Mazdaspeed3 Tires

jt2589 · Postby **jt2589** » Thu Nov 29, 2007 9:14

I was talking to a guy who want's to go from his 18' down to a 16. Will the calipers and everything fit?

Colombia28 · Postby **Colombia28** » Thu Nov 29, 2007 9:14

Hmm. I dont quite remember if 16"s will clear the calipers. I dont recall anyone on the 3 forums running 16's, but check out mazda3forums.com under the mazdaspeed section and i bet you will find the answer. Unless of course someone else here knows.

arctic_blue83 · Postby **arctic_blue83** » Thu Nov 29, 2007 9:14

Well, it's hard to say... while it's not likely, it might not be impossible. Although there are a multitude of factors that come into play besides just wheel height... also width, offset, spoke design ect. It MIGHT be possible, but don't bet the farm on it.

SpeedRacer · Postby **SpeedRacer** » Thu Nov 29, 2007 9:14

They'd have to be bored out or spaced or something but the calipers on MS3's are huge and 90% of 16's wont fit and it'd look stupid.

Colombia28 · Postby **Colombia28** » Thu Nov 29, 2007 9:14

Check this out: http://www.mazda3forums.com/index.php?topic=93984.0
I guess there are 16's for the ms3. The ones this guy has are stellies, but i guess if you found a 16 with the exact same dimensions they may fit.

*Disclaimer: this is merely a suggestion!

turbo99jetta · Postby **turbo99jetta** » Thu Nov 29, 2007 9:14

its for a customer i have on a mazda speed 3. he bought the car about a month ago and called today sayin he learned the hard way the other day that it was slick as heck out. He decided that snow tires would be a smart move, just the price for 18's are killing him so he was thinking about going down to a 16. I told him 17's would be his best bet, but he just was interested, and i wasn't sure so i sent him to jason and he wasn't sure either so thats why the post here.

SpeedRacer · Postby **SpeedRacer** » Thu Nov 29, 2007 9:14

oh no thats no problem we really don't care about the post i just think doing 16's is dumb personally lol. I agree 17's are best. I'm glad ya posted thats what we are here for.

Colombia28 · Postby **Colombia28** » Thu Nov 29, 2007 9:14

Yeah 17's would be a much easier way to go. If he wants 16's that bad he could always get those steel wheels (ugly as sin) but i guess thats what he wants. Its funny one of the guys on the 3 forums priced out a set of those steel wheels and the winter wheels and it came out to like $16 cheaper then what i have been looking at for 225/40/18... up to him.

RedRoadster · Postby **RedRoadster** » Thu Nov 29, 2007 9:14

Miata.net says there's someone on the Mazda 3 forums with pics of the Rota Slipstream 16x8s on. It's close, but it fits.

MS3_Mafia · Postby **MS3_Mafia** » Fri Nov 30, 2007 9:14

My new motto... "Once you go 18's you never go back!" :P

bobopud · Postby **bobopud** » Fri Nov 30, 2007 9:14

I'm thinking of 'downgrading' in the spring. I might get my new wheels and tires in 17" instead of 18". From a performance standpoint it is a good idea since in general 17s are lighter than 18s. For the most part the 18s are for looks only, but I agree that they do look better than 17s.

Postby **RX-7 Chris** » Fri Nov 30, 2007 9:14

I'm looking at going to them real big 15" wheels. From 13" that will make a big dif.

arctic_blue83 · Postby **arctic_blue83** » Sat Dec 01, 2007 9:14

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (MS3_Mafia @ Nov 30 2007, 02:51 AM) [url=index.php?act=findpost&pid=12635]<{POST_SNAPBACK}>[/url]</div>

My new motto... "Once you go 18's you never go back!" :P[/b]

LOL, I call BS, my last 2 cars both had 18's, and I'm back on 17's

As a matter of fact, I don't want anything larger. All you do when switching to a larger wheel is hurt performance... I'll give a few examples:

-If you keep the same diameter tire, you'll end up running a lower profile tire (i.e. shorter sidewall), which will in turn translate into you feeling more abuse through the steering wheel, as well as decreased ride quality. It will also lead to an increased tendency for the car to try and jerk the wheel out of your hand when going over bumps, potholes ect. Most drivers (not all) will be faster on a smaller wheel w/more tire sidewall.

-Now, running a shorter sidewall *can* decrease sidewall flex and aid in grip in the right conditions. However, if you're comfortable and at your fastest with, let's say, a 225/40 series tire, you're going to get about the same amount of road feel/sidewall flex regardless of if you run a 225/40/17 or a 225/40/18, so why not run the smaller wheel, in this case the 225/40/17? Here's a few reasons why you should run the smaller wheel/tire:

1. To take down on rotational inertia & unsprung weight. The additional mass from a larger set of wheels requires more horsepower to accelerate, more braking power to stop and more shock valving to control. Unsprung weight is weight that is not supported by your springs, to include suspension components, wheel/tires, rotors ect. Unsprung weight is more crucial than sprung weight, meaning adding an additional 10 lbs of unsprung weight is likely to slow your car down to a greater degree than 10 lbs of sprung weight.

2. For those of you who don't know how to read tire markings, it's like this, we'll use a 225/40/17 as an example... the 1st portion of the number, 225 is the width of the tire, in Millimeters (mm), so that means the tire would be 225mm wide (which is around 8.86" IIRC). The second number is the tire's sidewall height, so in this case, 40, which is a percentage of the tire's width, meaning this tire's sidewall height is 40% of 225mm, or around 90mm (around 3.54") tall. The third number, 17, just means the inner diameter the tire is meant to be matched up with, or basically, it's meant to be used with a 17" wheel. So, if you were to use a 225/40/17 tire, since the inner diameter is smaller, also the outer diameter would be smaller than a tire of the same series (225/40) on a larger wheel, like an 18" wheel, or 225/40/18. So why would you want this? Because your outer tire diameter acts as a final drive ratio, altering your gearing. Everyone knows, shorter gearing equals faster acceleration. So running a smaller wheel/tire combo of the same series (225/40) would give you a slight gearing advantage while allowing you to keep the same contact patch & sidewall height.

3. Typically, smaller wheels/tires are cheaper. Why not save money? Of course not all wheels & tires are priced the same, but generally, a 225/40/17 Potenza RE050 tire will be cheaper than a 225/40/18 Potenza RE050 tire. Same with wheels, assuming they're the same width, a set of 17"x7.5" wheels will be cheaper than a set of 18"x7.5" wheels of the same brand, style and casting/forging. Save yourself some money.

Overall, going with smaller wheels/tires is a win/win situation. You ever see race cars running large wheels and wonder why? I'll give you a hint, look behind the wheels, they're usually running large brake calipers/rotors as well. My advice to anyone considering purchasing wheels/tires for performance reasons, run the shortest, lightest & yet widest wheels you can fit over your brake calipers/rotors without rubbing. Of course, running a wider wheel, like an 8" wheel compared to a 7" wheel might add a little weight, but the ability to run a larger contact patch (wider tire) is more than worth it in most cases, as it can help increase overall traction. It's not an exact science, but typically, for every 0.5 inch wider wheel you run, you can squeeze about an extra 20mm worth of rubber on the wheel, without having the tire bulge.

Most of the time, if you have an uber-wide wheel, the most limiting factor in running uber-wide tire to go with it is the amount of room in your fender wells. Keep that in mind... if you plan on buying a 9" wide wheel, make sure you can fit the rubber on it in your fender well beforehand without rubbing. There are a couple a things that can be done to help fit more rubber in your wheel wells, like rolling your fenders, or simple running a widebody kit to allow for wider wheels/tires with the correct offset. Case in point, look at the new 2008 WRX and compare it to the new upcoming STI, and notice how much more flared the STI's fenders look in comparison, they didn't just do that in order to make it look mean (although it does), but more or less in order to fit wider wheels/tires in the wheel wells without rubbing. Extra rubber is always nice lol.

So really, the only reason to run larger wheels than necessary, is looks. Which, there's nothing wrong with that, of course cutting down on fender gap can make a car look much nicer, and not so much like a lifted truck lol. Either way, just figured I would spread a little insight to anyone looking for wheels.

dommo_g · Postby **dommo_g** » Sat Dec 01, 2007 9:14

If this question is in relation to getting snow tires, the smaller the wheel you can get, the better. More sidwall translates to more flex which gives better traction with snow tires. Not to mention that snow tires in large, low profile sizes are priced outrageously.

arctic_blue83 · Postby **arctic_blue83** » Sun Dec 02, 2007 9:14

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (dommo_g @ Dec 1 2007, 08:19 PM) [url=index.php?act=findpost&pid=12747]<{POST_SNAPBACK}>[/url]</div>

If this question is in relation to getting snow tires, the smaller the wheel you can get, the better. More sidwall translates to more flex which gives better traction with snow tires. Not to mention that snow tires in large, low profile sizes are priced outrageously.[/b]

+1

I was only referring to the dry pavement/performance aspect of wheels/tires. Also, thinner tires typically perform better in ice/snow, I always thought it was funny to see pics of WRC cars running on snow that looked like they were running donut tires lol.

Mazdaspeed3 Tires

Who is online