My New wheels pics inside!

[JOHNJOHN86]

I got my car last Nov and have been reading the forum for a while.
Finally put some wheels on, and for those who say 8.5 rim with 30 sth offset won't fit our car you are WRONG!
These are Sportmax 962 18X7.5 +38 in front and 18X8.5 +35 in rear with 225/40/18 Kumho MX all arround.
It did rub in the rear at first, and the fender did cut my tires about 1-2mm deep. I rolled them with a baseball bat and it's fine now even with 3 people total weight of 400lbs and cornering hard. It didn't rub even when the traction control kicks in. So I don't think they will ever rub.
BTW my suspension is stock.
OK, here is the prove!

 

[Doodsmack]

looks good man. the stock wheels are begging to be changed imo.

 

[justa4banger]

Can you fit the front wheels on the back without an issues? Same size all the way around?

I hate 2 different sizes , can't rotate tires properly. Looks great though

 

[CitizenPro]

Looks MUCH better (thumb) The stance on the MS3 is very nice, but even a subtle drop on it will work wonders on the looks.....especially with those new wheels on

 

[justa4banger]

Looks Great i think. For me a little drop is not necessary, but then again i never found the fascination about lowering your car to better smack curbs, speedbump etc.... Just my opinion.

Atleast from these pics i know what i'll be looking at for wheel gap.
I wonder if a 235/40/18 would fit in the wheel well. Its the same size in height as the stock tire but almost an 1" wider.

can use measure the inside of the wheel to its nearest contact point(rub area) too see how room we have to play with.

 

[JOHNJOHN86]

I also think it would look better if it's lowered for a inch
But I pay extra for Mazdaspeed suspension, so I don't want to mess with it and it still looks ok now IMO

 

[JOHNJOHN86]

Can you fit the front wheels on the back without an issues? Same size all the way around?

I hate 2 different sizes , can't rotate tires properly. Looks great though

It should fit!
So far I have been driving this set up for 2 days now, and I tried hard to get them to rub including hard corners until traction control kicks in, speed bumps, pot holes etc and it just doesn't rub.

 

[Mazda3OnSpeed]

For justa4banger =D

I have put 245/45 R17 in the front and it didnt rub at all. i tested them out and they where good i could take coners and everything and no rubing .i had evo stocks on =D. but in the back i had 235/45 r17 and it rubed on the fender, but that can be fixed all u would have 2 do is bend the inside a lil up and thats it cuz it only hits the vary outside of the tire =\. but i think with difrent rims it would be better the evo rims flare 2 much Looks ok but would look better if they didnt pop out as much =) (i wish i had taken a pic of the evo with my stocks on there LMFAO so funny =P)

 

[JOHNJOHN86]

For justa4banger =D

The front looks even wider than mine. How's the traction?

 

[dcomiskey]

I'm not feeling them, but to each his own. I personally think the stock rims look awesome, but I'm really disappointed they aren't 7.5" wide.

 

[nate0123]

they don't look bad but they do look smaller than the stockers... I know they're 18s, but they look more like 16s in profile