jmaluso

Hate - 25

theCATALYST

hmmm, two loves, two hates, all below 30.....I may be wrong......

StealthFox

if you want 20s GET A CRUISER OR SUV NOT A SPORTS CAR

19s are totally acceptable on grand touring sports cars though, i'll have 19s on my rx8


hate so much i WANT TO SHOOT MYSELF WHENEVER I SEE THEM ON SPORTS CARS 15-17 inch if you want performance 18-19 if you want appearance with the sacrifice of some performance, anything more is unacceptable for a sports car, it totally ruins the balance. age 16

EZZY

i wouldnt call the RX-8 a performance sports car.....

IZoomZoomI

KYRX8

Love -24

StealthFox

well, its closer to that then it is to a cruiser like a 65' impala or a caddy that actually looks good with some big rims

brillo

Hate - 28

terrible ride, shitty handling, not appropriate for a sports car with such high reving power band.

go bling a escalade, not an 8

Terrance26

I don't see what the big deal is, 20s are only 1" bigger than 19s its not even that noticeable. So I don't understand if you like 19s why wouldn't you like 20s. But hey thats your opinion. I think the 8 looks sick with 20s, it just fills in everything. And why are 18s and 19s good for appearance but 20s aren't. Your really not making any sense.

StealthFox

its hard to explain but 20 is the barrier between looking proper and too big, the line needs to be drawn somewhere and for me and most, its at the 20 inch level.

EZZY

maybe you havent see a nice look 8 with 20" setup.....

but again, you are entitled to your opinion..... and everyone should respect that.... (same goes to the onwer in the 20" club ;-p)

KYRX8

i am ordering my front racing beat springs later this week, so ill post pics with the front dropped 1/2 in

Kel Rx8

racing beat makes great springs for handling reasons but is the ride height even front to back

Umbra

Park an 8 next to a normal car and the 18's already look huge. 20's are silly, poor ride, poor performance. The core of the 8 is a light well handling car, 20's don't belong with that idea, 18's are already more than big enough.

KYRX8

My 20" wheels weigh the same as the factory 18s, but the tires weigh more. The tires grip a whole lot better though.

kelrx8- the springs im using for the front are the Racing Beat springs. they offer about .5 inch drop in the front which should be just aobut right. The car should look pretty level with them as well

FLybOi drE

what you described in physics term and a word that everyone can understand is "torque". greater diameter requires more torgue to turn the wheels....the reason why you feel it grip better its because its actually turning slower than it would with an 18" and the width of the tires are wider too. but then again, if you really wanted to know the results, theres only one way...experiment, go to dragstrip and see the time difference. but then again, we already know the best to use is 17"....IMO 20" is just what a ricer with too much money would do

BaronVonBigmeat

^^^Actually, that would be "moment of inertia"

Well if you like 20's, why not 22's? At SOME point, it starts looking badly proportioned and cartoonish. Maybe someone with an art or design background can chime in, but I'd say the car looks like it was designed for 18's or 19's. Above or below that, and it looks awkward. I can understand sacrificing some performance for improved style (or visa-versa), but I can't understand sacrificing performance for less style.

I'd say the best looking 8's are dropped, a little more in front, with 18~19 wheels. Preferably with an offset so they line up with the outside of the car.

DrDiaboloco

"Hate" is such a strong word.

How about "dislike, and dislike more than a little". -37

Now if you asked "What do you think about calling wheels 'rims'?"

HATE. -37

Having said that, I saw a commercial last night for the Chevy Cobalt and they talked about the car's "rims" in the add. I guess you need to speaka da language to your intended market and all, but why not just say "we gots your bling ra' here".

*yeeccch*

DrDiaboloco

Wait... Are you using aftermarket springs on the front and stockers at the rear?

BlueEyes

He obviously has no concern for performance, I wouldn't put it past him.

DrDiaboloco

Yeah, it's a classic no-no to mix 'n' match springs of different types, unless they're MADE to work together.

Back in "the day" when I had a modded VW Jetta A3, the problem was that the rear springs used on the Jetta and the Golf/GTI were the same, so the extra weight of the trunk would make the rear of the car droop slightly relative to the front. When I popped in Eibach springs with Bilstein dampers the problem was even MORE noticeable, even with the adjustable rear spring perch on the Bilsteins in the highest position. The obvious answer from a LOOKS standpoint would've been to leave the stock rear springs in and only put the dropped springs on the front... But noone in their right mind would do that, at least if they considered anything aside from looks (linear rate rears and progressive rate fronts are a BAD idea from a handling and driveablility standpoint).

Then again, maybe the RB units have the same spring rate as the stockers and are just shorter. Doubtful, but possible.

Kel Rx8

some of us are happy with the lack of pwer the rx8 and some of us have a real

Kel Rx8

my rx8 is slow because I have 20' wait,wait
its a rx8 its slow to begin with.But it still handles better than my MONSTER.
but I understand your concern for the performance some of us only have 1 car to drive and the Rx8 maybe the most powerful car owned so far but theres alot better out there.
either way Rotary for life

KYRX8

Thanks. I apologize for not buying my RX8 for performance. I guess you just cant have a good looking car, it has to be the complete package. i would have looked elswhere for performance if thats what i was concerned with.

As for the spring thing, using factory rear and RB front. Ill admit i hadnt put a lot of thought behind that. Ive seen many people run crazy combinations of springs with no negative affects so it didnt cross my mind. If that is in fact the case ill just call my distributors and see who wants to give me the best deal on some coilovers.

DrDiaboloco

Look, the whole point behind the 8 is that it's a well-balanced machine. Some constantly bemoan the "lack of power", when in fact all that means is that you won't win a drag race against a car with more power. Yes, there are plenty of "faster" cars out there if all you care about, and all you VALUE, is beating your friend's 350Z, V8 Mustang or V6 Accord Coupe... More enlightened individuals care about the whole package, which (at least in my world) includes starting, stopping, turning and other mundane activities like that. I don't get excited when someone calls my car "slow", because I know that they're just mush-heads who don't understand any kind of driving that doesn't involve going exactly 1320 feet in a straight line. If that makes it "slow", fine. I'm not hurt and I'm not going to lose any sleep over it. If I wanted a pavement-shredder, I would've gotten a blobbo GTO or an increasingly ubiquitous Mustang GT.

Having said that, I fear you are playing fast and loose with the balance of the car if you start mixing up your springs. If you've changed them and have noticed no ill effects, good on ya and I wish you the best. I just feel that Mazda knew what they were doing and built a fine road scalpel with good power (not world-beating power), phenomenal handling and feel, and truly great brakes... And messing with mismatched springs can only dilute that "feel", not to mention possibly being dangerous from a handling standpoint. If you've not noticed a problem with the setup the way you drive, then you're fine and I'm happy that you're happy. For me, though, I'm either going to leave it be or swap out the WHOLE spring package.