I am about to purchase the Blizzack 17" tires @ TireRack with the cheapest alloy wheel (179.00). Total is approx $1,220... I was wondering if anyone thought about ordering just the tires and looked for cheaper steel or alloy wheel's at local stores that will provide a deal with installation also???? Obviously, looks are not really important at this point since I will have the things on for only 3 months out of the whole year.

 

mcballz13,

You can save another $200 at Tire Rack and save yourself the hassel/expense of ordering from two places then having the tires mounted locally. Just choose cheaper alloy wheels, like some of the Kazeras which are $129/each.

 

FWIW, you have to consider mounting, balancing etc. too. The $ you save on wheels from somewhere else will be largely offset by that charge. But, I'd priced these before at Tire Rack and I thought my total was about $1080.

 

I went with the Kazeras and Blizzack combo from tirerack. they look great and better yet I had no trouble this past snow storm. In fact, the car handled better than any front wheel drive I've owned. spend the money - you'll be amazed.

 

Thanks for the info guys... I guess I have to go back to tire rack and find cheaper wheels because the cheapest alloy's out of 25 choices that came up were 179.00.

Ang- which Blizzack's did you end up going with?

 

I went with the WS50's - 215/55QR17. Your better off calling, I had the same problem your having. I think they find inventory which is closest to you (and me in PA). I called Vance @xt314 and he found the cheaper wheel in LA. I paid a little more for S & H but it still was cheaper. Good Luck.

 

They don't show any rims for the 8 that cheap anymore.

 

I'm guessing it's because you're looking at larger wheels like 18 and 17". Just get some 16s and you'll save a good chunk of money and I think smaller is better for snow anyhow.

Ike

 

I got me a set of 215/55QR17's from Tire Rack also. As Gord mentioned before, they don't have the dry weather performance of some of the other tires, (they're a bit squirmy on dry pavement) and may not wear quite as well, but they ride smoothly, aren't too noisy, and seem to have pretty decent traction on snow and ice. I also had the mindset the increased diameter (a whopping 0.6" or so) would give me that critical extra ground clearance over a 225/50-17.

I ordered some Fondmetal 6700 wheels from Discount Tire a couple months ago, they were only $200.00 for a set of four, including shipping at that time. (I did post about it then) They look great, but they are heavy; the wheel/tire combo weighs a good 2-1/2 pounds more than stock per corner.

After I had them mounted locally, the whole package came to about $760.00. There is something to be said for the convenience of receiving four mounted-up wheels and tires at your door, ready to bolt on the car though.

 

Ike,

16" wheels will not fit over the larger brakes on 6-spd and higher end autos. 17" is as small as you can go.

 

Ike,
It's pretty obvious that you're just guessing, and don't really have a clue! There have been multiple discussions about this here for months - 16" wheels do not fit over the larger front brakes on any RX-8 that was factory equipped with 18" wheels. 17" are the smallest you can use, and even then some 17" wheels don't clear the calipers.

PS - it's narrower that is better for snow, not smaller. Wheel diameter has nothing to do with snow performance. You don't really want to reduce overall tire diameter either, as ground clearance shouldn't be squandered in winter driving!

Regards,
Gordon

 

The Kazeras sold out last month. $179 was the next price available in 17".

 

Wow, wheels/tires are going fast now that winter has hit for most of us. I'm glad I didn't wait until the last minute to order mine (as I normally would have).

 

I found exactly the same thing with tirerack. The local Mazda dealer can't find wheel/tires for 17" either, and they are telling me to use 16". I don't trust them and am buying 17" Toyo with rims at a local tire place....It's way more money than I wanted to spend a week after buying the car, but the factory tires did not handle 1" of packed snow....

Good luck.

 

Hi Natew00,
What size tires/wheels does your car have on it now? I certainly hope a Mazda dealer is not telling you to use 16"s if your car has 18"s on it now.

regards,
rx8cited

 

Is that true for all 16" wheels or are you just guessing now? :p There are 16" wheels that will fit over big brake kits, brembos, wilwoods etc., or are your rotors that big that they are the problem rather than the calipers?

 

I purchased my rims for $75.00 a pop on clearance at wheelmax.com (i took a gamble, it paid off). They didn't have snow tires so I just bought the Blizzak LM22 from tirerack. I had to shop locally for good deals on mounting and balancing.. but in the end it was a cheaper route. (plus I have a unique winter look!)

I'll give you more details if you want em.

 

The only production car I know of that used calipers inside the rim-mounted disk was the 1991 Audi 200 quattro, maybe the same year A8. On anything else, the calipers are always going to be further from the hub centre than the outer edge of the rotor...

Is that true for all 16" wheels? I couldn't say. What I can say is that Tire Rack tried every 16" wheel in their inventory, Discount Tire tried every 16" wheel they had, and several other wheel vendors tried every 16" wheel they could. So far, nobody has found a 16" wheel that fit over the front caliper.

In Europe and elsewhere outside North America, brake packages are often referred to by the minimum size of wheel that is required to clear the caliper. There, Mazda refers to the larger RX-8 brake setup as a 17" brake setup. Again, not that the rotor is 17" diameter, but that it requires 17" dia. wheels at a minimum.

The rotors really are that huge. There's a reason why the RX-8 is among the top 3 or 4 shortest stopping production cars anywhere! :D Speaking of which, have you seen the thread about the EVO magazine editor picking the RX-8 has his overall Car of the Year? Check it out - EVO UK: Car of the Year) A teaser: Hard to argue with that, isn't it? Especially with the types of cars that EVO reviews.

Regards,
Gordon