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Am I crazy for wanting 19" rims on my FC?

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Old 01-24-03, 02:21 AM
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yes 19 do fit i have seen them, going bigger tehn 17 will loose handling.
Old 01-24-03, 02:54 AM
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... You're not crazy, just ...
Old 01-24-03, 08:48 AM
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thanks.
Old 01-24-03, 11:28 AM
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If you will actually drive the car, then yes 19" would be a very bad idea. If you have a non-turbo, 16" or better yet 15" is the right size. Even 17" wheels are too big for a non-turbo car. There will be a noticeable deterioration in ride and steering and acceleration because of increased weight and the sidewall of the tire being too short. You need to run a 215/45 to run 17" and that side wall is too short for this car and suspension setup. Remember, this car was designed before tires like this existed.
I can't say that I agree with much of what you said. First off, the larger the wheel, the slower the car, true. But some people would rather look really good then worrying about loosing our blazing fast 17 second 1/4 mile times. I know that we need to put a lot of time and money into our NA's to achieve this speed record, but we gotta do what we gotta do.

Secondly, I upgraded from my 14's to 18x7's, and the turn-in was improved dramatically. Maybe this is b/c I don't have power steering, or maybe it's something else, but you are wrong at least in my case.

Finally, using your 215/45 17 tire size as comparison, my sidewal (Parada-Spec 2 215/40 ZR18) is not that much smaller, and the ride is not harsh at all. It is only slightly more solid than it was with my 185/70 14's, and some people actually like a very stiff ride. I would rather feel every crack in the road than feel my car float over expansion joints and dive under breaking and roll all over the place through a slolam course. You're just different. And handling on an 18" isn't too bad either, though my Yokohama's leave a bit to be desired.

I would agree with everyone else that handling on a 19 would be a bit of a compromise, however. But keep in mind, does everyone know how the car is driven? Prolly not.
Old 01-24-03, 07:57 PM
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I'm still gonna get these rims on my car soon, when I do, I will most definitely post pics.............
Old 01-24-03, 08:10 PM
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Originally posted by luiml73
whoops.

https://www.rx7club.com/forum/attach...postid=1227086
that car looks pretty sweet, I wish it was a better picture though.
Old 01-24-03, 08:19 PM
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I've got 17" with 215/45R17's and they are great. Handle much better than my stock. And having a NA is just fine, plenty of power to handle these.
Old 01-24-03, 09:15 PM
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Don't you get it guys he is going for looks His N/A will be slower then Geo Metro unless he has power to back those wheels.
Old 01-24-03, 09:50 PM
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you dont seem to realize that a stock NA, such as my '86 has a 16-17 second quarter mile...who cares about it getting worse...it's already slower than half the cars on the road!
Old 01-24-03, 11:01 PM
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Originally posted by Driftfc3s
I'm still gonna get these rims on my car soon, when I do, I will most definitely post pics.............
I think that will look nice actually. Don't bother with people who call you a *** and **** for wanting your car to look nice. They’re just jealous.

I'm running 28lb alloy wheels with 205/35R17 FRONT and 215/35R17 rear and the ride is VERY rough. Little cracks do feel like you're going over a pothole sometimes, and the car does like to hop when going considerably fast around corners when it's really uneven, but if you have good driving skill it's more fun compensating than it is scary.

I lowered my car 2.5” and tweaked the suspension/subframe considerably and I’m quite satisfied with the way my S4 N/A handles… in fact, even though I lost performance for adding the weight, I can out manoeuvre even cars with huge engines and 18” rims with much more rubber. The most recent I can think of is when I was chasing a 1998 Mercedes SL500 around a hairpin and I could’ve even overtaken him: this guy wasn’t inexperienced either as he took probably a better line than I did and I saw his rear end slip out and he corrected fast and with great precision. I did about 95KM/h around the corner and didn’t slip a bit, and this is a TIGHT corner with a decreasing radius.

The only regret I had with my choice in tires/rims was that even with the drop the rims didn’t fill out the wells fully, and with such tiny rubber it looks a little strange. 18” would have done the trick, but 19” would certainly look very flashy. Anyway, I’m interested to see pics, so go nuts and show us the resultant!
Old 01-25-03, 01:41 AM
  #36  
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who said my convertible was N/A?
Old 01-25-03, 02:22 AM
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I have 18s on my turbo 2 and i think they ride fantastic with my tokico illuminas and eibach springs. I dont know why everyone is being such pussies about how 18's ride SO HARD and all. 17's were big and cool back in 1991, so im not understanding how a 17 inch wheel is "overkill" in size.

If you get large wheels, get them light. As long as they are light (unfortunately that means expensive) you wont lose any performance (given that the outer diameter is close to stock).

Id love to put 19's on my FC, but i think ill wait to have a 3 rotor first (to back up the looks). If you are going to get heavy wheels, better to save and get the lighter ones, or just get something smaller.

One last thing.......be CAREFUL of potholes!!!!!
Old 01-25-03, 02:40 AM
  #38  
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Originally posted by rx7style


I think that will look nice actually. Don't bother with people who call you a *** and **** for wanting your car to look nice. They’re just jealous.

I'm running 28lb alloy wheels with 205/35R17 FRONT and 215/35R17 rear and the ride is VERY rough. Little cracks do feel like you're going over a pothole sometimes, and the car does like to hop when going considerably fast around corners when it's really uneven, but if you have good driving skill it's more fun compensating than it is scary.

I lowered my car 2.5” and tweaked the suspension/subframe considerably and I’m quite satisfied with the way my S4 N/A handles… in fact, even
though I lost performance for adding the weight, I can out manoeuvre even cars with huge engines and 18” rims with much more rubber. The most recent I can think of is when I was chasing a 1998 Mercedes SL500 around a hairpin and I could’ve even overtaken him: this guy wasn’t inexperienced either as he took probably a better line than I did and I saw his rear end slip out and he corrected fast and with great precision. I did about 95KM/h around the corner and didn’t slip a bit, and this is a TIGHT corner with a decreasing radius.

The only regret I had with my choice in tires/rims was that even with the drop the rims didn’t fill out the wells fully, and with such tiny rubber it looks a little strange. 18” would have done the trick, but 19” would certainly look very flashy. Anyway, I’m interested to see pics, so go nuts and show us the resultant!
your car looks wicked with 17's and we both know it. but you drive like a frickin' maniac, albeit skilled and controlled, but no one would ever try 95 on that exit except you ... or maybe someone if they had a death wish. after the snow melts, several years from now, you and i will go cruisin' again but don't expect me to keep up with you when you drive like that, hehe.

hasta luego buddy!
Old 01-25-03, 11:24 AM
  #39  
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rx7style > noticed your from Edmonton as well. Where did you get your springs/struts from? Did you get them locally, what are they, and how do you like them?
Old 01-25-03, 06:17 PM
  #40  
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I'm liking this thread more and more!
Old 01-25-03, 06:40 PM
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Originally posted by RX-TION

Are those Mazdaspeed wheels? They look like the 787B ones...

(Getting thoughts of painting his car green/orange/silver)

You wouldn't happen to be selling those old wheels, would you? What size/offset are they?
Old 01-25-03, 09:42 PM
  #42  
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looks like MS-01's.
Old 01-26-03, 12:03 AM
  #43  
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Originally posted by 604


your car looks wicked with 17's and we both know it. but you drive like a frickin' maniac, albeit skilled and controlled, but no one would ever try 95 on that exit except you ... or maybe someone if they had a death wish. after the snow melts, several years from now, you and i will go cruisin' again but don't expect me to keep up with you when you drive like that, hehe.

hasta luego buddy!
Naaaw, they re-paved it and it's smooth as silk now. Truthfully I'd like to drive down there backwards -- decreasing radius hairpin going downhill a total of about 30 feet... now that would be wicked; too bad they didn't bank it, haha!

Right now my 2nd gen has disappeared under the snow. You can see some of the door and that's it. It's 95% buried in snow at the moment. So yeah, it will be quite some time before it's out again. The 3rd gen is still missing an engine and stored out by Pipestone. That's not going anywhere for a while either. But I'm lookin' forward to it whenever we thaw!
Old 01-26-03, 12:22 AM
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Originally posted by Furious D
rx7style > noticed your from Edmonton as well. Where did you get your springs/struts from? Did you get them locally, what are they, and how do you like them?
I ordered both. The struts came from Coximport in North Carolina, and the springs came from Texas. I suppose I could have ordered them here but I got a good deal from a great guy down there who runs his own rx7 shop and drives a wicked 3rd gen 20B. I also ordered lots of subframe and mounting stuff from MazdaCompetition... can't remember where that is exactly now, but I can check the receipts; derlin toe eliminator bushings, derlin strut mounts F/R, and lots of derlin subframe components that took FOREVER to install, but the car hardly rolls whatsoever now. It's amazing actually.

For springs I tried Eibach but they didn't lower the car enough so I sold them. At that time I had Tokico Illuminas and didn't like them so I switched to Apex T-Max struts. Just after I got those and spent the time installing them I found KYB AGX's for about half the price from Coximport, and after swapping them out I found they performed the same if not better so I decided to save my money and got rid of the T-Max's. I'm running Intrax race springs that a lot of people say are crap but I think they handle wickedly, and with the setup I have now, much better than the Eibach's because they also lowered the car another 1.5" and that decreased chassis roll a lot. But quite frankly I got the best performance/value ratio and my 2nd gen handles so well I don't really care if there's a better combination out there! If you want more details, PM me.
Old 01-26-03, 12:40 AM
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it all really depends on what your tryin to accomplish by gettin 19" rims........im pretty sure the guys at mazda knew a little bit about what they were doing when they designed the car, as well as people who race autocross........rx7's were designed not only to be fast in a straight line but also to be able to corner great too which is the reasoning behind the 50/50 weight distribution.........and the reasoning behind putting 14 to 15 inch rims on the car.....which if you compete in autocross or even just watch you see that most guys run on 14's or 15's...........so i would reccomend 16's with like 35 series tires on them......but if you just wanna have a car that you can park and have people go ooooooh but handle and drive like crap.........the go for the 19's
Old 01-27-03, 09:30 AM
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but if you just wanna have a car that you can park and have people go ooooooh but handle and drive like crap.........the go for the 19's
You're an idiot! if you are ever in the louisville, KY area, look me up and I will show you how much better a set of 215/40 ZR 18's compare to your 15's or 16's. And if by riding like crap, you mean like a sports car? LAF!!
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