I just put 19" Axis Hiros on my RX - 9.5" in back, 8.5" in front. The tires are Pirelli P-Zeros: 275/30 in back, 245/35 in front

A friend just put a set of 20" Foose wheels on his RX - 8.5" and 245/35s all around.

The suspension is stock on both cars, both are 2004s. His has about 175 pounds worth of amps and speakers, DVD player, Nav, etc. - his car's a bit heavier than mine now.

After the wheels went on the cars, my car sits 1.25" lower than his - front and rear. The 1.25" really doesn't seem right though - his car should've gone up only .5" over the 19s and 1" over stock - and that assumes a 45 series tire... not the 35 series. My wheel/tire combo is 5/8" smaller (diameter) than the stock combo. But we did measure the cars side by side to get that 1.25"

Because of clearance, it doesn't look like he'll be able to lower his car - even back to stock. This is an assumption - need your feedback on this point.

My car could absolutely be lowered - especially in front.

So, it would seem by this sample size of 2, that 20s are really just too big for this car... unless the goal is to simply have the biggest wheels possible.

What have you guys found?

 

nice choice of wheels, i wanted hiros for the longest time but now everyone has them. Cant help you with the numbers, i am not that good at tire measurements, maybe a side shot would help your argument. (you have the same car i have minus some apperance stuff)

 

I think 17's are perfect. Those look decent though.

 

smaller than stock?

 

I have 20" and I have the tien stech on also with no problem.

 

Yup - more specifically, lighter than stock. Lighter is much better than heavier. Did you ever read any of the sticky threads here, like the Unsprung Weight thread or the Staggered wheels/tires thread?

 

My goal was not to have the biggest wheel possible i would of went for 21 if that was the case.
just to have my car not look like everyone else car.

 

a set of 20's with the rx8 sitting on its **** isnt a problem....

 

IMO, 20s just fill out the fenders perfectly. But, i didnt buy the car for performance, so it doesnt matter to me.

 

IMHO, the car is styled so that 19's look best, with 18's a close second. 17's and 20's look cartoonish to me. And actually, I'd say that aftermarket wheels improve appearance due to the offset pushing the wheels out, moreso than the increased diameter.

This is all aside from performance considerations, of course.

 

I actually like the way the 20s look on the 8. But they did raise the car considerably. If it is possible to lower the car back to, at least, stock height, that'd look (and perform) even better.

If I were to do it again, I'd go with 19s again, but I think I'd get a little more tire - height. The 30 series tires on the 19s, while perfect on paper (diameter) look a little short. I'd like to see a set of 275/40/19s on an 8... if that tire even exists.

 

Provided you're willing to cut out the plastic wheel arches...........

 

nah, didnt have to cut it myself..... they just got "chewed" through......

 

I have 19" on my car right now. If I had to do it over again I would have done 18" Just look a bit too flashy with 19", not to mention the compromise in ride comfort. IMO.

 

The car was designed for 19" wheels. Mazda had Enkei scale back to 18" when they realized that there was going to be a fulfillment issue with 19" tires back in 2003 (there weren't a lot of OEM suppliers that made 19" tires - none, actually; certainly not Bridgestone or Dunlop).

That said, a properly plus-sized wheel fitment should NOT change anything about the static geometry of the vehicle.

I have 19", and the rolling diameter and vehicle height are within 1/100's of an inch of the OEM wheels specs.
If plus-sizing your wheels changed the height of your car or the possibility of lowering, you did something wrong. Period.

 

what's the widest 19" wheel we can get on all 4 corners of the rx-8? i don't plan on staggering...

 

I have 8.5" x 19" w/35mm offset up front and they are right at the outside of the wheel well (9.5" in the back, but you don't plan to go staggered). If you are willing to go down to 18" Goodwin Racing (http://www.good-win-racing.com/mazda.../21-1051b.html) has a se of Enkei rims that will go to 9.5" (w/45 mm offsets) all the way around & 275's on them.

 

A 19x 9 will fit up front if it has the proper 45mm offset.
You could go 9.5" all the way around with 48mm offset, but it is not easy to find that fitment.

 

Woah, I didn't realized those wheels were that cheap. If I could take it back I would have got those instead of the Hiros.