RX8R3Rod

Hi all,

Here is my R3 (with M'Z Custom nose and rear skirts imported direct from Japan, Cusco Zero 2 Coilovers with ECON, Racing Break BBK and Pettit / RB ARB's) with ... yes, 20" OZ Ultraleggera HLT wheels and Dunlop Sport Max 245/30/20 tyres.

I know some like 20" wheels, and many appear not to, but in the interests of diversity I thought I'd post mine up.

Weight is similar (actually slightly less than OEM R3 wheel with Bridgestone 245/35/19, as I had 15/20 mm Eibach pro spacers on with the OEM wheels).

Handling is better with the OZ's, and the car follows steering inputs significantly more quickly.

Ride is a bit worse, but I can dial that out via the Cusco's ECON system.

godesshunter

Where did you get those!!!? Looks excellent. I want them.

EricB

iTrader: (7)

I never knew anyone would actually buy that bumper, anyway you need to paint your front grill black. I think the rims look okay, more on the big side. If you didnt have coilovers i would have a real problem with it. now that you are in the 20in range your tires will be even more expensive and if you thought the options for 19inch track tires were limited.........

pdxhak

iTrader: (2)

Quite a few have been sold to people overseas. The import costs for us is probably what has scared people away. That and not that many US S2 owners on 8club seem to buy body kits.

millysecond

Normally I'm not a fan of 20s, but your car is stunning. Nice work.

RMXG8

iTrader: (1)

Not a fan of the chicken wire grill. Other than that 20s dont look bad.

AZ R3

Haters gonna hate.

Your car looks fantastic. Nice work.

9krpmrx8

iTrader: (46)

I'm not feeling the front bumper, I like the stock R3 better but the car looks sick. I usually don't like big wheels but these are performance oriented so I like them. Lot's of performance cars run large diameter wheels.

AZ R3

I love everything about the R3 bumper except the moustache on the grille.

This bumper IMHO takes the R3 and makes it a little more flashy. Lots of win.

RX8R3Rod

Hey, thanks for those surprisingly positive comments! It seems I'm not so alone after all on the 20" rim thing.

In answer to a couple of questions, the bumper and skirts were from Japanparts.com, and like you guys by the sound of it, the shipping and import duty is a killer in the UK, too. Roughly adds 150 per cent to the advertised cost in Japan.

The front grille is indeed black - though to be fair you wouldn't know it from the picture - and it indeed seems to be chicken-wire. And you would definitely know that from the picture! Chicken wire grilles are pretty trendy here just now, for some reason.

And I got the wheels with the help (greatly appreciated) of Pettit Racing, but just the UK branch. Nice symmetry, eh?

And oddly, it's often cheaper over here to get 20" tyres in 245/30/20 fitment than 19" ones that fit the OEM R3 wheel. Strange but true!

AJRx892

iTrader: (2)

ill be honest not normally a fan of 20s but these work i like them!

unknown__Disciple

iTrader: (1)

not feeling it.

Roidz

I love the wheels.

monchie

20's is just too big for the rx8...just my .02 cents.

Mazdaspeed RX8 ver2

Very nice, looking really good. Though i do agree that you should get that grill black.

paporx8

iTrader: (1)

no kidding. One of the very very few cars that looks good with 20's. Not a fan but your car looks fantastic. nice tough

stewiefied

lower it a bit more and it's perfect
nice job

Moby

iTrader: (6)

Looks pretty good. I would've like to see the Stoptech 14" kit with these big wheels but it looks nice none the less. A litte bit lower too would look good.

simonmd

Wheels are stunning, not 100% convinced on the kit but maybe i'm jelous!

RX8R3Rod

Thank you all for such nice comments!

I'd have to agree the bigger StopTech kit would look significantly better with the bigger wheels, but StopTech is hard to source in the UK, and I couldn't find the weight specifications for the kit (whereas I could for the RB kit, and knew it was much lighter than stock) and that being a bit lower would be perfect ... but as the M'Z Custom nose's splitters are quite a bit lower than the stock nose, lowering the car any further would see it grounding on speed-humps (of which there are far too many in the UK - Doh!).

And here's a couple more pictures, one with the 20" Oz Ultralegerra's on track, and the other with the 18" Ultralegerra's on track. I think the 20's look better but the 18's (with dedicated track tyres) do seem to go better on the track.

TeamRX8

iTrader: (25)

When you already have boat anchors for wheels and tires what's another 20lbs that you don't really need matter, right? Then again, with all that extra inertia maybe they are needed after all ...

not really a fan of trendy parts fever, but then I saw you installed the RacingBrake BBK so I suppose the earth didn't rotate too far off it's axis

RX8R3Rod

Strangely enough, these 'boat anchor' wheels weigh the same as the (obviously boat anchor) OEM R3 wheels + Eibach spacers. I know, I weighed them.

R80MAV

The 20's are pulled off surprisingly well, bumpers quite nice but definitely do away with the chicken wire like others have said. any reason as to why you went with 20s over 19s? i doubt the look would have been a great deal different and the performance would have been better not to mention it would be a hell of alot cheaper in many aspects.

Slidin8

I love that bumper, at least your not rolling on flashy chrome 20's haha

RX8R3Rod

Thank you.

The bumper gives a definite aero improvement above 80 mph, so it's genuinely functional as well. I'll have to see what I can do about the chicken wire ... Maybe chrome it

As to why 20's over 19's ... I just like the look of the 20's with the tiny sidewall tyres and, oddly enough, in the UK it's generally cheaper (and there's way more choice) of 20" tyres than 19" ones. When I bought a new set of 19" OEM Bridgestones for my previous R3 there were only 5 in the whole of Europe.

The 20" are very easy to get here.