I just put new (well new to me that is) rims on the FD. Thanks to Mr Ng for the picture and perspective. The rims are a Rays Engineering Payton Place model in 18 x 9.5 rear and 18 x 8.5 front. I'm probably going to have to roll the fenders as they do rub a little over bumps. The white Mazda lettering on the sides will be gone tomorrow.

 

Very sexy.

 

I see you replaced your dog with a cardboard box, probably easier on the vehicles... Its still cruel to leave it the car by itslef though...

 

I think the white mazda lettering looks good actually... I didn't like it at first but it grew on me fast

nice lookin car you have there

 

The new wheels look great, Erik. The old wheels looked out of place on your car, in my opinion.

The white badging doesn't look bad at all. Did the previous owner do that to match the wheels?

 

Nice!
Are those the wheels from Chicago?

And what's going on under the hood of that FD?

 

Thanks compliment. The car looks better from a distance as it has several paint issues to be resolved this winter when I take it in for a repaint. I'm still tossing around the idea of a new front end because mine has the typical Mazda on either side of the hood emblem. So far I still prefer the stock front end to any of the body kits out there. If you see any black FD's with a killer front end that I might like go ahead and post a picture. The M-Sport one looks good but I haven't seen it in black.

As for the lettering I was going to remove it a long time ago but it grew on me too. However with the new wheels I'm thinking a clean black look is better.

 

How do you know he isn't in the box? Had to find a way to keep all that German Shepard hair from spreading in the FD.

 

The old wheels gave the car a "racer" sort of look. These wheels are classier and I really like the deep dish that they have. The FD looks much more agressive with a deep dish wheel. IMHO

I don't know why the previous owner put all the decals on. There used to be a huge MAZDA banner on the front windsheild that I removed within the first 2 days of owning the car. Before I removed it I was getting comments like "were you worried that you were going to forget what kind of car you had?" I was going to remove the side lettering next but didn't think it look too bad so I kept it. Now with the new wheels I'm thinking smooth, clean black lines are best.

 

I take it that Payton Place is in Chicago? Or are you referring to Walter Payton from the Bears? The wheels are actually from Japan - Rays Engineering is the same company as Volks from what I understand. I saw the wheels on E-bay and the price was reasonable so I went for it. Earlier I had considered going with a finer multi spoke style of wheel like the Works Rezax, Zenetti Valeo and CCW's. I had a deal on the Zenetti Valeo's that fell through - the seller decided he wanted to keep them. I still really like the Zenetti's but they are no longer available and they only came in a 8.5 width so no deep dish. His car did look sweet though (see picture).

As for under the hood I haven't done anything yet. I have a Greddy front mount 3 row w/BOV to install, a PWR radiator and a Power FC w/datalogit (ps. there is a hell of a deal on a PFC w/datalogit in the canadian classifieds - makes me wish I had held out a little longer before buying mine new). Currently there are a bunch of mechanical issues to sort through (sensors, idle issues, temp issues, etc.) and I'm thinking that this winter I'll pull the motor and give it a good Max Power street port rebuild. I'll probably stick with the stock twins while I get used to the Power FC. A large single would be down the road a little ways - unless I see I deal that I can't refuse (damn E-Bay!) I also just installed a set of Tein HA coil overs.

 

Heh for some reason I thought those eBay wheels you were originally looking at were from Chicago...those GT3s. But you obviously got other ones.
Thanks for the headsup on the PowerFC stuff. (Crossing my fingers)

 

man, FD's look good in black! (white too)... I saw a black one at a fruit stand the other day in my town, only the 2nd time I'd seen an FD around here.. only like the 5th time I've seen an fd ever!

There's a sliver FD in windsor too... but I don't think they look good in silver lol still a nice car though!

rx8's are everywhere now, which is good I guess

that pic is nice

I like that lip!