Aratinga

Not the chromed ones, not the silver-painted ones. When the RX-8 first came out in summer of 2003, one of the options available then was to get the stock 18" rims in a shiny polished finish. This was discontinued shortly after the car's introduction for some reason.

I bought a set of these polished OEM rims from a guy who upgraded to aftermarket wheels nearly two years ago, and they've been sitting in my garage ever since.

I'm getting ready to put them on my car (finally) but I was wondering how well their finish has held up for any of you who've had them on your car since you bought it. It doesn't look to me like there's any clearcoating on the metal, and I'm just wondering if they're a maintenance nightmare to keep looking good. I've got my Mother's Powerball and Mother's Aluminum polish -- if it's good enough for Chip Foose's wife's car, it's good enough for me. So what's your experience with them?

Edit: here's a pic of one of my wheels:

wiggum

I have the same wheels in the mail to me and I am in the same boat..

I am not sure if they are clear coated or not, I know that if they are not they are gonna be much harder to keep clean and shiny...

Also.... does the center cap look out of place in person??? Because in the picture it stands out and that has been another concern of mine with Mazda not offerering a polished aluminum center cap...

wiggum

Just recieved word from MazdaUSA that these are indeed clear coated...

Aratinga

Hmmm... Interesting! I guess that's good, but now I'm wondering if I should still use the Aluminum Polish. Maybe I should just give them a good cleaning and followed by a good coat of wax to keep them nice and pretty. Thanks, Wiggum... who was your source, btw? Mazda Customer Service 800 number?

And as for the centercaps... yeah, I see what you mean; in that picture it does look like it doesn't match the wheel at all. However, I don't remember noticing that when looking at the wheels in person... maybe it's just the way the plastic cap reflects in a photo. I'll look again when I get home tonight.

Doesn't Mazda offer a polished centercap for the chromed wheels?

wiggum

Mazda only offers one centercap, though the new Mazdaspeed center caps are beautiful (see the thread in gen. disccussion for info)....

Do this when you get home... try polishing a small part of them with the polish... if the polish does not tarnish and turn black it means they are clear coated... if the wheels leave a coat of black dust on them they are not clear coated...