RotorMotor

Hey fellas! I destroyed one of my rims on a club drive this afternoon (ok, it's just bent and still repairable, but I figured it must be fate telling me it's finally time for some aftermarket rims). I hit a rock about the size of my fist doing 50 or so up through the mountains. DOH! Fortunately the owner of an BEAUTIFUL FD, Mike, loaned me his spare so I could limp home.

Anyway, I've spent the last few hours staring at rims and I can't decide what I want. I know rims are a very "personal" decision, but I'm hoping for a few comments/suggestions anyway. Here's what I'm looking at:

Volk LE37T (ala VividRacing's RX-8)

(Drool). I love these rims.

Volk SF Challenge:

Very nice. Plus I don't know anybody with them on an 8 yet....

Buddy Club P1 Racing II


OZ Canyon 2


OZ Crono


5Zigen 5ZR Copse


5Zigen Hyper 5ZR


I suppose that's enough for now. Any other suggestions are welcome of course.

Spinny 3ngls

could you please post some approx. prices for the wheels?

RotorMotor

It's tough because most retailers don't post prices on their sites. These are approximates for 18x8.5. Here's what I could do:

LE37T: $550
SF Challenge: $560
Buddy Club: $???
OZ Canyon 2: $???
OZ Cronos: $350
5Zigen 5ZR Copse: $549
5Zigen Hyper 5ZR: $???

EXA4DRIVER

Go for a staggered pattern. It makes the car look much more aggressive. And go with a 19" wheel.

EXA4DRIVER

And yes, the Volk Racing RX-8 is rolling on SF Challenges, and they're 19's.

Digisan

Those Volks look a lot better on the car, the thumbnail pics don't do them justice.

RotorMotor

Ahhh, I didn't notice. The Volks are definitely the top 2 contenders at this point. The calipers on the Volk RX-8 really add a lot the look.... I like the blue on the titanium.

yamahar1inlex

I'm not getting an rx-8 till sometime before summer, but seeing that pic of the volk sf challenges on that 8, thats what im gonna go with

sup3rbad

I'd rather have the LE37's but they are way too expensive. I've seen the 5Zigen Copse for less. So I'd personally would go for the COpse.

ELX13

hey rotormotor -

sorry to hear about your little mishap.

as for the rims...for me it was a toss up between the SF challenge and the canyon 2. i voted for the canyon 2 just to be different.

p.s. - can't wait to get that computer preview!

RotorMotor

I started really liking the OZ Cronos but unfortunately they're only available up to 18s and I really want 19s now... :D
I've got another hour until the wheel shop opens up to decide, but I think I'll go with the LE37Ts.

P.S. The computer was supposed to get installed on the 16th but I was invited to shoot in a major pool tournament that weekend and probably won't get to it. Well, if I lose my *** the first day I may get to it on Sunday, but it'll likely be the weekend after.

RotorMotor

Well, it's all said and done.

I wound up with the 19" LE37T's in the gunmetal finish. 19x8.5 up front and 19x9.5 in the back. They'll be wrapped with Nitto NT 555s, 235s in front and 265s in the rear. They'll be here on Wedensday which means 2 more days of bumming rides to work and not exceeding 50 MPH when I absolutely have to drive the 8. Booo.

The good news out of all of this: I actually hit 22.5 MPG (city and hwy combined) with nice gentle starts, since it's really easy to spin the spare tire, and staying at or below 50!!! :p

One last comment: never accept a first quote! The first quote I got was for $4260!! I called around and got another quote for $3400. I called back the first place that quoted me the $4260 and they brought it down to $3250. They came down over $1000 because I made one other phone call! It's still WAY more than I was hoping to pay, but it's not not that bad for 19" with good tires.

Gord96BRG

Not to be a downer, but before it's really too late - Nitto 555s are really crap tires, no where near being good tires. If you want a performance tire and not just something to keep the rims off the ground, see if you can get something else - even if you just have to take delivery of the wheels and buy tires separately...

The wheels will look great, though!

Regards,
Gordon

RotorMotor

Really? I had Nittos before on my previous car and thought they were great, but I've never taken any of my cars down to the track...yet. Do you have any suggestions? It's not too late to change it.

EXA4DRIVER

Go with a 245/35/19 & 275/35/19 combo. And go with some Bridgeston S0-3's. Not much more in price over the Nittos.

Gord96BRG

EXA4DRIVER's suggestion of the Bridgestone S-03 is excellent - you can't go wrong with them. The Pirelli P Zero Nero is also a great choice, the Kumho MX, Michelin Pilot Sport, or the Yokohama AVS Sport would all be great to good choices, and any of the above will blow the tread off the Nittos. Seriously, if you do have the chance - get any of the above instead!

Regards,
Gordon

jonalan

As with many polls, the order in which the choices are listed, directly affects the outcome (as you can see by the results).

RotorMotor

I just put the best looking rims (IMO) at top so they'd get more votes.... I think they also, incidentally, are listed in order of price, most expensive to least expensive.

XeRo

Sorry RotorMotor...i have the SF Challenges for the 8....gotta good deal from importhookup...

RotorMotor

Sweet. Are you happy with them? Those were tight rims also, I just dug the darker finish. My LE37Ts should be here tomorrow! :D

XeRo

well...i haven't gotten them yet...i ordered them the week before i took my 2 weeks off for X-Mas holidays and figured they would be here sometime during my last week..NOPE...should be any day now...importhookup said they arrived in Georgia yesterday so hopefully when I get home they will be on my door step...sad thing is....i gotta save up for the tires...19" are still steep for rubber...so i get to look at them for a while...

EXA4DRIVER

Just curious, what size combo did you go with? And how much did you get them for?

TrAsHeR

I really like the Volk LE37T, I went ahead and put them on my silver, check it out:

Sunlight silver (stock) + Volk LE37T

not sure if I like it tho

RotorMotor

The rims came in and were installed last night. The whole time they were installing them I was kicking myself for spending so much damn money on rims, but when it was finished I was more than happy! It just makes the car cry out for the rest of the mods I have planned for the short-term though (Mazdaspeed, Ings or Carisma nose, coilovers and and powdercoated calipers). The rims look really great, but the car really needs it's stance lowered a bit for it to look "right". I'll try to get some pics this afternoon.

XeRo

Front: 19x8.5 +42 offset
Rear: 19x9.5 +48 offset
+ center caps

Talk to Vick at Importhookup.com

got em for $2239 shipped..and that's without tires...

I know YIKES...I spent that much on wheels ....