 series tires should only be used where you are certain the road surface is in good shape (track maybe?). They can give you a great look, and excellent handling, but the real world isn't the best scenario for tires with that low profile. The taller sidewalls will give you a moderately softer ride, and will compress more during hard cornering and pothole slamming.

Mazda man

On our Corrado a pothole ben tone of our BBS split rims, so its not just cheap wheels which get bent!

WEAPON X

I might get a set of ssr's for my eight and I wanted to go nineteen inches w/ em. But I don't want all the problems I had w/ my 17's .