Winter tire fittment question

No rubbing what so every. Although I did notice that there is a lot less room in those wheel wells:) I can't stress enough how well these 225's are doing in the snow, slush, and ice. I`ve had a few days to play around in the snow and I am extremely pleased with the outcome. The stance of the car is different to, it looks more aggresize.
 
Brand New User!

Hey everyone. I just joined this forum because I'm in desparate need of some new snow tires. I haven't been able to go anywhere for the last 48 hours. Luckily, I live 6 blocks from work and don't have to worry about it.

I'm confused about wheel sizing and am wondering if someone can verify this wheel and tire combination from tirerack.com for me:

Wheels

Tires

215/50/17R for the blizzaks.

Can someone please advise me about this? The dealership wants me to buy blizzaks for the 18" stocks at 232$/tire. Ouch! Any help would be amazing.

Ooops...I'm driving a 2008 Black Mazdaspeed 3.
 
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BulletToothWoo said:
Hey everyone. I just joined this forum because I'm in desparate need of some new snow tires. I haven't been able to go anywhere for the last 48 hours. Luckily, I live 6 blocks from work and don't have to worry about it.

I'm confused about wheel sizing and am wondering if someone can verify this wheel and tire combination from tirerack.com for me:

Tires

215/50/17R for the blizzaks.

Can someone please advise me about this? The dealership wants me to buy blizzaks for the 18" stocks at 232$/tire. Ouch! Any help would be amazing.

Ooops...I'm driving a 2008 Black Mazdaspeed 3.
Click to expand...


The size above is perfect. IMO though, the WS60's while great snow tires, will bit a bit squishy on dry roads. You may not like the handling.

LM-22's or LM-25's are the way to go. I have th 25's and they are amazing.
 
Thanks pdqgp. Any insight on the wheels themselves? Will a 17X7.5 with a 42 offset be the appropriate wheel for me? It was one of the choices when I entered the non-speed Mazda 3 in tirerack.com. I hope so, because I would like to get this issue resolved as quickly as possible.
 
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BulletToothWoo said:
Thanks pdqgp. Any insight on the wheels themselves? Will a 17X7.5 with a 42 offset be the appropriate wheel for me? It was one of the choices when I entered the non-speed Mazda 3 in tirerack.com. I hope so, because I would like to get this issue resolved as quickly as possible.
Click to expand...

I can't speak to you on the offset/wheels. I am not sure what the offset range for our cars is. I bought my wheels used from an RX8 owner and just happen to know they would fit my car.
http://www.pbase.com/timothylauro/20085_mazdaspeed_3
 
Well, I decided to go ahead with these wheels and the dunlop sport M3s. Anyone have any experience with these tires? I guess I can let you know the specifics if the wheels do end up fitting.

Wheels
 
BulletToothWoo said:
Well, I decided to go ahead with these wheels and the dunlop sport M3s. Anyone have any experience with these tires? I guess I can let you know the specifics if the wheels do end up fitting.

Wheels
Click to expand...

Unless you're going for looks, I would really try going with a 16" wheel/tire combo with the cheapest wheel you can find. Something like this:

http://www.tirerack.com/wheels/Whee...=2008&autoModClar=&tire=06HR6WS3D&qty_front=4


You do not need 17" snow tires, especially with the Dunlop Sport M3's being as stiff as they are. I just mounted 4 of them on my 16" winter wheels, which are cheap "Sport Edition" Fox 5's that I bought from Tire Rack for my S2000 about 4 years ago:

fox5_02.jpg


I had Michelin X-Ice's on them before, but wanted a performance winter tire, so I went with the Dunlop's. Honestly, I can't tell too much of a difference in cornering between the Dunlops and the OE Bridgestones. Granted, I haven't pushed it too hard, but I'm impressed with these Dunlops so far. I do mostly highway driving on my commute to work and back, but they're pretty quiet at highspeed and their sidewalls/tread feel stiff enough for mildly spirited driving, unlike the X-Ice's I had before. You'll save alot of money going with the 16" setup, unless it's really going to drive you crazy having 60 series sidewalls.
 
I got the tires on friday and put them on that same day. It has been really easy getting places. I have had no problems so far with the fit. You can see the wheels with offsets and so far in my above posts. Thanks for all the help. We had a blizzard over the weekend here closing the interstates. Right now, I have snow piled up above the rear bumper in my driveway. We'll see how getting out of here works out.
 
BulletToothWoo said:
Well, I decided to go ahead with these wheels and the dunlop sport M3s. Anyone have any experience with these tires? I guess I can let you know the specifics if the wheels do end up fitting.

Wheels
Click to expand...

Did you go with the Kazera KZ-W wheels? I see you can only get these when you go with Mazda 3-5 door and not the Mazda Speed3 drop down option at TireRack. I was wondering why that is? I was wondering if they fit? Why isn't it an option for a Mazda Speed3 if it does fit?
 
I think tirerack.com only allows you to choose wheels which will fit your car from the factory. Since the MS3 shipped with 18" wheels, it will only allow you to choose 18" wheels, but if you look around here a lot of people are using 17" and sometimes 16" wheels and they do fit. I guess they must have a stipulation that only allows people to choose wheels that match factory specifications. I was worried about it too, but mine fit just fine. I was really worried about the offset, but these seem to be perfect for my car. Nothing came notably close to touch the wheel when I was getting them put on either. This a cheaper solution than buying the 18" snows in the long run.

I did go with the 17" Kazera KZ-W. They look alright, but I wish they were all black except for the center. That lip on the outside looks stupid.
 
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Tire Rack allows you to choose 16" and 17" winter tire/wheel packages for the MS3. You don't have to go with 18's. I'm not sure why the KZ-W's don't come up for the MS3 though.
 
Is it safe to say that any wheel that has the 5-114 bolt pattern will fit the MS3? I see offset and backspacing and I think, when did this become so complicated? It feels like everything today has more options than it did 10 years ago.
 
krispy said:
Is it safe to say that any wheel that has the 5-114 bolt pattern will fit the MS3? I see offset and backspacing and I think, when did this become so complicated? It feels like everything today has more options than it did 10 years ago.
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Not quite. I would stay above +40 on the offset, preferably near 50 and you'll never hubcentric rings for 67.1mm hubs.
 
Thank you very much for your help. I read these forums for months and had decided that I couldnt buy winter tires unless I knew for myself. We had some light dustings in Michigan and my ride was fine. Then last wednesday we had the first major snow of the year. I got stuck in a flat plowed dunkin donuts parking lot, lol. I got out, but realized I would need winter tires. I'm still glad I didnt get them before the snow. I would have always wondered if all of you guys were just a bunch of non snowdriving wimps. You aren't and I will always give this community respect when it comes to posts in the future. Thanks again.
 
Thinking of pulling the trigger on Blizzak WS-60s, 215/50/R17 XL with some cheap rims (+48mm offset).

Wheels

Tires

Any potential problems you guys foresee with these (sorry for newb question)?
 
If you plan on using this car for a daily driver, want to retain good handling on dry pavement and don't want to take your snow tires off every time the snow clears, get a performance winter tire. They'll do a good job of getting you through the snow when you need them, stay soft enough in cold temps for decent dry/wet traction and have stiff enough sidewalls for less flex than a studless snow tire. I had a set of studless snows for my S2000, but at the time, I lived in Grand Forks, ND, where we had quite a few blizzards in the winter time and the problem up there was the snow never really melted because it was so damn cold. They'd plow, but it'd really just pack the snow down and there'd be snow on the roads for quite some time. I only commuted about 4 miles a day to work and back at the time, so I wanted the most traction I could get without going studded. I commute 90 miles a day now and in Jersey, it's common for us to get the wet, slushy snow that spends a day or two on the roads and then melts away. Studless snows will wear out quickly driving them lots of miles on dry roads. This time, I went with Dunlop Winter Sport 3D's.
 
I've got a MS3 and read up on these forums as well and decided to go with the Dunlop Winter Sport 3Ds (205/60R16) on 16" steelies. I live in Chicago and drive a lot, and we already have had 18" of snow so far. They are bad ass...the treads cut right down to the road.

I did have an issue with 16" wheels-- the steelies actually rubbed when they first went on. the front calipers are huge and the welds on the steelies weren't ground down. Discount Tire had to use a grinder/polisher to grind off weld spatter and areas where the weld seams weren't completely flush with the wheel. It only took a few minutes, but the setup DOES work and it's the best size/tire combo as well as the most economic.

Anybody else experience slight rubbing with 16" steelies?
 
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