SoundDsnr23

It's my first winter with the 8, and with money being so tight I was thinking I could muscle through one year with the stock tires on. But after suffering through the snow and ice this weekend, getting stuck twice, and having a close encounter with a guardrail I think I have to bite the bullet and get some wheels and snow tires.

I've tried looking for a used set, but so far no luck finding any with the right bolt pattern and tire sizes. My fiancee has a Mazda3, and that got me wondering if I couldn't find someone selling the 17" MZ3 wheels and just buy some tires for those. I ran a quick search on the forum and didn't find any definitive info one way or the other. I'm pretty sure these will clear the brakes, but is there any problem with the offset?

I suppose I could pull off one of her wheels and give it a shot, but if anyone already has an answer it would be much appreciated. This could be a very cost effective solution for the short term.

Juice

iTrader: (1)

From Mazda USA, the wheels are 17*6.5 with a 52.5mm offset. So I would say they would fit, but will look funny being so much thinner. But who cares how they look as long as they keep your car on the road.

Silver_Surfer

I dont think the wheels wil fit the GT model. I know the spare wont, I tried it. The rim hits the calipers.






I carried one around for awhile but then when tring to use it

Juice

iTrader: (1)

How big is the spare though? 16 or 17 inch. RX8 spares are 17 and they clear the brakes obviously.

Edit: Nevermind, I searched on google and found that the spare for the 16 and 17 inch mazda 3 wheels is a 16 inch compact steel wheel. Maybe you should have checked before dragging that wheel around.

SoundDsnr23

Thanks for the replies. I might pull one of her wheels this weekend and give it a try.

savedsol

These should work but might be tall. If you're not lowered...

http://chicago.craigslist.org/sox/pts/496667052.html

SoundDsnr23

Thanks for the link. I've been keeping my eyes open on craigslist for the past few days but hadn't come across that one. I think I'm going to pick up a used set of Hyundai Tiburon wheels. Same bolt pattern but in 17". Those guys are always selling off their stock rims for cheap.

Vader76

I bought a set of 17" Mazda 3 wheels for winter rubber and they fit fine on my GT.

thatkarelguy

I just threw on a set of mazda 3 wheels with dunlop wintersport M3's last week.

... haven't tried them in the snow yet, but I think they grip better than the stock dunlops in the icy cold (20-30 degrees).

Found the mazda 3 wheels on craigslist for 300 bucks.