Dark8

A while ago someone asked what 17" wheels with low profile tires would look like on an RX-8. I took the picture with stock suspension and my auto-x wheel/tires on the car. The wheels are Kosei K1 TS wheels with 255/40-17 Kumho MX tires. I will be putting the coilovers back on in February so it will be interesting to see how a 1 1/2 inch drop changes the look of the car with these wheels. And don't worry, I won't drive around with it looking like this.

adrian-1

Yeah, it's not the prettiest but I'm very interested to see how this wheel/tire package handles on the track.
Also, what offset did you get them in?

Dark8

45mm. The color shouldn't show brake dust either. :D

Spin9k

Did you use these either with or without coilovers last year auto-x? How did they handle? Did you notice any difference in power delivery/steering due to the lighter weight/lower rotational mass? BTW I don't really see the problem with how they look, except it violates current wheel 'style'

Dark8

I didn't have these last season and I don't do the 1/4 mile thing so I don't have any real data to back up any performance gains. I'm saving around 8 lbs. of rotating mass/unsprung weight per corner so you would think there will be some performance gains.

About the "style." They probably wouldn't look so bad to me if the fender gap was even in the front and back. Kind of has that "ready for rally" look.

Spin9k

Well good luck with them. I've narrowed down what I'm planning getting this spring to either SSR Comp 17"x8"s or 8.5"s or your Kosei K1 TS with I was thinking 245/40-17 for a little accel boost. You think 255s will be Ok no scraping when you lower it?

Dark8

I like the looks of the SSR better but couldn't justify $600 more for the tiny bit of weight savings over the Kosei. I don't think rubbing will be an issue and if it is I can raise the coilovers some. With the stock suspension I have room to mount tire chains. :D

RotorManiac

hmmm it IS bad. those wheel arches are huge! i don't know what mazda was thinking...
if you ask me i'd preffer 17s, for performance sake, but then 18s are not that bad

on the other hand the smaller wheel shows how big the stock brakes are.
have you seen some other stock cars, like audis, how small the rear rotors are?

RX Renesis

for a performence car 17" is small... looks whimpy... atleast 18" and best 19".... cause usually 17" r for ricer civics... thats probally the biggest they can fit.. haha

Spin9k

Yea the SSR aren't cheap for sure, but they are hot forged not cast, so perhaps less likely to bend/flex or get damaged on potholes, plus you can get them in 17x8.5 size that would give the larger 245-255 sizes a little more room to expand for a more surefooted stance.

The Kosei K1 TS have those two neat valves though for making it easy to fill with nitrogen (in red to match my car), certainly another nod in their favor

Have to see how rich I feel / poor I want to become when the time comes!

I sure wish spring was here already...

Omicron

I don't think the 17s look bad per se, just the wheel gap.

Gord96BRG

"Performance" should be defined by actual performance, wouldn't you think? Given that, all else being equal, 17" wheels are lighter than 18 or 19s, and a 17" wheel/tire combo is lighter than an 18 or 19 combo, then 17s will give better performance than the 18 or 19. By performance criteria, 18s or 19s are for ricers - more show, less go. As Dark8 pointed out, an 8 pounds per corner saving in unsprung weight is very significant - that's performance.

Re wheel well gap - that does look big. How does the diameter of those tires compare to the OEM 225/45-18? I run 17" wheels for my 215/55-17 winter tires, and the gap is nowhere near that big:

Spin9k

Here's why:

225/45-18 26" DIAM stock benchmark wheel
215/55-17 26.3" DIAM 1.3% low speedo error/decrease in acceleration
255/40-17 25" DIAM 3.6% high speedo error/increase in acceleration

http://www.miata.net/garage/tirecalc.html

hummm....sure you silver isn't lowered or is 1.3" that much?

Dark8

I run 225/50-17 winter tires and they also fill in the gap better and are about 1 inch more in diameter than the 255/40-17. I think tread depth also makes the winter tires a little taller then summer tires.

A tire calculator (http://www.miata.net/garage/tirecalc.html) says there is 1 inch difference in diameter between the 225/45-18 and 255/40-17. Bridgestone says the RE040 is 25.9 and Kumho says the MX is 25.1 which gives a .8 inch difference. But standing the tires up next to each other and measuring the difference gives me 1.125 inches. That's a little more than 1/2 inch more wheel gap all around the tire. You wouldn't think it would be that noticeable, but wow.

RX Renesis

fine i take that back... maybe i should've said "sporty looking"

BaronVonBigmeat

dive, dive, dive!

I was getting altitude sickness from looking at your car so I made a couple of changes. :p Actually, I think I could live with this look, but speed bumps might be a problem. Also, is it just me or do 17's look less obvious in dark colors than silver?




Thanks to www.imageshack.us for the free hosting.

Spin9k

Now that just looks - amazingly better :D That's just the answer, plus maybe silver as you say might look a tad bigger! Thank you, I knows what I'se gotta do!

Lower car, lower C.G., more stable, less roll, wider lighter wheels, wider lower profile tires... and now I even dig the look!

BaronVonBigmeat

^^^(Don't forget cheaper tires, too. :D )

Well actually, I was thinking that silver makes it more obvious that you've got 17's whereas darker colors hide it. Which is sort of counterintuitive, because painting something with dark paint usually makes it seem smaller. Maybe silver jumps out too much. Or maybe it's my imagination, that's always possible. Then again there's always the black spoke/silver rim combo like what's-his-face has.

Also remember that matching this drop in real life might require some pretty drastic measures. I don't know how much of a drop that would be, if you scaled it up....1.5" - 2" ? I dropped it a little more in front too of course. Tanabe has two sets of springs that drop the car 1.4" in front and 1.2" in back...one is a 10% higher rate and the other is like 30%....maybe that would get the job done. That or coilovers.


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flip

Wow.. wheel gap... nice wheel though :p

adrian-1

Hey Baron, great photoshops.
They also offer these in orange and gold. I'm leaning towards the gold to give it a subaru sti look.

Dark8

I wanted the gold but TireRack only had the silver and dark grey in that size. I'm not sure what color car the orange wheels could ever look good on. I think the dark color hides the wheel a little bit and puts more emphasis on the brake rotor. Definately gives it more of a stealth look. Thanks for the dropped look pictures. I don't think I will be able to go quite that low without rubbing, but it definately looks better! I wish we could put clear corners on in my part of Oregon, but here they write tickets for them.

Dark8

The coilovers are on it and it definately looks better. I still need an inch more drop in the rear but ran out of adjustment time today. Not sure how much the front drop is. From the middle of the center cap straight up to the fender is 14.5 inches. It leaves me 5 inches of nose ground clearence.

irish8

Nice Dark8. Time for some clearcorners!!

- Irish

crossbow

Nice rims! Look great. Just be wary of potholes with the kosei's. They are very light and are't known for their strength. A good pothole hit or two and they'll bend or break. Can't beat them for track or autox though...just watch out if your in a crappy street road area.

Thats one of the only advantages the SSR's have over the kosei's...they are somewhat stronger due to being forged vs cast...but both are suseptible to bad roads or potholes. The price you pay for lightweight rims!

8 probably feels awesome with 32 lbs less unsprung weight .

Dark8

I went out to my favorite testing grounds today, a country road with 90 degree hairpins and dips that make you feel like you are on a roller coaster that bottoms the stock suspension. Couldn't get it to bottom the JICs. No rubbing on the 255's in the front either.

Does anyone know off hand what the stock measurements are from the middle of the center cap straight up to the fender on front and back? I forgot to measure before I pulled the suspension and am curious how low I am going.