18'' alloys pros - cons - advice

[andyb36]

well seen these on ebay

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/GENUINE-MAZDA-RX8 ... 240%3A1318

has any one got any advice.....says 8.5 ??? will they fit,,, i have no idea....

any advice more than welcome......as i see a lot of you bongo,s with 17-18'' alloys

andy

[Trouble at t'Mill]

Pros - they will look FANTASTIC!!!

Cons - I think many...

The 8.5 wheel width is pretty massive - these must be designed for 4x4's or else a very powerful sports model. This site: http://www.carbibles.com/tyre_bible.html is superb. On the second page, it tells you the max and min wheel widths for various tyres sizes. Don't take this as gospel, but a quick play on this told me you'd need at least 245 width tyres for these rims!!! That is WI-I-I-IDE!!!

I'm sure you know you'd also need low profile tyres to keep the speedo error within reason, and also to prevent your arches being fouled. I don't think having low profiles would be a problem from the comfort point of view as the Bongo is a pretty 'soft' beast, but can you even get, say, 50-profile tyres with the correct load rating for a Bongo (these tyres are mainly designed for sports cars which aren't that heavy!)?

I guess you can ultimately get any tyre you want, but I bet they'll cost - a lot.

Bear in mind I'm no expert on wheels and tyres, but there is a lot you need to clarify before committing yourself to these.

(They do look fab, tho'...)

[MountainGoat]

http://www.alloyguide.com/Mazda.php

There is also lots of advice on the forum if you use the search facility typing in Alloys AND Wheels.

[cheffy34]

They will take 225/45 which are nice but you'll only get a 95 extra load max i fear and only in a top brand, i did run em alround for a while on 225/45 bridgestones xtra loads looks cool but i bottled it and put 245/45 on rear with 100 load rate in the end because it blatently states on mine it should be rear load rate of 98 mine is rwd v6 tho so don't take the golden rule of 96 rear as gospel check inside your door shut, it will fail mot with wrong loaded tyres if the inspector is awake As for the ride it's down to you if you like it or not i can't comment cos i lowered mine at same time so it is harder

BDC is your man on rubbers and wheels

Over to the prophet

Dar

[missfixit70]

Reading the ebay description -

"The chrome finish makes them really stand out and were an optional extra from new.

As you can see from the photo's, there are kerbing and flaking issues on them , but these

will go for a fraction of the £1,300 retail price!"

If they've been kerbed, how bad is it, have they been distorted/unbalanced significantly? Flaking chrome, what are you going to do to remedy that? not sure if you'll be able to get them rechromed, therefore you'll have to strip the & have them polished or sprayed.

Saying that, 18's do look cool, but much more expensive for tyres than 17's, & much less choice.
Speedo error is easily corrected by moving the needle on the spindle, the bongo speedos are generally fairly well out anyway, when I put my 17's on & adjusted the speedo, it actually brought it spot on with gps speedo & odometer

[cheffy34]

Reading the ebay description -

"The chrome finish makes them really stand out and were an optional extra from new.

As you can see from the photo's, there are kerbing and flaking issues on them , but these

will go for a fraction of the £1,300 retail price!"

If they've been kerbed, how bad is it, have they been distorted/unbalanced significantly? Flaking chrome, what are you going to do to remedy that? not sure if you'll be able to get them rechromed, therefore you'll have to strip the & have them polished or sprayed.

Saying that, 18's do look cool, but much more expensive for tyres than 17's, & much less choice.
Speedo error is easily corrected by moving the needle on the spindle, the bongo speedos are generally fairly well out anyway, when I put my 17's on & adjusted the speedo, it actually brought it spot on with gps speedo & odometer

I agree with MSF how bad is the flakin, once it started it diff to stop even if poss, take it from someone who has peeling chrome 18s it not as easy as that the chrome plate is a bitch to get off, you can sometimes blow it of with an air gun if it bad enough and paint them but you'll never get paint to take to the chrome i fear the jap alloys don't bare well on salted roads , i could get mine dipped i supposen but they are bareable at mo

[bigdaddycain]

BDC is your man on rubbers

AFAIK All variants of the RX8 rim are 8.5j's, (they are called RX8 wheels as they are the standard fitment of wheel on the Mazda RX8).

As you could probably tell, the "chrome" versions aren't chrome in the sense that they are chrome plated, they have a plastic Faux chrome effect, which will flake off to some degree "post-kerbing".

The flaking could be reduced,or even halted by applying a thin bead of nail varnish, or "touch-up" pen lacquer along the seam of the break in the chrome finish.

A localised repair wouldn't work in the case of this finish, (unlike painted surfaces). You can buy "chrome" paints, but to acheive a super glossy finish on par with the wheels, a lacquer would need to be applied over the chrome paint, this however doesn't have the desired effect, lacquer reacts with the chrome paint and turns it a dull grey.

A 245/45/18 tyre could be easily run on a bongo with no scrubbing issues at all with the rx8 rim, whether the vehicle is lowered or not.

I had yokohama's with a load rating of 100, and a speed rating of W.

I bought mine as a set of part worns with 5-6 mm tread left on them, fitted, with new valves and balanced for £120. The tyres lasted around 18 months.

Ensure that the wheels on the e-bay ad have a full compliment of chrome centre caps too, i beleive they are quite pricey.

I'd ask the seller if the pics on the ad are the worst damaged parts of the wheels, i reckon they have just scraped along the kerbstone a bit judging by the damage,try to get a guarantee from him that the wheels are round, and true.

[cheffy34]

BDC is your man on rubbers

AFAIK All variants of the RX8 rim are 8.5j's, (they are called RX8 wheels as they are the standard fitment of wheel on the Mazda RX8).

As you could probably tell, the "chrome" versions aren't chrome in the sense that they are chrome plated, they have a plastic Faux chrome effect, which will flake off to some degree "post-kerbing".

The flaking could be reduced,or even halted by applying a thin bead of nail varnish, or "touch-up" pen lacquer along the seam of the break in the chrome finish.

A localised repair wouldn't work in the case of this finish, (unlike painted surfaces). You can buy "chrome" paints, but to acheive a super glossy finish on par with the wheels, a lacquer would need to be applied over the chrome paint, this however doesn't have the desired effect, lacquer reacts with the chrome paint and turns it a dull grey.

A 245/45/18 tyre could be easily run on a bongo with no scrubbing issues at all with the rx8 rim, whether the vehicle is lowered or not.

I had yokohama's with a load rating of 100, and a speed rating of W.

I bought mine as a set of part worns with 5-6 mm tread left on them, fitted, with new valves and balanced for £120. The tyres lasted around 18 months.

Ensure that the wheels on the e-bay ad have a full compliment of chrome centre caps too, i beleive they are quite pricey.

I'd ask the seller if the pics on the ad are the worst damaged parts of the wheels, i reckon they have just scraped along the kerbstone a bit judging by the damage,try to get a guarantee from him that the wheels are round, and true.

so they not really chrome, well begger me i didn't know that wish you told me that before BDC makes life slightly easier

[andyb36]

thanks for the answers

i think i will give em a miss and stick with my faithfull 15'' mazda alloys for now

andy

[bigdaddycain]

so they not really chrome, well begger me i didn't know that wish you told me that before BDC makes life slightly easier

It's not a genuine chrome finish cheffy, it's some kind of special paint, or perhaps a variation on a C.P.C (clear plastic coating).

In other words, you'd polish them with car wax, not autosol, or brasso or whatever...