Okay so after considering it long and hard, I decided to keep my 8. I just couldn't fathom trading it in for *gasp* a boring Lexus IS350....well long story short I had my 30K mile service today and low and behold I need new tires. I was holding out as long as I could on this one, but looks like the original bridgestones that are on my rear wheels need to go...

What tires do you recommend? I was thinking maybe I could use this as an opportunity to get new rims? I've always had a secret love affair with those gray axis hiros...I think they'd look great on my grey 8...

What do you guys think? 19" axis hiros? or stick with stock size? or stick with stock wheels and just get new tires?

 

Think this belongs on the Wheel and Tire forum. Personlly I would go with the new rims, if you have the $$$. Those rims look sweet on a the Tigray.

 

Oh shoot I'm sorry I didn't even realize I was still in the discussion forum. Mod please move if you get a chance, thanks...

Yeah I think I'm gonna look into getting the rims...what size do you guys recommend?

 

If you have the cash, go with the new rims. the hiros are one of the nicest out there IMO. and if you do, shoot me a PM, I would like to take your stock wheels of your hands!

 

Sounds good...thanks for the input...

I'm right now debating the differences in getting 18's or 19's....

I don't want to get a rough ride (had that in a civic I put 18's on)...in essence I want to keep the ride feel and performance as close to stock as possible...

maybe someone with 19's can chime in...

 

a friend of mine here in GA has 19's on his. The tires are such low profile that he has to be very careful everywhere he goes, potholes and our solution for big potholes...a steel plate.

IMO the car was designed to have 18's, anything else would probably get heavier, and you would sacrifice ride quality.

But it is your car, and 19's do like very nice on the 8.

 

hmmm...decisions decisions....

It seems strange that he has problems using 19's because I know the G35C has 19's as an option...

I wonder how it would be using the setup that alot of guys have with 19x8.5 front and 19x9.5 rears with stock ride height...

 

anybody?

 

why you need 19s for? that stresses your suspension and your ride. aside from the fact that they puertoricanize your car. but again thats just me...

 

"why you need 19s for? that stresses your suspension and your ride. aside from the fact that they puertoricanize your car. but again thats just me..."

Man O Man, you are a funny guy!!!! Thanks for brightening my day!

 

the staggered size debate has been hashed out so many times. if you are truly concerned about the stagger, read up on the thread in the tire and wheel section, it is a sticky.

if you just want it for looks, and dint mind the handling difference, it will look nice. I dint agree that the car would be "puertoricanized", since plenty of exotic cars have 19's.

 

I saw the sticky and tried to wade through all the garbage in it, but got tired....I guess I'll just have to sit down with a cup of coffee and read through that debacle of a thread...

As far as why I want 19's, is because I really don't want to lower the car, but want it to look right...I dunno...

 

well,
Good luck finding some 18" axis hiros in gun metal.

I may have got the last set in the country until next feb.

I've being calling every internet dealer around trying to find them in 18" because I did not want the problems that come with 19"s:

a) extra weight
b) stiffer ride
c) tires i have only have 4k on them
d) tires cost a little more in 19"
e) didn't want to worry about pot holes

anyway I almost bought a set of axis reverb because no one had the hiros in 18", I saw one more add online, and thought "what the hell, i'll call them." It turns out they had 4 left. They ship from FL yesterday. FYI- axis doesn't have any at the moment either.

 

there are several sets of near-new OE takeoffs in the FS area, real bargains too, there was a set of Dunlops, which are better than the Bridgestones

 

^^^ Thanks for the tip...do you mean tires that were taken off of the rims?

 

axis hiros or u can go for wat i just bought, enkei OR-52, i weighted them and they r bout 20 pounds per rim (18 by 8.5 with an offset of +35mm), so they are 3 pounds lighter than the stock 18s. here is a picture of the rims i have.

 

That's some nice lookin' rims. I'd say go 18's if you want to keep ride quality.

 

haha gee thanks danny

 

18's huh? Okay...

I just kinda want to hear from some of the guys with 19's and see what they have to say about it...

 

I'd say go with 19's. The last time I bought a set of rims I was also debating beforehand whether to go with 18's or 19's. I ended up getting 18's... and regretting it.

When I first saw my RX8, before I even bought it, I knew exactly what rims I needed. I'm not a fan of staggered setups and I especially didn't want to adversely affect my handling, so I went with 19x8.5 all around with 245/35 tires and a +38 offset. I'm pretty sure the 19" TE37's are still lighter than the stock wheels since according to my "high tech" scale the overall wheel and tire combo weighed the same, and there's more rubber on the new setup.

The combination ended up working great. No clearance issues. The tires are surprisingly smooth and quiet, and the ride actually feels better than stock. Turn in and steering response are still very sharp. The tires I have (Falken Azenis ST115) also have a treadwear rating of 360 vs the stock Bridgestones at 140, which I only got about 7500 miles out of.

Oh, and I was always afraid of potholes, but I'm even more afriad of them now.

 

you have it right by not staggering the sizes. and your car looks so nice, it makes me want to get a white one now. Not sure I could wait almost a year to get wheels after ordering them.

 

Sounds good...so did the 19's affect the way the car accelerated at all?

 

It feels about the same.