pullinteef

Hi, I was wondering what you guys (and gals) thought of these wheels photoshopped onto my car. I need a solution for the Buffalo winter which is not as bad as the reputation makes it out to be, just a few times a year that require driving on unplowed streets. The snow removal is probably the best in the country, and 99% of the time the streets are clear. But I do need some winter tires and I think the best option for me is to get new 17" tires and wheels. Tirerack.com has these Kosei K1 Racing wheels that I think look ok (silver not white) and I'll probably get the Bridgestone Blizzak LM-22's which are highly recommended by a friend of mine for excellent dry handling and low wear (because most winter driving here is still on dry pavement). Does anyone know if 215/50/17 would be appreciably better than 225/50/17. Tire Rack only lists the 225's for the 8, and narrower tires are supposedly better. Any comments are appreciated. BTW, the photoshop didn't account for a downgrade in wheel size, so those are still approximately 18's.

LL7

I've been looking at the same combo. Thanks for the picture of what it will look like on a real car. I have found that Mazda sells the tire preasure sensors ($103 locally), but I don't know if they will fit on a 17 inch rim. Does anyone here have any experience with how they are affixed to the wheel. Can they work on smaller wheels?

Kurt at the TireRack did not think that it would be needed to drop to a thinner tire and said a 205 would most likely not fit on the stock width wheel, so narrower wheels would also be in order.

my10ae

Hi all:

Living in NH here and will also be driving my 8 this winter. First mod: Winter wheels and snow tires. If any of you guys get a package, please let me know as I am looking for a set as well.

Thanks!

Gord96BRG

My winter wheels and tires: Konig Holes 17" with Toyo Garit HT 215/55-17, all courtesy www.tiretrends.com . Bonus part - the wheel tire is 6 lbs lighter than the OEM 18" wheel tire - 35.2 lbs vs. 41.2 lbs!

Ned M

iTrader: (2)

Interesting. My nearby Mazda dealer here has an RX-8 on the lot on which they mounted 19" Konig Holes with Toyo Proxes FZ-4 sized at 245/35/19. This wheel/tire combo is less than 1/4" shorter than the OE 225/45/18's, and looks absolutely dynamite.

Here in Cincinnati winter is more of a nuisance with only a couple of significant snow events each year (I"ll put the hex on myself now!). If it's not too expensive I may go for the 19's, because I don't need a full snow tire. I've used Toyo FZ-4's for the last two winters on my SVT Contour. I'm also going to call the dealer and see what they did with the take-offs from that car! Maybe I can buy them for a reasonable price and get the Bridgestones siped to use in the winter.

Goldenhue22

I also need snow tires. Do they make 18" snow tires? I would rather get snow tires and not another set of rims. Possible? I know thinner is better, but I don't want to have to buy a new set of rims as well just for 2 months out of the year. Anyone know?

pullinteef

Yeah, they make 18" snow tires but they cost more and you have to go through the hassle (to me at least) of bringing the car in to get the tires changed twice a year. I just got my Kosei K1's and LM-22 delivered from tire rack today - they look like truck tires compared to the stock 18's. Whats cool is that they have blue anodized valves and blue lettering that should look cool on my blue 8. I won't put them on until early next week because I'm taking a long weekend to drive to DC., but I'll take some pics and post them once I get them mounted.

RPIRX-8

I am also going to be driving my 8 this winter. After much trial and tribulation (and making my10ae listen to me try to decide ) I have decided to go with the Bridgestone Blizzack LM22s on the stock 18s. I dont really mind taking my car somewhere to get the tires swapped twice a year, and the snow removal/plowing in Boston is VERY good. The tires are going to be $215 per, prob ordering them next week. About the tire pressure sensor.... I read on another thread here (dont remember which) that tirerack only offers 1 rim that can hold the sensor, and the rim is over $300 per. Now that being said, I know Speed Racer got 17x7 with Pirelli sport winter tires. I believe the sensor will just light up all the time, but no other side affects. This is all untested of course and this winter will be a test for everyone with the winter tires. It seems like a lot people are going different routes so we should have some great results to compare for our education at the end of the winter. I will be skiing a lot in northern new england so I will make sure to post how the LM22s do in the mountains.

Gord96BRG

Just to play devil's advocate - how much will it cost each time you change over the tires for mounting/balancing - min $15/corner, say $60 per changeover? Twice/year, that's $120/year. Also, those 18" LM-22s cost $45 each more than the 17" LM-22 from Tire Rack.

If you bought the Tire Rack 17" Kazera wheels and LM-22s, it would cost you $1267. The tires will last 4 winters, at a guess. Then you just change them out yourself twice per year, at your convenience, at no extra cost.

If you buy the 18" LM-22s, it costs you 4x215 + 4x15 mounting/balancing, so $920 up front. Next year, it's $60 in spring, so $980 for one winter's use. After the next winter, the fall and spring changeover costs another $120, so 2 winters use is $1100. After the 3rd winter, it's $1220. Hmm, getting close to the cost of buying those separate 17" wheels and 17' tires! 4th winter, you've now spent $1340 for 4 winter's use of the 18" LM-22s, and your OEM 18" wheels are scratched all to hell from having tires remounted 8 times already. If you'd bought the separate wheels/tires up front, you'd have saved $70 by the 4th winter compared to having the bigger winter tires remounted twice/year.

BUT - now, 4 winters on, it's time to replace your winter tires with a new set. If you had the 17" LM-22s, that costs $676 plus mounting/balancing. If you're buying 18s again, that costs $860 plus mounting/balancing (current prices in both cases). Now, the 17" choice has saved you $70 plus another $180, so $250, and will then save you $120/yr for the next 4 years.

So, if you plan to drive your RX-8 for 4 winters or more - it's actually cheaper to buy the separate 17" wheels with winter tires!

Regards,
Gordon

RPIRX-8

That is an interesting analysis Gordon, thanks! The major reasons for my decision are:

1. I do a lot of travelling and I know I wont have the time to swap the tires/rims myself. I would just rather take it to someone and have them do it.
2. The whole tire pressure sensor thing doesn't go over well with me. I am one of those people that likes everything fitting right and working as designed.
3. Paying someone to do it for me allows me to have someone to blame if something goes wrong. I did a lot of stuff to my previous car, voided the warranty, and got owned on trade/repairs.

So in essence, my Mazda dealer will be seeing a LOT of me over the next couple of years.

red_rx8

My 17x7.5 Sport Edition Fox 5 wheels with 225/50VR-17 Blizzak LM-22's are sitting in the garage (from Tire Rack). I can't wait to put them on, but first I have to get a torque wrench and a 21 mm deep socket. and some cold weather. It was 78 degrees in Indy today - crazy weather.

Can anyone tell me the purpose of the centering ring? How can a thin piece of plastic do anything for a wheel? Now you all know how wheel ignorant I am, but I love learning.

Steve

Gord96BRG

Some people will try to tell you that the hub centering ring is critical to proper function of your wheels - but that isn't true. All that the rings do is make it easier to properly tighten the lug nuts (so that the lugs are more easily centered in the lug holes and the tapered lug nut seats are centered. All the clamping, vertical, and lateral loads are transmitted through the lugs and the friction generated by the clamping force holding the wheel face to the hub face. There are absolutely no vertical loads carried by the hub center. So, if you leave the rings off, just make sure that you are careful when installing the wheels to get the lug nuts properly centered and tightened, and you're fine.

Regards,
Gordon

red_rx8

Thanks Gordon. That makes sense to me. My centering rings were already installed by Tirerack.com. Now I have to decide whether to change the tires myself, or just let the dealer do it so if there are problems they are covered under the warranty.

Steve

pullinteef

Ok, just put the Kosei K1/LM-22 on and went for a quick drive. First impression is that they look pretty decent except for one thing - theres a big hole in the center like 3" diameter with no cap so the rusty hub center shows through in front and a big nut in back. Not a big deal as they are just my winter setup, but a little wierd (maybe they make center caps for these wheels somewhere - I'll have to look around a bit) Driving they feel very good - I think they're a little quieter and absorb small bumps a little smoother because of the smaller wheel and more rubber. I didn't go overboard on testing the handling just yet, but a friend of mine with an M3 swears by these tires and says they perform great. It's dark here now, so no pictures yet. I'll try to grab some tomorrow and post them.

Gord96BRG

That'll be mostly due to the much lighter wheels - the Kosei K1s are lightweight, and the OEM 18s are pretty heavy. You didn't happen to weigh the Kosei wheel/tire combo before installing them, did you? (See my post above about my wheel/tire weights).

Regards,
Gordon

pullinteef

I didn't weigh them, but several sources put the 17" K1's at about 16.6 Lbs. Bridgestone's website puts the 225/50/17 LM-22's at 26 Lbs for a total of 42.6 - hmm, I thought the stock combo was 41.2 according to your post. Bridgestone says the 225/45/18 RE040's are 26 Lbs. Is that right? Wouldn't that put the stock 18" wheels at 15.2 Lbs? I don't know whats going on, but it felt lighter than stock just when carrying them.

Gord96BRG

I'm a bit sceptical about the accuracy of my scale now - someone else posted that they weighed their FRD6 wheels with the same Toyo tires I got, at 48 lbs!

I weighed my Konig wheel at 17.1 lbs when I had a single unmounted wheel to test fit, which is almost exactly what it's supposed to weigh. But when mounted, it weighed 35.2 lbs - which seems too light. At the same time, I weighed the OEM combo at 41.2, which seems light compared to what others measured. However - what's important is that the winter combo was 6 lbs lighter than OEM, and I'd bet your set is around that too, based on the similar weight of the wheel.

Regards,
Gordon

pullinteef

One wierd thing I've noticed is that after driving to and from work today, the tire pressure sensor did not light up at all, and I drove a good 15-20 minutes each way. Strange - is there a minimum time you have to drive w/o sensors before they go off? BTW, the system was functioning before because it lit up after some serious temp drop with the standard tires.

pullinteef

Here's the pics:
(Went for another good 20 min drive and still no TPMS light)

pullinteef

...

pullinteef

Love the blue accents on the wheels, hate the rust in the center.

r0tor

iTrader: (1)

I just got my Dunlop M3 Wintersport runflats and Kazera KZ-R's... the combo weighs 44lbs according to my scale

Haven't mounted them just yet.

Gord96BRG

Cool! Please weigh the OEM combo when you take them off?

Thanks,
Gordon

Ned M

iTrader: (2)

I think the Kosei's look very nice. A few dabs of black rustoleum will take care of the appearance of the hub centers IMHO.

Are those Kosei's 17x7 or 17x8, and whats the offset, please?

Thanks for the pics. Looks good on the '8.

r0tor

iTrader: (1)

I will do that... might be a few weeks though untill I get around to it, or get forced to do it