New Titanium Mazda Rims Available
 

I just picked up my blue rx8 gt on the 7th, and the day it got to the dealership, they got in their first pair of titanium rims, straight from mazda. The dealership said they only weigh 5 pounds each, so I had to buy them. $2500.00 option, but worth every penny. They look amazing, kind of a bullit chrome look. too bad I already scraped them in the car wash, not going to make that mistake again. which brings me to my question:
Does anybody know if titanium is easier to scrape than alluminum???

what are you taking about ?

got a picture of these rims

5 lbs each?!?! that cant be right

He is probably talking about the dark chrome rims Mazda released recently. They are NOT titanium and they DON'T weigh 5 lbs. (LMAO). Even better -- he overpaid by $1000 versus what he could have bought them for from Trussville. His salesman probably still has that Enzyte smile on his face :)

not yet, have to get my digi cam from my brother, I'll post a few pics when I get a chance. The car looks great...
ground effects, chrome side stakes and exaust surrounds, chrome rotor emblems, titanium rims with titanium rotor center caps. with the winning blue paint.. wow

Re: New Titanium Mazda Rims Available
 

5 lbs!........ROFL! you just made my day... :D

actually, I got the a-plan discount, so I paid $1900 for them

In that case, does anyone know how much the tires weigh? I'm going to pull a rim off and weigh it, just to make sure. But the salesman, and the owner, said they just got them in, they only wieght 5 pounds, and they are titanium. The guy knows that I only bought them for the weight, not for the look, so if he lied to my, I'm going to go back and shove those rims down his *ucking throat.

Victor -- there are no such thing as titanium rims. Ferrari's have titanium lug nuts -- that is about as close as it gets.

There are titanium colored rims (painted) -- these of course weigh the same as any other rim. I am pretty sure you bought the dark chrome Mazda wheels. These are actually heavier than the stock rims.

Re: New Titanium Mazda Rims Available
 

Your dealer either lied or is an idiot.

Any bets that this is your wheel? If so - it's a MazdaSpeed forged aluminum wheel in gun-metal colour (easily mistaken for titanium colour), and it weighs 17.6 lbs - in other words, 5 lbs LESS than the OEM 18" wheels, which are around 22 lbs each - but there's no way in hell you could ever buy a 18" wheel that only weighs 5 pounds, as they simply do not exist anywhere for any price. Note also that Finishline Performance offers them for ~$500 ea, or $2000 for a set of 4.

MazdaSpeed also offers a forged magnesium wheel that is also available in a gun-metal colour, and weighs 16 lbs (about 6 lbs lighter than OEM), but those are over $1300 per wheel...

Regards,
Gordon

I'm staring to believe that myself, but I need to know the wieght of the tires.
If this is the case, I'm going to get a refund back to the tune of about $2000.00 dollars. not sure how that would work though, I financed the car...

no, those aren't them, they look just like the stock or chrome rims, just darker.

...............and they are not compatabile with the TPMS!

I told him I didn't want the chrome rims because of the weight, which is when he said that they just got in the titanium ones. this really f's me, because if I didn't pay the 2 g's for the rims, I would have got the gps

tpms?

No, he means GPS, as in the Navigation system.

Victor E - they should be able to re-write your contract if you decide to take the rims back.

Too late for the Nav System though, unless they let you swap for another RX8 that has one..........

no the comment was about the mazdaspeed wheels not being compatible with the Tire Pressure Monitoring System. what you got there dude is the new Dark Chrome wheels.

look here

I bet they look like this -- chromed look but darker:
http://www.finishlineperformance.com...rome_wheel.jpg

edit: sorry Zoom44 -- didn't see your post with the pic

5 LB 18 " rims , where da fock did you get those ? lol , musta been from space , cause only aliens are smart enough to make a titanium rims that weighs 5 lb's. lol. I've seen carbonfiber rims with aluminum shell , and those don't weigh anything near 5 lbs. lol

Sure sounds like it - how about it, Victor E? If so, check out the Finishline Performance page for those wheels - $357.50 each, or $1430 for all 4. Also, your dealer kept your original 18" wheels? He could resell those for about $500 for the set, easily. So - those wheels (which ARE chrome, and ARE heavier than the already-porky stock 18" OEM wheels) should have cost you under $1000. IF these are the wheels you bought - you got ripped off, big time.

Regards,
Gordon

Tire pressure monitoring system. The thing that tells you your tires are under/over inflated.

Victor, do not let your dealer get away with that. I hate when the buyer is flat out lied to. Call Mazda if need be (although I don't know what they can do). Enjoy the car, cause the 8 is a great buy, but don't let them take advantage of you like that.
And for the couple of us who are busting Victor's balls for believing the sales ass, haven't you ever been taken advantage of? Its no use giving Victor crap, its nice that most posts are to help.

His post makes me wonder why know one has tried to make titanium wheels, $$$ aside for the moment. I'm sure there must be a reason, else Ferarri, or Porsche or some race team would have done it. I mean, its expensive to work with Ti, but not with the kinda dollars Ferarro throws around.

Weight.....
 

Stock alloy: 22lbs,
Polished alloy: 22lbs,
Stock Bridgestone: 20lbs,
Kicking a Salesmans ass: Priceless!

Really, pop one off and put it on the bathroom scale. If it's less than about 30lbs, I guess you got titanium.....
.
.
.
doc

This may be the first thread that I actually subscribe to...

Just my opinion:

Those new chrome wheels = ghetto fabulous = no thanks

The 8 don't need no BLING!!!!!!

TIRE PRESSURE MONITORING SYSTEM

Re: Weight.....
 

:D Too damned funny.

I'll bet the dark chromed wheels are probably pushing 23lbs. I think they look great- but the stockers are already waaay to heavy, especially after taking them autocrossing. Whatever wheels I end up buying for my summer tires are going to be in the 17-18lb range...

so have you taken all of the chrome trim off your car and gotten rid of the nav (if you have it) and put on some little 15" wheels?

22lbs for an 18x8 is ok, but isnt exactly light.

what happens if you get wheels without the tpms?

james

I think some listening skills are in order here.

1. What's all this chrome trim you're talking about? Have you installed some super-pimp-daddy fender lip accents or something?

2. What's the Navigation system got to do with this conversation?

3. Who said anything about wanting 15" wheels?

I shipped my four stock Bridgestone RE-040 tires to a buyer a bit back, and a pair of them weighed 58 Lbs. Subtract 5 Lbs for packing materials and that means the stock tires weigh about 26-27 Lbs each. Therefore, if those rims really are Titanium and only weigh 5 Lbs each (sorry, but no way) then your scale will show no more than 33 Lbs per wheel/tire combo.

TPMS = Tire Pressure Monitoring System. It's a device for, uhhh... certain people who either don't realize tire pressures need to be occasionally checked, or who are confounded by the complex operation of a tire pressure gauge.

Ever heard of, y'know, maybe, doing a little research on the car you're planning to drop $30 grand or so on before you buy it? You came to this forum a little late, it seems.

[muttering to self] must be nice to have more money than brains...[/muttering to self]

Post count ain't worth it. I'm heading on back to the Lounge.

how many people are going to explain what TPMS stands for?

Doesn't anyone read through all posts before replying...

I would put the average at 10/90.


(tire pressure monitoring system)

what's all this about the TPMS?

TPMS = Tire Pressure Monitoring System



:D

You should research a car before buying it. Its your own fault for being had at the dealership... didnt you try to pick up the rims and go wow these are light, or ey these arent 5 pounds, more like 25! you got the dark chrome buddy. no such thing as titanium.

I bet wheels made of wood with a nice Cherry Finish would look great on a Red 8...and you could probably get in under 5 pounds.

Sounds like he got shafted real hard. Paid money for stock rims.

http://www.rit.edu/~acw7898/owned.jpg

nice post there mysubaruimp. got anything else to add?

so where is the thread starter for an update?

I would think that titanium rims would cost about 2k a piece if not more. Titanium is rediculously hard to work with and the tooling is super expensive. The raw material is also super expensive. I dont think they could forge those wheels, they would have to be CNC'd which for titanium would cost hella money. I think you need to pay a visit to the dealership.

Titanium is as strong as steel, but 45% lighter. It is 60% heavier than aluminum, but twice as strong.
5 lbs huh
The price of titanium metal powder (99.95%) is about $100/lb.

So by using the figures above you could use half the mass while maintain the same strength.I used some simple formulas and came up with about a 15 pound rim.Granted the engineering of the rim itself would have alot to do with this as well,but i guess my point here is its not really worth it

Aside from the RX-8 in my life I also race bicycles....and if they don't make TI rims for bikes I know they won't for cars!! Carbon fibre...that bikes have. So they must have meant TI color...but you actually must have mis-interpreted as TI made.
BUMMER....1,900 bucks...couple more bengi's would have gotten you some sweet VOLKS.

i really think u misinterpreted the salesperson..... titanium rims that weigh 5lbs? i'd prob die b4 i see that happening(note: i'm only 18)

there are however, titanium coloured (or colored in amercian) rims... they often call it titanium silver, titanium grey, titanium chrome, metallic titanium, titanium metal, but its only for colour-naming purposes. if u're lucky u might get abit of titanium in it, but that is douptful

This is sounding more like one of those rabbit trail posts. I haven't read any replys that is adding to this forum. ( Mine may be one of those) If it is real, I feel sorry that you got suckered into bying the 8 for having 5lb wheels. Why not buy it because it rides like a crotch rocket with four seats and deal with the consequenses later:D

Maybe if this was the stealth RX8. or the f-22 raptor rx8 version with vtol. Or something to avoid radar detection. so that the radar insignia would not come back as strong.