Got my rims back from the powder coating shop...

[Hank3]

love the color.. looks awesome hank! i cant wait to see them on the car. yours is my favorite cosmic blue.. i would like to do my stockers this exact color and i was wondering (if you dont mind) if u can tell me what color it is?

Thanks The color powder is Gunmetal Gray. But you can also try Bonded Black Chrome. The latter is slightly darker but looks great.

Here are some quick shots after putting the wheels back on (suspension hasn't settled so 4 x 4 time ensues). Time for dinner. More pics to come tomorrow or Monday:

Stock wheels vs the new ones:

 

[not yellow]

well done, sir!

 

[Hank3]

I was hoping that the tires' rim guard would actually guard, but it doesn't. The Bridgestones I had on there before were 225/45/18 RE040s and offered a good amount of protection like our RE050s do on our stock tims. I also had them mount 225/45/18 Falken 912s, but they looked stretched and had no rim guards. Just goes to show you how different each tire manufacturer sizes are. Oh well...maybe my next set will have better protection.

Just glad to be rolling on these wheels again!

 

[not yellow]

those are 235s right? i was gonna say they look a bit narrow. but in reality 235mm is only a couple mm wider than the outer edge of the wheel. measured to the outer edges the RX-8s are 9 1/8" wide and 19 1/2" in diameter.

 

[Hank3]

Yeah - 235/40/18

 

[8.5MS3]

hey hank, did they give you any special cleaning requirements? anything to/not to use when cleaning the wheels?

 

[Hank3]

No they didn't. I can inquire I suppose. Would be good to know if there were. I'll report back.

 

[MM BOOST]

lookin' good man, and that price for powdercoating sounds about right. I am dropping mine off in 2 weeks to be powdercoated magnesium blue and he is charging me $175 for the whole sha-bang. Can't wait to see some better pics Hank, but so far, so good.

 

[Hank3]

hey hank, did they give you any special cleaning requirements? anything to/not to use when cleaning the wheels?

I checked and the answer is, "NO." Just use soap and water and do not use abrasive chemical solutions. Pretty the same guidelines as regular rims.

 

[not yellow]

so what color are you going to do your lugs?

 

[Hank3]

They're gonna remain black. I just painted my emblems black, too. Along with the calipers being black, I have black and smoked/gunmetal as the ongoing theme for the car

 

[not yellow]

wow, so PC is durable enough for something like lug nuts? they won't chip or scratch from the lug wrench?

 

[Hank3]

Actually...after some research, I'm not going to PC them (due to durability). I'm just gonna get some replacements lug nuts from McGard. There are a few of them that the black paint started flaking off. I believe they're anodized so they should hold up better through time. But I can't send them in for replacement until I get your lugs

Now I'm thinking about maybe painting the center caps black while leaving the flying M logo chrome.

 

[not yellow]

black center caps could be good. just want to be careful about too many black accents in one place(lugs, calipers, caps) or it could start to look cluttered.

i'll be shipping your lugs today so hopefully you get them soon!

 

[Hank3]

black center caps could be good. just want to be careful about too many black accents in one place(lugs, calipers, caps) or it could start to look cluttered.

i'll be shipping your lugs today so hopefully you get them soon!

True dat. It's just a thought so we'll see if the change in center caps come to fruition.

Went out and snapped some new pics during my lunch break (and I'm perfectly happy with the stock springs for now...so, NO, I'm not lowering the car ):

 

[not yellow]

^ wheels look great! nice subtle contrast with the body color. curious what you think of the tires? you had those before?

 

[Hank3]

I've never had these tires before. So far they seem good. Audibly they seem quieter than the stock Bridgestones.

Tires I've had before with my WRX that were 235/40/18:

Toyo T1-S
Toyo Proxes4
Kumho 712
Falken 452

I think these will be on-par with the others excluding the Kumhos since those were junk IMO). Only time will tell...

 

[bigdaddy]

are you sitting on stock suspension?

 

[Hank3]

Yup - stock springs and struts.