New Summer 2014 Mazda3 Wheels On Order

[Chibana]

I wasn't planning on buying wheels this soon. I haven't sold my summer wheels and tires for my 2012 Focus, yet. However, these O.Z. Racing Alleggerita HLT wheels were on closeout at Tire Rack, and I fell in love with them. You can't beat getting $418-a-piece wheels for $289 each, and that includes 20 black lug nuts and the center cap (which is not included with all wheels).

http://www.tirerack.com/wheels/Whee...get=runWheelSearch&wheelModel=Alleggerita+HLT

There are only 2 left in the USA of this discontinued wheel (at least in this color). The Tire Rack guy told me to check back tonight or tomorrow to see if the price for those last two goes down even more, as I might want to buy a spare wheel, since there will be no more of them.

I don't know yet the weight of the OEM 18x7" wheels, but at only 17.0lbs. for these O.Z. wheels, I'm sure I've reduced weight by at least 3lbs. per wheel. Hopefully they'll hold up to the miserable excuse for roads we have here in Michigan. Based on the condition of our roads, I sometimes feel like I live in a third world country.

 

[Poco Askew]

Nice! Should look great and a great find. Need pic's. Good offset, too!

 

[Chibana]

The new wheels arrived today:

Each wheel is weighed individually. They're all just under 17.0lbs.

Now I have to wait until next spring to see them on the car.

 

[Bowman]

Cant wait to see how these look.

 

[Chibana]

Hopefully soon, if the weather ever improves!

 

[SonicBoy]

This year is the Winter that won't stop giving.

They'll look good once the nicer weather comes around.

What size/rubber will you be running?

 

[Chibana]

For now I'm just using up the OEM tires as my summer tires. Once those are worn out, I'll have to decide what tires to go with. I like the look of some wider rubber, like the P235 tires my Focus had, but you don't gain much real-world driving grip going wider, and it will hurt fuel efficiency. I drive a ton of miles, so I won't be able to spend a fortune on tires. I love the Michelin PSS tires on my RX-8, but they're too expensive for a car that's going to get about 33,000 miles put on it a year.

 

[grumpy]

I read on another forum that the oem 18s are almost 27 lbs, so you've got a nice bit of weight loss there!

 

[Chibana]

Wow, that's a pretty heavy OEM wheel! I just hope my OZ Racing wheels hold up to the beat up roads around here. They're supposed to be stronger than normal gravity-cast wheels, but I'm still nervous. I'm hoping to get them on in a couple of weeks.

 

[NicholasChristi]

what are the dimensions of these?

 

[Chibana]

18x7.5", 48mm offset

 

[Chibana]

I received the Tire Rack "Inside Track" catalog/magazine in the mail a couple days ago. I noticed the new Dunlop Direzza DZ102 summer-only tire. I'm a bit excited about it, as it has a high treadwear rating of 460 and appears to be reasonably priced. I'm hoping it will be a great daily-driver summer tire. I wouldn't put them on my RX-8, where I'm more concerned about ultimate grip and treadwear is a lesser concern, but for my 3 and the 33,000 miles it gets a year, this could be a promising tire. Right now it's not available in the OEM size of 215/45-18, but I could go up to 235/40-18, the same size my Focus used. That's close to the OEM wheel/tire diameter, and should fit on my 7.5" wide wheels. Maybe by the time I need summer tires, the OEM size will be available.

 

[NicholasChristi]

Does anyone know the factory offset of the 18s?

 

[Chibana]

I have in my notes that they're 50mm, although I don't remember where I got that information from. I know that Mazda tends to use an offset of right around 50mm on all of their modern vehicles.

 

[NicholasChristi]

I understand it is 48. Rim with is 7". If you go with a wider tire, be sure it clears on the inside.

are you sure? i believe the 18s are x 7.5" ?

 

[Chibana]

The OEM wheels are 7" wide.

 

[Chibana]

Today I had my new wheels (w/ OEM tires) put on. The difference in weight is quite noticeable, both when carrying them and when driving them. I couldn't believe how heavy the OEM wheels with Michelin Xi3 winter tires felt carrying them to the shed after carrying the OZ Racing wheels with OEM tires from the shed. I can believe that the OEM wheels may very well weigh 27lbs. each.

Driving with the new wheels was fantastic. Part of the better steering response was undoubtedly going from winter to all-season tires, but there was no doubt the car felt better than it did when I bought it. Steering response and precision are excellent. The tires now spin so easily at launch that today I didn't even go past the kick-down switch (in sport mode) and the front tires were spinning wildly. I'm impressed with Mazda for allowing this much tire spin with traction control enabled. It results in quicker acceleration to allow some wheel spin in a car like this. This car is such a blast to drive, and to top it off, even with having some fun on the way home, from the gas station on the other side of town to home I averaged 27.5mpg in purely city driving.

I posted some quick phone photos of it here:

http://www.mazdas247.com/forum/showthread.php?123838698-Show-Me-Your-Wheels&p=6281160#post6281160

 

[alligatorman]

It would be awesome if you could weigh a stock wheel!

 

[Chibana]

It would be awesome if you could weigh a stock wheel!

There's not much point in that, anymore. The winter tires on the OEM wheels now are probably significantly heavier than the OEM tires, and heavier than any summer-only tires I will likely buy. I won't have a chance to weigh an OEM wheel without a tire. Maybe I could ask Discount Tire to do that the next time I have to replace the snow tires. That will be a while, though.

 

[concept]

My OEM MX5 wheels (17") were 17 lbs each. I dropped 2 lbs per corner when I bought Enkei Racing wheels, then added 4 oz when I had them powder-coated (blue chrome).
My wheel/tire philosophy: Always reduce, never increase weight.