Hey Everybody, I am having over $2,100.00 worth of work being done to my 2004 Mazda 3,I apologize to everyone who takes good care of their car, because I have not. Despite my bad ownership, the car has shown me nothing but love (purchased March of 04, has 137,500 miles).

I wanted to know if anyone has experimented with getting smaller wheels and fatter tires for their 3, or kept the rim size (mine are 17's), and gotten larger tires?

Driving in Massachusetts, and Rhode Island is a nightmare with all the potholes. And seeing that rims these days are alloy, they get bent out of shape QUICK!! The dealer said that my Falken FK 452205/50R-17XL 93Y BSW tires are a rough riding tire, of hard rubber. So my guess from that description is that they do not provide too good protection for my rims. Anyone tinker with this issue??

Max

You could go down to a 16" rim and get a little more sidewall height, but unless yours is an i-model, you can't go any smaller.

I had 225/45R17 tires and ended up blistering/destroying a couple of tires on potholes.....I bought an old Taurus to combat the problem.

Kumhos have softer sidewalls than Falkens.I have run both and to get the sidewall stiffness I like from the Kumhos I have to "PUMP.. them up!!"Going to a 15" (3i models only,) or a 16" as Scott suggests (3i or 3S models,) might aleviate your ride problem a bit.
Going to new struts/shocks might also help, just don"t go to sport shocks.

Someone recommended Yokohama's to me, but I've heard some pretty ugly stories about them. V1, have you gotten any wheels outside of what Mazda sells itself? Bought some at Discount tire, but after picking up the car today from the dealer, he said my front two are a bit bent. There are a couple of wheel straighteners in the area, but I'm not sure they can get thewheels back to original specs.

Yes, but I wouldn"t recommend them for your circumstance.
I am running Kosei K1-TS"s. They are very light weight but not strong enough to handle what you describe. Low pressure casting and shot peened.
Forged wheels would be the way to go. Light weight and strength, but they can cost an awfullot too (>$1500/set.)
I too have heard horror storiesabout the Yoko"s and it has kept me from trying them recently. A long time ago I did run a set of lightly shaved A-509"s on my Honda Civic for Auto-X and Road Rally duty, but tires tech changes every day.Sometimes for the good, sometimes not.Either way, it"s usually a compromise.

The stock Mazda6 17" wheels are fairly beefy. I destroyed a couple of tires on those (on both my 3 and my wife's 6) and the wheels are undamaged. We have the king daddy's of potholes here in Michigan. There are 2 seasons in Michigan....winter and construction.

That isvery true, and they look good (imo) too. My only complaint about the stock 6 wheels is the weight.
Since you are not going w/a bigger wheel, though the6 wheels are a 1/2" wider,why not just stick w/OE"s?
I would recommend some 5-8mm spacers as the offset of the 6 wheels is deeper than the 3"s.

Hmm, that is a good idea SS. Use wheels from a 6. I am just trying to make this car last me another two to three years. I know it can go A LOT further than that. Just looking at it brings me joy. But my wife's nagging in driving me up the wall. We're gonna take the car over to a wheel "straightener" if that's a word, and see if they can make it ride nice again. Hopefully then, no more wobble. Otherwise, it's going to a third party to see if it is the wheels, or the dealer job.

Tires on the other hand, I am not sure what to go with after the wheels are repaired.
Goodyear Eagle GT's?
BF Goodrich g-Force Sport?
Looking for something softer than the Falken 452's on right now. Thank You Guys!! Your 'nions are GREAT.

Personally, I don"t think you"ll be happy w/either of those choices.
But I must also admit that anything that says Good*Year on the sidewall is outta" my book. I had some very bad experiences w/GY and their CS.

Thanks for telling me that 1. That with what some Goodyear users have said, like this person in MN:
"We just got our 2nd snowstorm in 3 days and these tires are about as good as my smooth bottom slippers. I agree with many of you and have no idea how Mazda, or any other car manufacturer would allow Goodyear tires to be put on their cars. I also have a Nissan Maxima which used to have these same tires on it for about a month. Now off to the tire store to get a set of Pirelli winter tires only to wait for Summer to burn up these cheap, poorly designed Goodyears and send them to tire heaven."

And this person in TN:
"This was the stock tire my car originally came with (Mazda 3s), I have been through two sets (I drive A LOT, 87,000 on my '04) through the dealership (I have a tire and brake insentive where I do not pay for them as long as my car is serviced at the dealership.) I have been extremely unimpressed with this tire, esp. for the amount of money they want for these things. If I had actually shelled out this much for this tire I would be a very unhappy camper! tred wear is not good and traction, esp. in the wet is nasty. My suggestion would be to go with the Yokahama (I've been through a full set of these also), you'll save money and get a better tire to boot!"

Has me a bit worried. Not to mention that I asked around some of the scrap metal places here in Mass, and the most they are coughing up for alloy wheels are between $0.15 and $0.40 per pound, I am re-considering getting my OE stock rims fixed. I was completely blown away by that, there is no way I am giving them up for practically nothing. Later V1.

Wanna hoot!! RS-A's are what Ford was putting on Police edition Crown Vickies!!!
I laughed in the CS reps face when I heard that, but it"s true.

I just bought a 2009 Mazda3 i Touring this week, and it came with 205/50 R17 Goodyear Eagle RS-A tires. Like you I've read absolutely NOTHING good about these tires and withing 24 hours of buying the car, I ordered a set of highly regarded Michelin Pilot Sport A/S tires for it. The good news here is that TireRack is selling the remaining Michelins for $120 per tire in a closeout sale (thereplacement Michelin model called the Pilot Sport A/S Plus is now available for $175 per tire), while supplies last. I should have my new skins next Monday. :D

It was the RS-A's that I hit the pothole with. The tire survived, my rim was RUINED!! The worst shakes ever experienced in my short car owning history (81 Cadillac Cimarron/Chevy Cavalier, 83 Camaro that I paid $400.00 for and lasted 2½ years, 1992 Geo Prizm).

I guess having 8 tires and rims will work out the best and cheapest in the long run...

I finally decided to try the RX8 wheels on my 06Mazda3i, I find the road noise is alittle louder than stock tires(Running Falken P-225-40-zr18), but handles and looksmuch better.Exhaust and CAI are next but with holidays coming up I'll have to wait.

http://s421.photobucket.com/albums/pp297/vlstellato/?action=view&current=100_1017-1.jpg

They look good, like the original 2004 wheels I got. This weekend was FRUSTRATING!! I don't currently have the stock rims on my car, so when I went to get the current wheels straightened, the idiots at Firestone (had a flat), kept my key for the lug nuts. 2ND TIME another spot takes my key. Discounttire is sending me a third which will be on my neck from now on.

Thanks for sharing that VL. I think I will lean that way (smaller wheels) if my wife doesn't make me go CX-9 first.

Good luck with getting your car fixed. I know how those roads are in Mass I lived in Fairhaven for a couple years, between the potholes and salt they can really destroy a car.

Hey guys, I was looking up some info about the Kumho Ecsta ASX tires (after reading V1 replies), and they get good reviews. Will look to go with those in the Summer possibly. Interesting that tirerack also had, "Sumitomo?" $58 bucks each!! Sounds too good to be true, anyone use those before? They are a "best seller", but I think we know why...

I had decent luck with Toyo Proxes tires (wear wise), but I did blister and shred 2 tires on potholes/road debris.

Geesh SS, what were you doing? Zoom zoomin' to the extreme? The roads are that bad though, I saw a VW this weekend shred it's rims on route 128 here in Mass. It is crazy the number of tire brands out there. It is no longer a rush decision for me what to get now. I'll be doing some studying until next week arrives. Will have to make a switch to newer tires since they will be deformed by riding a couple of months on bad rims.

52,000 miles in Metro Detroit. My wife has killed 2 tires as well on her 6 (no wheels damaged though)

We've got potholes that will swallow your whole car. Tons of roadsalt is used and we've got really high weight allowances for semis so the roads take a pounding.