Clueless about buying new rims
 

I have a 2008 mazda3 sedan that is completely stock and I was really wanting to get new rims for it. The problem lies within the fact that I have no idea how to go about it. I looked at some rims on websites and they give you the choice of buying the wheels themselves or wheels + tires. It is possible to just purchase the rims and somehow install them on a car using your old tires? I'm entirely unsure about the whole process.

For reference, these are the tires/rims I was interested in (the style)

http://www.wheelsnext.com/wheels-tir...2520Black.html

as long as your current tires are in good condition you can have them mounted. keep in mind the offset and width of the wheels are close to factory specs.

If you want to replace your current wheels but use the same tyres post your tyre size e.g. 195/65/15

This equates to 195mm wide with 65% sidewalls (i.e. 65% of 195) on a 15" rim

If your rim is 15 then you want 15" wheels

Size 6.5 (wide) X 15" (diameter) PCD 5 X 114 (number of studs X width between in mm), Offset: 35 - 45 (this is governs how far they sit in or out fron the hub), Bore: 67.1 (you can hub rings if select wheel bore is slightly bigger, smaller wheel bore will not fit), Fitting nuts are 12X1.5

I am in the UK but assume it is exactly the same stateside. Quite often the alloy wheel websites will quote you by vehicle anyway.

Something to remember if you decide to go for a bigger wheel (16" or bigger) is that you need to keep the rolling circumference somewhere near what you have now, i believe this should be within 3% as this will effect your speedo reading + or - by the same amount as the increase in circumference i.e. a speedo reading of 60 mph on a circumference that is 5% bigger will actually be 63mph.

Hope this all helps

I'd vote for a second set of rims, and use them as winter tires. Also remember to get a set of TPMS units for the rims, many years work the same - search ebay stores and you can get a good deal on a set of 4 for ~$100