Tire/Rim Help

[mazdaspeedpower]

Ok, so for next spring I'm thinking about hooking up some new 'shoes' for the ride. I'd like to know where online you purchased your rim/tire package from. I need to know what will fit on a stock ride height MSP, and also a lowered MSP. I'm thinking 17's, but I won't shy from a nice 18, or even 16 really.

Another question, will the stock MSP wheels fit onto a Mazda 3 sedan without any issues, cause when I buy my new rims I might give my mom my harts for her car. I'd keep stock potenza's on till their cooked then look at some new rubber for her, but will they fit?

Oh, and if possible post links to where you got your package..also list places I should steer clear of by all means. Thanks people. I've beens earching and researching, I'm just hoping a thread might help me organize all my thoughts.

[mazdaowner123]

I got my slipstreams from www.machiii.net. 16x7 +45 and 16x7 +40. I doube the +40's would fit with stock suspension.

~brian

[mazdaspeedpower]

thanks for the site.

[mazdaspeedpower]

ok, so here I am wondering..what will look better. an 18 inch or 17 inch? I'd like to keep the same size side wall as I don't have to worry about potholes too much. I'm prolly dropping the car about 1.5inches when I get the rims too...so would the 18s fit in there without rubbing or should I just stick with the 17s?

[Striker187]

search the forum and look and pictures of people's cars....that's how i decided whether to go 17" or 18". i went with 17" cause some 18" looked too big to me.

if you're gonna lower the car that much, you'll probably need lower profile tires....like 215/40 at least and a pretty high offset too...somewhere in the +45 range or higher.

[haze20]

My pic is in my sig. 18x7.5 with 215 35's on Tein ss coils. no rubbing at all. I was worried about the 35's to but I made it across the country and back with no problems.

[mazdaspeedpower]

ok, so I'm an idiot and forget what each rating on tiresize means. Somone refresh my memory

My probably incorrect memory of things is 215(tire width)/35(wall height)/17(inner diameter) Is this correct?

How much does the tein ss lower the car?

I had already figured I'd be going with a high offset, it's just something I've read alot about as a way to keep protege aftermarket rims from rubbing. I was figuring anything over stock size rims and tire would require a +45 if not +48. I think it's safe to go +45 though. Whats the offet on those 18s in your sig?

[haze20]

+48 I think the +45 might rub.

[Striker187]

215/45/17

215 is the tire width

45 is used to calculate the section height (i think that's the term). 215*0.45 = the section height. therefore, 17 inches + 2*section height (in inches) = total height of the tire.

17 is the wheel diameter that the tire will fit.