Ok, my parents told me that for my birthday, they would buy me a new set of tires. What a great time to get new rims!! 8)

Now I want to start off by saying that I know most of the opinions here on 18's and I have taken that into great consideration because I hold a lot of your opinions and advice highly, but on the other hand, I have been in numerous cars with 18's and 19's and while the ride is rougher, at this point I think it is worth it. BTW, I will always have the stockers for the track.

Ok, here are the rims that I am SERIOUSLY considering:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAP...&category=43958

I have played with the calculators in the sticky here, but I am still confused. I figures out that I can go with a 215/30/18 tire (yes the sidewall will only be 2.5", ruberbands as Reds calls them) but I am a little confused when it comes to offset.

Using the calculator, (if our stock width is 6.5" and offset is 42mm and the new rim is 7.5" and 42mm offset) then it says that the clearence of the strut housing will be 13mm less and the tires will extend an extra 13mm.

Does anyone know if there will be rubbing issues? I could go out and take some measurments, but it is like 2 degrees right now.

I have my mind set on this style of rim, but if the 18's will not work, I will look for some 17's. I am not willing to go to 16's.

 

LOL that is so funny I plan on getting those rims from E-bay too. Right now my car is White so I figured I'd get a cheap set of white rims till I paint my car, then go chrome.

8O 30's? You don't need to go that low. 35's will work just fine. 40's will rub a little. 45's won't work on 18's for our cars. Also, 35's will be the closest to the original size so your speedo will only be slightly off. On 40's account for about a 10% over. In other words, 50 on your speedo would actually be 55.

 

Coming from someone who has 205/40 17s, you don't want to go with 18s if you are planning on keeping it as a daily driver. The ride is rough, but even if you look completely past that you cringe before even the slightest pothole. The smaller tires have less to give before your rim is damaged. It doesn't take much of a bump to warp a rim. The Tiburons do not have the room for 18s and sufficient tires, I wouldn't recommend anything larger than a 17, and even then you are running on rubber bands.

--Chris

(I realize this didn't answer your question..so) My wheels are 17x7 with what I am pretty sure is a 42mm offset, and they clear literally only by a fingers width. If you ran with a 7.5 on a 42mm offset, I think you would rub. I will do a couple of calculations and see if I can get you a definate answer on that..

The guys at www.tirerack.com provide awesome technical assistance when trying to find out what wheel/tire combo will work. They don't pressure you to buy their stuff either, and they are very helpful. It might pay for you to give them a call.

 

The Sokudo's are a nice wheel. I would have bought them myself but someone from the area already had them.

As for the 18s, no comment. I've had problems with my 17s and potholes/bumps/cracks in the road.

 

Ive got the 17 x 7 like simplyxtremecc, I had some rubbing issues, REDZ saw the fender. I rolled my fenders up and I havent had a problem with rubbing. Pot-holes and the like... well... some of them cause wheel well to tire contact... and it sounds really bad. Just avoid those if you can wink.gif

 

Well, maybe 17's are the way to go. I was going to run 30's because according to the miata tire calculator, they are the exact same size as stock.

I will start looking for some 17's in this style. I need them fast though, my tires are BALD and who knows when it is going to snow here again. Last time I got stuck on a slight incline in the highway because my tires have NO grip. :roll: I was racing last weekend and spun my tires shifting into 4th. I just wish that was due to the power of my car and not the condition of my tires.

 

You can get those in 17s for sure. As I said, I almost did. I think you made a good choice too man. 18s would've been a headache. Would have been nice for shows, but that's about it.

 

Those wheels are nice..good idea to go with 17's. 18 x7.5 would be very very heavy!!

 

Ok, I am now looking at the 17's in silver. When I use the offset calculator, it still says that I will be 6mm wider on both sides (inside & out).

This will not be a problem correct?

Another question, what about going to 225 tires on these 17's? Using the miata calculator, it shows that if I use a 225/35/17, my spedo will only be 0.6% too slow.

 

I have 205.40/17 on my car right now and I am getting rid of them because the rims are just too big for a daily driver and the ride is very rough. and the cost for the low profiles is just too expesnive especially considering I have had tire wear issues since I bought the car.