Since we are coming out of winter, it is about time for me to replace these crappy stock wheels.

I decided on the Konig Runaways a long time ago. They are 17x7 with a 44mm offset.
Picture herr:


I keep getting conflicting messages from Discount and from 1010 tires though. 1010 says the offset is too low, but Discount disagrees and says this wheel will fit just fine. I am confused, which is it? If it won't fit can I machine them so that they will? Is that safe?

Second question. I'm looking for an awesome summer tire. I've searched the other Mazda3 forums and I've seen two tires pop up consistently: The Kumho Ecsta ASX and the Bridgestone Potenza RE760. The guys at Discount recommended the Yokohama S-Drive and the guys at SCR recommended the Dunlop Z1 Star Specs. I won't be autocrossing anymore this season so the Dunlops are out, but I'm still lost as to what I should get. Mind you, I'm looking to play with the tire size a bit and go to a 225/45R17.

Any and all help would be appreciated and rewarded with cookies at the next Mazda meet/cruise.

17x7 will look small in my opinion. Are these for show or speed/racing/track times? What is the look/purpose you are going for? just a question.

deepSpeedMS3 wrote:17x7 will look small in my opinion. Are these for show or speed/racing/track times? What is the look/purpose you are going for? just a question.

These are purely for show. I'm not racing anymore, not tracking or anything like that. I want something that will legitimately look good on my car without me having to sell body parts to pay for it. I have 17x6.5 on it now (stock size) and I think they look just fine, but that's my opinion.

bellalyssa wrote:Since we are coming out of winter, it is about time for me to replace these crappy stock wheels.


Second question. I'm looking for an awesome summer tire. I've searched the other Mazda3 forums and I've seen two tires pop up consistently: The Kumho Ecsta ASX and the Bridgestone Potenza RE760. The guys at Discount recommended the Yokohama S-Drive and the guys at SCR recommended the Dunlop Z1 Star Specs. I won't be autocrossing anymore this season so the Dunlops are out, but I'm still lost as to what I should get. Mind you, I'm looking to play with the tire size a bit and go to a 225/45R17.

Any and all help would be appreciated and rewarded with cookies at the next Mazda meet/cruise.

I heard March/April is when the snow really comes..... I hope you're right!!!!!

As for your questions, I ran 17x7's on my 3 with no problems and my offset was 42. If you need a visual reference, I have pics here: http://www.coloradomazdaclub.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4644 and here: http://www.coloradomazdaclub.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4739

As to the tires. I ran and will be purchasing Riken Raptor ZR summer tires. I had them on my old 3 and had 0 complaints...... I swapped them over to my A4 stock rims until this winter and they continued to perform great in my opinion. Only took them off because they were finally wearing down after a few years and weren't much of a help in the snow ( they are summer performance tires...). But I have 18" wheels I plan to put on this summer and already have 18" ZR's lined up. So, from personal experience that's what I'd suggest. And the price is just right for my small budget!

Oh and in no way am I providing this info for the sake of cookies

Those are great looking wheels. For whatever it is worth, I have the Yokohama W-Drive for winter and they perform great wet or dry. I would have confidence in their summer tire as well. Although at this point, based on what I have read in this forum, when the winter and RE50's are toast, I may go all-season......

The ASX tires are all-seasons, not summers. I had them on my old 6S and loved them, but if you want true summer tires, the ASTs are Kumho's offering there.

Also consider General Exclaim UHPs. They say all-season, but are really summer tires.

OK, I didn't read everyone else's posts...lazy. Anyways, when I had a 3i I put on some 18x8 +44 offset wheels with 224x40 eagle gt's on it and it was probably the perfect fit! The wheels where flush yet they didn't rub much at all and i was lowered on tien s-tech springs.




Shitty pics i know, sorry, but I think anyone who knew that car would say it looked good as far as wheel fitment.

Bree, do you still have pics at all of my old 3 that show the wheel fitment better?

I really appreciate the pictures guys. We called the manufacturer and they assured me that my car would be fine with the 44 offset. Wheels are ordered and they will be in on Friday!!! I can't wait. I'll post pictures as soon as I can.

The decision on the tires is still up in the air. I have some time to wait so I can do more research.

Cookies for all at the next meet!!!

tbot wrote:

Shitty pics i know, sorry, but I think anyone who knew that car would say it looked good as far as wheel fitment.

Bree, do you still have pics at all of my old 3 that show the wheel fitment better?

If I remember correctly I took them with Angelo's camera. I didn't have a camera at the time we took the photos you are referring to.

tbot wrote:OK, I didn't read everyone else's posts...lazy. Anyways, when I had a 3i I put on some 18x8 +44 offset wheels with 224x40 eagle gt's on it and it was probably the perfect fit! The wheels where flush yet they didn't rub much at all and i was lowered on tien s-tech springs.




Shitty pics i know, sorry, but I think anyone who knew that car would say it looked good as far as wheel fitment.

Bree, do you still have pics at all of my old 3 that show the wheel fitment better?

Just curious what the point of getting an 18" wheel is if you're going to have 2 inches of it look like tire sidewall lol.

erod550 wrote:Just curious what the point of getting an 18" wheel is if you're going to have 2 inches of it look like tire sidewall lol.

Careful, those rims have been on three CMZC cars. They are awesome!

cause when i worked downtown it looked like rinky dink ass wheels at night so no fear of people trying to steel them, plus I never really had to worry about bending the outside lip ha! Those rims where bad ass, sorry to say they got FUCKED!!! up when i totaled my 3 not even worth keeping and fixing.

bmwzoom wrote:Careful, those rims have been on three CMZC cars. They are awesome!

At least they don't have a chrome lip on them (cough*rice*cough) those wheels looked good on both cars I saw them on. A little weird yes, but looked nice.

edit.

I wouldn't say a chrome lip is rice. Black wheels with a polished lip looks good on a lot of cars I think. Now if you're talking about the ultra wide chrome lips that stick out from the car, yea I'd call that rice.


Good



Bad