Flat Black FD's + SPT's + Pink Calipers, it all comes together...

[mk_slayr]

I've always liked the black tires with thick sidewalls





I think the Pink Calipers accent both the tires and the cosmic blue well. It came together better than I thought it would.





I dig the wider rear stance, unfortunately it resembles a mini in this shot.





Shot down the side showing how the wider tires fit much better in line with the fenders versus the stockers








Kumho Ecsta SPT 225/50-16
16x8 RX-7 FD Wheels

Originally the tires were silver, I used a decent primer to set them up. I was planning on using a flat black acrylic but the primer looked good, and the acrylic was too glossy so I sanded it down and went with the primer. The sealer unfortunately left it glossier than I wanted. Here in a few weeks I'll pull off and swap back the stockers in order to sand and paint the fd's with an actual enamel and sealer. The rattle can was a visualization and a prep for future paint, but I think it looks fairly good, unfortunately the installers chipped the hell out of them but eh, they'll be sanded anyway.

If anyone needs new tires check out treadepot.com they have free shipping. Thanks to discount tire's price matching policy I paid $81 a tire as opposed to the retail of $104.

The ride is much improved over the stock. The nearly one inch wider track and smaller rim diameter has changed the overall feel of the car. The nose feels much more nimble and responsive. The turn in is a lot lighter and the rear doesn't push out as hard on a dive. Body roll feels reduced maybe due to the slightly wider stance but it could be my imagination and/or the drastic improvement in tire, the stockers are horrible in comparison to the SPT's. I can also do more aggressive launches without suffering heavy wheel spin. Also a crunch 2-3 won't break the tires loose as easily as before. Mid curve throttle application actual sinks the car and it bites where as before it would push out.

Overall I'm in it for $700 for the rims, wheels and paint. I'm happy with the final result, it's been a very good "bang for the buck change".

I also think the pink calipers set the whole package off, from the wheels to the blue paint. Are they justified? Am I off the hook?

Hehe

I still need to figure out what I'm going to do with the lugs. Originally I wanted anodized pink but I think that might be a bit too much. Maybe black but then I'd have to vent shade the rest of the emblems... Idk, need another 3 day weekend.



-mk

[blaggah]

what center caps are you using? they don't look like the original oem ones. do you have any closeup pics? I have a set as well, I'm going an oem silver with my though, since my MS3 is silver.

Looks good


*edit* I checked tiredepot.com and can't find any prices....do I have the right site?

How do the large sidewalls affect cornering?

[mk_slayr]

Sorry the sight was treadepot.com,

The center caps are the OEM ones with the circle in the flame.

The larger sidewall feels better during heavy cornering. The car feels more agile, likely due to the lighter tires but I can tell a difference. If I brake mid turn twitch it toward the outside then inside and let off the brake I can get the nose to move much more than before and get it pointing in the right direction. It feels like I can use the brakes more to control cornering than before. I'm guessing it's because of the larger sidewall. Idk though I need to find a place to really drive it hard before I'll say anything conclusive.

I can get the nose to bob more than before on heavy braking but that might also be attributed to wider, stickier tires giving me more grip than the stockers.

Actually the tires themselves are heavier than the stock size. That tire in a 215/45/18 is 22lbs and your tire is 24lbs. So how heavy are the rims alone?

[mk_slayr]

The tires are slightly heavier than stock but the rims are drastically lighter.

I believe the rims are somewhere in the neighborhood of 12-15lbs.

The stock tires with worn rubber came to about 47lbs wheel + tire, the new set, wheel + tire was around 35lbs. I weighed the fd combo with the freshest rubber but it was still worn a bit.

Correct me if I'm wrong but I believe that people have measured the stock rim alone at around 26lbs give or take, the new rims are under 15lbs. The weight reduction was one of the main motivators of switching to the smaller rim size.

YEa stocks are like 24lbs each. All of your weight savings is coming from the rims, the thing people seem to forget is when you go smaller in rim size the tire tends to weigh more due to the weight of the taller sidewall. A 35 lb wheel and tire is impressive. Do you know what year fd those were from? Because I heard that the earlier ones had like 9 lb wheels and then the later ones the wheels were reinforced and they were heavier. Maybe someone who knows the details on that will chime in here.
How is the accleration now? I know when I went to my 17lb rims I instantly noticed an improvement in accleration. I think lighter wheels are a great upgrade I paid about $1000 for my new rims then I sold my stock rims for $450 so I ended up paying like $550 for some nice wheels.

[mk_slayr]

Originally Posted by Young Roids YEa stocks are like 24lbs each. All of your weight savings is coming from the rims, the thing people seem to forget is when you go smaller in rim size the tire tends to weigh more due to the weight of the taller sidewall. A 35 lb wheel and tire is impressive. Do you know what year fd those were from? Because I heard that the earlier ones had like 9 lb wheels and then the later ones the wheels were reinforced and they were heavier. Maybe someone who knows the details on that will chime in here. How is the accleration now? I know when I went to my 17lb rims I instantly noticed an improvement in accleration. I think lighter wheels are a great upgrade I paid about $1000 for my new rims then I sold my stock rims for $450 so I ended up paying like $550 for some nice wheels.

I don't know what year they came from, there is a 93 marking on it but that doesn't mean it went on a 93. I believe it is one of the later designs. From what I understand the first editions had 90 degree joints where the spokes met the inner rim, the newer versions have a curved radius. Apparently the 90 degree flush fits are slightly lighter but are prone to breaking and cracking.

I thought that the two variants where 11lbs and 13lbs but idk. You're the second person to mention a 9lb wheel. A local guy picked up a pair and the fedex label said something like 8.8 per wheel.

TPS fits btw if that's a concern.

As far as acceleration, the car feels much more responsive. A 3rd gear punch generates a much faster pull than before similar to a slight decrease in turbo spool time.

It definitely feels better.

-mk