Why couldn't my Mazda use 15" wheels?

"Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing." (granfury)
02/22/2017 at 16:21 • Filed to: None

$100 for a set of four OEM Mazda BBS wheels. Damn.

I did find a set of the Mazda6 17" wheels I wanted, but they’re beat and the guy wants $150 for them. Pass.

DISCUSSION (21)

Decay buys too many beaters > Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing.
02/22/2017 at 16:30

WHERE!?!

Roadster Man > Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing.
02/22/2017 at 16:32

Where? I’ll buy them! And why can’t you run 15" wheels? Mazda3 I am guessing? In that case, I doubt anyone makes tires with sidewalls as tall as you’d need.

Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing. > Roadster Man
02/22/2017 at 16:39

On Craigslist in St. Louis.

I might be able to run 15s (will they clear the brakes?), but I’ve already got 16s on my Mazda5 and want to upgrade to 17s.

Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing. > Decay buys too many beaters
02/22/2017 at 16:40

Craigslist in St Louis

https://stlouis.craigslist.org/wto/5995697712.html

ITA97, now with more Jag @ opposite-lock.com > Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing.
02/22/2017 at 16:45

I used to run those 15" BBS wheels on my 2nd gen MX6. Do it, as they are seriously light.

I actually used to have two sets of them. The 1st set was originally purchased for autocross use, so when we had the machine shop bore out the centers to fit the MX6 hubs, they bored all the way through the face and removed the ring that the center caps mount to. After doing the KLZE swap, I decided I wanted to run light wheels all the time, so I picked up a another set and the mazda center caps. The second time around, I had the machine shop bore out the center hole only deep enough to clear the MX6 hubs and preserve the mounting ring for the center caps. The light BBS wheels and a set of Falken Azenis made for a great sporting street set up on that car.

I long ago sold the car and wheels, but I do still have an extra Mazda center cap for the BBS wheels, should any OPPO need one.

CopHoe > Roadster Man
02/22/2017 at 16:46

235/70 or 75 yo

CopHoe > Roadster Man
02/22/2017 at 16:47

Although tires that big would probably rub

Roadster Man > Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing.
02/22/2017 at 16:48

Oh, brake caliper clearance... didn’t even think of that. Yeah, you’d be in trouble there.

Too bad I’m in New England, if those were anywhere in the northeast I’d be in the car to pick those suckers up already. If you want to buy them yourself, you can flip them for $500 without tires EASY. Hardcore Miata guys LOVE those factory BBSes

Takuro Spirit > Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing.
02/22/2017 at 16:49

Get lucky like I did and find some CHEAP 16" RX-8 wheels.

Kinja'd!!!

Roadster Man > CopHoe
02/22/2017 at 16:51

Holy crap, companies actually make a 235/70 R15 and 235/75 R15 tires. What cars use these?!?

Decay buys too many beaters > Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing.
02/22/2017 at 16:52

Damn! Too far

Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing. > Takuro Spirit
02/22/2017 at 17:01

Not bad, but I’m looking for these 17" Mazda6 wheels:

Kinja'd!!!

I know I’ll need to get tires and TPMS sensors and probably get them resprayed, but I like the clean, simplicity (and ease of cleaning) of this design.

Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing. > CopHoe
02/22/2017 at 17:03

And a lift kit? Nah, I wanted to lower it...

vicali > Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing.
02/22/2017 at 17:05

Brakes!

Some Subaru owners have been known to grind off a bit of the caliper up front to fit 15 and chewy AT tires.. To me it never sounded like a good idea.

I put alpina 13 on my MkII Jetta..

Kinja'd!!!

They were awesome even if the speedo was way off..

Takuro Spirit > Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing.
02/22/2017 at 17:21

The offset’s about 20mm difference though, they might not fit. I can’t recall anyone running 6 wheels on a 3. 3 wheels on a 6 stick out nicely, like the RX-8 wheels on my car, but that’s due to them being wider with a similar offset to the stock 3 wheels.

Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing. > Takuro Spirit
02/22/2017 at 17:24

Well, I have a 5, but I don’t know if that makes much of a difference. Last time I checked the offset difference was pretty small, something around 10 or 15mm. I’d have to see if there is a difference in the offset between the 16" wheels on the Sport and the 17s on the Touring and Grand Touring models.

AestheticsInMotion > Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing.
02/22/2017 at 17:31

That seller doesn’t know what they have. Easily get over 500 on any miata forum

Takuro Spirit > Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing.
02/22/2017 at 17:52

5, 3, same thing :P

Offset on a 3, 5, RX-8. and pretty much all Japan made Mazdas is 50mm

The 6 is 60mm.

6 wheels will sit farther in on a 5, and might rub the calipers or other bits. Check the forums and see if anyone else has run them without spacers.

Highlander-Datsuns are Forever > Takuro Spirit
02/22/2017 at 17:57

Oh I like those RX-8 wheels ebay?

Takuro Spirit > Highlander-Datsuns are Forever
02/22/2017 at 18:37

Yeah. Got really lucky. Like, under $200 lucky.

Tazio, Count Fouroff > Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing.
02/22/2017 at 21:36

What width and aspect ratio?

it was so tough to find good 15" tires 225x50 or anything similar that would work I had to just bail on the 15's and buy 16" wheels