Wheels tires suspension advice please

[John_1975]

The story is my 38 year old self is wanting some cushier ride. Mines the 02 with chrome and clear coat rims which are now peeling. Alloy Wheel Repair wants $100 per rim for non-chrome and $700ish to redip chrome as they say nothing will adhere to chrome to offer any cheaper options. Car has 205/45/16 and thinking of going to 195/50/16 for cush. New to me. Hoping that will clear. Tires already close to bottom of strut tower. Don't think the car has been lowered before me and I didn't. But wider tires have been used by previous owner and up to this point I have followed suit. Had the car since 60,000. Like the car. Economical. Love the handling now but drive to work is 45 minutes now, used to be 15, and it's beating on me and road noise too. Thought about doing leather interior and while I was at it installing a gel pad under driver but my cloth interior is in pretty good shape. I saw the thread where someone listed 4 spring/strut combos for increasing degrees of cost and handling. The advice wasn't given as much for ride comfort. Car has 143,000 on it but in great shape. Not sure how much to spend on it. How long will she last. Drive feels strong. Body good. Interior good. So thinking suspension mods. Don't care about lowered looks. Low enough to be a pain in the ass sometimes already in places I have to drive it. I've read Falken 512 ZE is very quiet. Can anyone vouch? Are they soft? Do you give up miles for that? I've been getting about 2-2.5 years out of tires. Last year drove 16,600 miles total. What can you advise for me to do. Always like to save where I can. Should I stay stock springs and just go with better struts and tires? About 1.5 years ago I replaced front struts but not rear. Had to cut end links. Rear wasn't bad at that time. Need to recheck now. Looking for less road noise and softer ride. She handles so great now I could give up a little for comfort. Starting to baby her more anyway as she ain't no spring chicken anymore. Lol

Thanks

 

[John_1975]

I meant to say also that because wheel repair is so expensive I could go new wheels too. I like the 16" 195/50/16 look and it's going more towards my softer ride idea. Don't think I want to go smaller for taller tire. There are so many wheels out there I don't even know where to begin. Any rims out there for $300-$500 a set that look decent? I like RX8 rims and Roka's (spelling?), also like deep dish but not an option, like skinnier 5 spokes like Mazdaspeed RacingHarts but they only come in 17"?. Car is black. Like the aluminum finish or hyper silver colors or even something gun metal. Somewhere in that range of dark to light brushed aluminum. I got enough chrome on my Harley Deuce to satisfy me there. Lol

 

[pcb]

My car came with 205/50/16's on it and I have never had a problem with clearance. I had 1,100 lbs of shingles in my car last week and pushed the tires way up into the wheel wells with no rubbing.

The recommended tires are 195/50/16 but there is not near as much choice in that tire size. When I got my new set I stuck with the 205/50/16's and saved quite a bit of money.

If you are really after a softer ride you could go to 15 inch rims. My snows are 195/55/15 and provide a softer ride with the taller sidewalls.

I'm pretty sure almost all aftermarket stuff is geared toward performance over comfort,... stiffer, tighter and lowered.

 

[tweety2300]

You could pay big $$ and get adjustable struts and set them as soft as they go but you'll be paying around $600. Rx8 rims are 18" iirc and you have to use a super low profile tire which will make for a harsh ride.

As for the rims, you can just have them powder coated. $200 for a local place to do a set of 4 and that includes Sand blasting

I'm runing 205/50/15 Dunlop dizzerra on my 323 and they're quiet. Of course not going for a soft ride on it but they're way softer than stock 185/65/14. Also runing 215/45/17 nitto neo gens on my protege they're very quiet and handle amazingly even in the rain, but they supposedly don't last long I'm waiting to see how long they last for me as I'm not doing burnouts or auto crossing in it

 

[mp5la]

In terms of struts, you could look into monroes or something if you want comfort. Even the kyb excel-g's are valved ~10% firmer than stock. If you're not concerned about lowering or performance then I see no reason to change from the stock springs (assuming they're in good shape). I'm assuming that picture you posted was with a full load, otherwise you have larger problems than needing new wheels.

Any wheels from an rx-8 would be bigger than what you have now. I think most are 18", but I could be wrong. RacingHarts from a mazdaspeed are going to set you back a pretty good amount unless you find a great deal. Have you considered just plasti-dipping the wheels either black or gunmetal? When done properly it looks great (I've done whole cars that came out great with it), and it's a lot cheaper than a new set of wheels.

 

[pcb]

I'm assuming that picture you posted was with a full load, otherwise you have larger problems than needing new wheels.

Yea that my post with a car full of shingles. (The lady at the construction supply place looked at me funny and said "you're gonna put 1,100 pounds of shingles in a protege",... I said it seats 5,... they could be 220 lb football players.

I freakin love this car.

I guess I may have overdone it a little,... I forgot to include the weight of my sorry ass as well.

 

[mp5la]

Not half bad. I once fit 25 boxes of tile in the back of my wrx wagon and I thought that was pushing it haha.

 

[tweety2300]

I've had 1300lbs of people in my car before

 

[John_1975]

Anyone tried the Falken ZE 512's?

 

[rit14623]

I always get Kuhmo Ecsta ASX in 195/50 16. They are relatively quiet. I have a pretty long commute too.

As for rims, if you don't really care for extra-light weight rims, there are a pretty good variety in the under $150/rim range. I've bought rims from Discount Tire Direct and tires from Tire Rack so those are two online businesses I can vouch for.

 

[John_1975]

Can anyone measure the top of tire to bottom of strut tower for me, front and back, and tell me what size tires and rims you have also? When the suspension is active and the wheel is moving up and down the strut tower isn't moving with the wheel correct? Only the shaft inside it correct? Mine is really close. Need to measure too. So close that a few sets of tires ago seemed as if they were being flattened on top from hitting the bottom of the strut tower.

 

[John_1975]

This is the car with 205/45/16's. I think I need to look at rear struts again. Car seems low in back. No weight in the hatch. New struts in front about a year ago.

 

[sleeprp5]

I had those chrome rims with 205/50 16 cooper tires and stock suspension. no rubbing. nice ride. quiet. then i got 17" mx-5 rims and went to a 205/45 17. ride got a little more harsh. then i lowered it on the prokit and got illuminas set on 3. alot firmer ride but i like it. my girlfriend has the 512s on her rav4 and they are alot more quiet than the yokohamas she used to have

 

[John_1975]

I read on a consumer report that a guy couldn't stand the road noise in the P5 until he put the Falken ZE 512's on. He said it all went away. Hard to believe it all goes away. Body metal is so thin but, I will take what I can get.

 

[tweety2300]

Can anyone measure the top of tire to bottom of strut tower for me, front and back, and tell me what size tires and rims you have also? When the suspension is active and the wheel is moving up and down the strut tower isn't moving with the wheel correct? Only the shaft inside it correct? Mine is really close. Need to measure too. So close that a few sets of tires ago seemed as if they were being flattened on top from hitting the bottom of the strut tower.

The tire and strut move together and will never come in contact with each other from a bump. Maybe try getting an alignment?

 

[MaxPower]

At 140+k the rear struts are ready for replacement, even if they aren't leaking oil. You can add Dynamat in the doors for noise reduction. 205/55/16 fits on my Pro with stock springs/KYB GR-2 struts.

Tire noise can be considerable and vary a lot between tire models. Avoid the Toyo Proxes 4...

My experience with the Falkens ZE512's is that they have very good grip in the dry but terrible ice/snow performance. They also wore out at 25k on my last car. In a comparison a several years back, Consumer Reports rated them well for dry performance and poorly for longevity and rolling resistance. In later comparisons, CR ranked the 512's midpack among UHP all-season tires and noted they had been surpassed by newer tires.

The Cooper Zeon RS3-A finished #1 in Consumer Reports last UHP all-season tire comparison and are very inexpensive as well. You might want to spend the $5 online at consumerreports.org to get that comparison and make an informed choice based on your criteria.
http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/tires.htm

 

[tweety2300]

Honestly I think it should be mandatory for a car to have a separate set of snow tires

 

[John_1975]

The tire and strut move together and will never come in contact with each other from a bump. Maybe try getting an alignment?

I have been getting alignments about once a year but not at that time. I usually do it right after riding rough snowy roads for a time and the season is over.

 

[tweety2300]

Well if the tires not hitting the strut when you mount it on there then there is literally no way it's going to hit it at any point in time

 

[John_1975]

Well if the tires not hitting the strut when you mount it on there then there is literally no way it's going to hit it at any point in time

That's what I was wondering. Thanks.