Yes, I would stay as close to stock as possible for offset. The 9" wheels with +38 should fit with 245/40R18 (even brands that run wide) with a mild drop of 1" or 1.25", but any lower and you may rub. I know you had your heart set on the Battles, but the Weapons come in +45 offset. The Battles would fit with a +38, you will just get a little less handling performance out of it. If you aren't tracking your car then it isn't a big deal though.

Do you know the weight of the 18x9 Battles?

245/40R18 would be what I would suggest for tire size as well, based on your comments so far. What kind of tires are you looking for? Summer only, or year round?

 

I know I already PM'd you but I'm going to put it out here too. It would help us help you if you told us what kind of suspension mods you have. Like I said in my PM 18x9 +30 Will work and can look very good if you're lowered with just a slight fender roll. I'm running 18x9.5 +25 and I'm still not "flush" yea I had to roll my fenders and shave my rear bumper tabs but I still have about 5mm to go or so to be flush. Fender rolling is easy just take your time and use a heat gun.

 

McGridLe said he has Megan Racing lowering springs:

 

Yea I really did have my heart set on the battles, but after all of this I think I'm going to continue shopping and see what else out there I can find. And I looked around everywhere that I could find and couldn't figure out how much the battles weigh either.

As for tires, I'm already pretty set on khumo ecsta asx's they should be a good tire to get me through everything but winter. But I'm also not sure if those run narrow or wide.

Yea my Megan racing springs brought me down roughly 1.75 in the front and 1.50 in the rear. So I'm not slammed but It has a pretty good stance for my taste.

And as far as rolling the fenders, I'm really considering buying the tool and attempting it myself, I would just be really gentle and take my time so I don't think it would be that bad.

 

I just did some searching to try to find weight on the Battles, and it seems there are mixed numbers. Anywhere from 23 to 27 pounds is claimed. Not lightweight at all. My Weapons are 21.1 pounds, but I am not sure what you think of that style. If you have the money to play, I would suggest the RPF1. They are a super light, high quality wheel. If my budget was higher, that is probably what I would have gotten.

I have some personal experience with the Kumho ASX if you don't mind me sharing. I had these on my '93 Ford Probe GT and my '03 Audi TT Quattro Coupe. My brother also has these on his '09 Cobalt SS Coupe. They are a very good tire for a daily driver, but I don't consider them a performance tire. Their grip is pretty limited, but this is true for any all-season tire really (when compared to summer tires). If you plan on having a dedicated winter set, then I would suggest getting a dedicated summer set too. The Kumho SPT are a great summer tire that I also have experience with. They are even up to the task of handling an autocross or two if you want. I had a set of SPT's on another TT Quattro and there were fantastic; much better grip compared to the ASX.

Also, TireRack lists the 245/40R18 ASX to have a tread width of 8.3 inches. This is on the narrow side for tread width on a 245/40R18. You want your tread width to be as close to wheel width as possible for maximum performance. Not saying anything bad could happen using it on a 9" wheel, you could just get more contact patch and still be supported well.

 

Wow, well the weight of the battles is also a deal breaker. Whatever i get, I want it to be at least lighter than stock. And I do like the look of the weapons, It's just not exactly the look I'm looking for on this car. And I really don't care for the RPF1's either, I'm really picky I'll have to do some more searching anyway.

And as for the tires, I certainly welcome you experience with them. I'm not sold on the ecsta asx per say. It's just a rough idea of what I was looking for. The reason I had picked those is because I don't really need a high performance tire. I'm really just looking for something that will serve me well with everyday driving and have a bit longer tread life then the more sticky tires. I had some nitto NT05 on my old mustang and as much as I loved them, I just burnt through them too quick. when I have more time I'll look further into the SPT's that you mentioned.

And I'm sorry for my lack of research this far, I have just put together a couple things that I'm interested in and haven't really dug into them yet, I do most of my browsing on 15 min. breaks at work lol. I would have looked into the actual tire width before purchasing anything but thank you for pointing that out. I really don't like when tires have to stretch to fit, I like a nice square fit.

 

Hey guys, just posting in here to check out how the MW is doing. I will be moving back to Iowa (most likely will be staying in Iowa City) here shortly from SoCal. Attended aome rx8club events here. Wondering what kind of things are going on in Iowa.

 

holy **** its been a while!! If anyone wants to get together next year hit me up, we have a nice collection we can bring out.

 

would love to get an Iowa get together next year... count me in


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Will get something going!

 

Count me in for the meet, RX 8 owners are far and few in my area (Quad cities).

06 Shinka

 

Count me in!

 

sounds good! seems like there is a bunch more Rx8 owners in Iowa now than few years ago

 

You know I'm always down.

 

If we get the shop going soon it will be the main headquarters! lol

 

Holy Thread Revival.. Just seeing if anyone in Iowa is still alive and looking to meet?

 

Hey McGriDLe,

What did you ever end up doing for wheels/tires?

 

Hey JCrane,

Nice to hear from you again. I ended up sticking with the MB Battles. I didn't get the +15 offset that I had originally wanted (mostly based on your suspension advice.) I ended up just sticking with the 18x8 +38. Not quite as concave as I would have liked but much closer to the stock offset. I also wasn’t extremely excited to roll my fenders. As much as I would like a more aggressive fitment, I don’t want to see paint chips around the fenders either.

All in all I'm happy with how it turned out. It's nowhere near this forum's definition of flush but it looks 1,000 times better than stock!