Rims!

[joshb003]

I have a 2011 Mazda 2. It's red! I've decided I wanted to either get red rims or black rims with like a red accent (or just pure black).

I've no experience with purchasing rims. I'm sure there is a certain size that I need and I was wondering if anybody could let me know?

Also, will I be able to put my factory tires on the new rims or will I have to buy new tires? How much do rims usually cost? Where should I purchase from

Thanks.
Josh

 

[Slow Paul]

I'd start by looking around on here and seeing what you like in terms of size and start there. However, seeing that you want to swap your tires over means that you'll be sticking with a 15" wheel. There are plenty 15" wheels available for our 2's as they also use a very common bolt pattern, which is the number of bolts (4) and their distance apart (100mm) hence our bolt pattern 4x100. This size is very common with manufacturers like Honda, Toyota, and MINI using it. For pricing, it's all over the place. I'd suggest looking at tirerack.com for some idea of price and style. They also have a cool feature that'll let you see what the wheels will look like on your 2.

I personally bought a set of Konig Britelites from GoodWinracing.com They were $89.00 each, and if I wanted I could swap the factory tires over, but I bought another set of tires to use for autox events. The other things about wheel selection is offset. I'd explain it but it's a little confusing. So stick with an offset that is between 38 and 42. Stock wheels have an offset of 40. Width is another factor. The stock wheels on the Mazda2 are 6 inches wide. That's pretty narrow. One would be hard pressed to find aftermarket wheels that narrow. Aftermarket wheels are typically 6.5 inches wide to 8 inches wide for a set of 15 inch wheels. To play it safe, I'd stick with a set of 6.5-7 inch wheel widths. The last thing to remember is that as of 2007 all cars sold in the USA need to be equipped with TPMS sensors. This stands for Tire Pressure Monitor System sensor. There is one mounted on each of your for wheels. These will need to be swapped over to your new wheels. Or another option, you can but another set, but that'll typically run you a bit over $300. I would swap over the monitors if I were you. If you don't all that'll happen is you'll have a little light on your dash that says you have a flat tire. (Looks like a deflated tire with an exclamation point). I don't care that mine is on but others do.

I hope this helps and wasn't too much to take in. So check out tirerack.com and then look at goodwinracing.com for some really cool wheels. Good luck to you.

 

[fam]

I have a red one too...and Im in the same boat....

the links im posting will work for your 2.

I am favoring
http://www.good-win-racing.com/Mazda-Performance-Part/61-03217RM2.html
http://www.good-win-racing.com/Mazda-Performance-Part/61-03217M2.html
http://www.good-win-racing.com/Mazda-Performance-Part/61-0586M2.html
http://www.good-win-racing.com/Mazda-Performance-Part/60-1311RM2.html
http://www.good-win-racing.com/Mazda-Performance-Part/61-0187AM2.html

 

[MazdaTwo]

Please don't put red rims on a red car. The likelihood of the reds matching perfectly is really low. Do white or black with a polished lip... or just stick with silver. I mean, to each his own, but I've never seen a black on black, white on white, or red on red combo that I didn't think looked unfinished.

But just like super-tan, blonde girls in the matching velour track suits... I'm not into it, but they sure seem to like it.

 

[joshb003]

thanks for the responses! I think I will stick to black or chrome, I'm not really into white! Thanks for posting the bolt pattern! I didn't really know how to determine that.

 

[Racebrewer]

"just like super-tan, blonde girls in the matching velour track suits..."

Just make the velour track suits a 'delete option'. There, that's better.(boom06)

Josh, read up on 'offset' before you buy rims. An extreme offset can cause problems.

John

 

[joshb003]

I appreciate all the responses, hey but I am looking at some Rims and Ebay and I have a quick quesiton. How do I choose the rim Width? Does it have to match something on my stock tires? I have yokahoma stock tires, I haven't checked their size yet though, but does rim width have to match and if so which numbers?

Additionally I read up about offset, and I agree I'll gow ith the offset range you suggested.

 

[joshb003]

I think that the stock tires are 7 inchs from what I've been reading. So does that mean the rims have to be 15x7 with 4x100?

 

[fam]

I believe stock rims are 6.5 stock...tire size is 185 55 15, youre standard tire sizes that are readily available are 195 and 205's so a 7" rim would be ideal for those sizes to fit the width.

 

[MazdaTwo]

Just for reference, the 6ULs listed on the Good-Win Racing site are 7.5" wide with a +42 offset. 6ULs come in 7", 7.5", 8", 8.5" and I think even 9". The Good-Win guys know what they're doing so that's probably what they picked as an ideal setup for this car. You can safely go with a 7" and +35 to +45 offset which gives you a ton of options on tires. The stock width is 6.5, but that's too skinny. Also for reference, the Corksport guys are running a +25 offset with no issues, and you get the wheels a little more flush with the fender.

And yes, you MUST go with 4X100 on the bolt pattern. There's no margin on that spec. 4X100 only.

 

[joshb003]

I emailed the dude from Good-win racing and he told me that I should get 6.5 inches. Mazdatwo, you'd suggest that I go 7 inches though? And it'll still fit onto the tires that I have? Once again thanks for all the responses.

 

[hansolocujo]

I emailed the dude from Good-win racing and he told me that I should get 6.5 inches. Mazdatwo, you'd suggest that I go 7 inches though? And it'll still fit onto the tires that I have? Once again thanks for all the responses.

I'm running the stock tires on 7" without any problems. Once they're done I'll go to 205/50

 

[MazdaTwo]

Mazdatwo, you'd suggest that I go 7 inches though? And it'll still fit onto the tires that I have? Once again thanks for all the responses.

Given that the sidewall of the stock tire sticks out way past the lip of the stock rims, and taking into account that I've seen people stretch some pretty narrow (in comparison) tires onto stupidly wide rims, you'll be fine putting 185s onto 7" wide rims.

 

[Joker2]

Get 7". When tires wear out, you can replace with 195/50-15 or 195/55-15 or 205/50-15. In these sizes you can find lots of very nice performance tires for about 100 bucks a piece. I am now running Yokohama Advans and let me tell you, the performance is a big step from stock, especially in the rain. Realize that when you increase wheel width and upgrade to higher performance tires you will experience in drop in fuel economy! So prioritize your goals, eg. looks, performance, fuel economy, weight, price, etc. then go for it.
Lastly, I always buy 5 wheels when going aftermarket, in case a curb the car and damage a wheel. Cheap insurance, and I do not have to worry 5 years from now about finding a matching wheel. This is why I stick with folks like GoodWin and such as they cater to the Spec Miata crowd and tend to keep wheels in stock longer than your fave fleabay or local vendor.