I've read from the Mazda USA site as well as other articles that make note of 17" brakes. Are they talking rotor diameter? That's huge! Anybody know the specs of the calipers, 2, 4, 6 pot?

 

i had the same reaction. i think it is bogus since they are now saying that the standard wheels will be 16" with 18s as an option. i haven't heard of rotors being even 1" less than the wheel size, so they will have to show me before i believe it.

unfortunately, i think there will be a steady "retunr to reality" period between now and when the car comes out and most of the features won't be as good as initially promoted. the weight has already gone from 2700 to lbs. nearly 3k for instance.

-paul

 

As far as I know the Manual Tranny comes standard with the 18" wheels and 17" rotors. The "standard" or auto trans has smaller wheels due to the rumored 215HP detune.

 

i hope you are right but how do the calipers fit in if this is the case?

-paul

 

as i recall it, it was actually 16" rotors...the plot thickens.

 

Whether they are 16" or 17", that's going to be one heck of a tail hook.:D Expensive replacement as well.

 

actually, RX 8 is coming with 16" wheels standard, 17" option...

 

17" brakes are impossible ... I would think 13" would be the absolute max, and more like 11.5"

I don't even know if there is such a thing as 17" brake rotors.

 

Well I was looking through some of the old RX8 info and it had 14." listed for the 19" wheels. So 13;s and below are most likely.

 

well,

1. R&T said 16" wheels will be standard
2. combination of 19" wheels and tires... and 13" brakes will cost a lot of dope... dont expect to see it even as an option... it aint dodge viper for gods sake

 

Sometime automakes quote the swept area of the brake surface rather than the diameter of the rotars. Such is the case here. The rotors will likely have about 12 inches of diameter and 16^2 inches of swept surface area.

 

How it actually works guys, and it's quoted like this sometimes in Japan and Europe, is that they state the brake size as the minimum size wheel that will fit over the brakes. So in reality the brake size is not referring to the discs, but the minimum wheel diametre that will fit over them. A bit weird but that is how it is.

 

I don't know what's been quoted as far as wheel size, but I kinda doubt the RX8 will come to the US with "18 wheels. Too expensive for Mazda and there aren't many cars that come with 18s stock. I think it'll probably b e "17, maybe "16.

 

i doubt they will have 16's stock, 17's sound about right..and it is very possible to have 18s on the car stock...the vette has 18's on the back and 17's on the front

 

The M3 comes standard with 18's, with 19" optional. But then again, the price range of the Vette and the M3 are way above what the RX-8's guesstimated price range.