ok so my gf's 2004 mazda 3 sedan is a nice little daily driver. we got it used; it came with "aftermarket" 17" wheels and relatively new tires. tires (i'm not sure of the brand off the top of my head) are in great condition. one of the tires consistently loses air though. a few months ago we took it to discounttire to find out one rim is bent and one is cracked! the rims are SUPER cheap, looked them up and they were like $80/wheel or something we've been driving it as-is but i'm tired of filling the tire up every 3 or 4 days, and obviously the safety concern of driving on a partially cracked rim. so here are the options...any input would be appreciated!

1. leave everything as-is and get beadlock to help with tire pressure
have no idea what this is, but heard it can help seal the air in. still doesn't alleviate the safety issue of a cracked rim.

2. keep the tires and get new, but still super cheap rims to hold us over until we can afford better rims. found a set of "mb wheels" at discount tire that would be around $525 installed.
good solution to get the most out of our current tires, but could have another cracked rim in a few months and be in the same boat!

3. get 225/40/18 tires to be mounted onto my oem rx8 wheels.
mazda 3's look sweet with rx8 wheels and i know the wheels are solid. i wanted to get her the hancooks which rated #2 on the recent review. i think in that size, with warranty at discount tire though it'll be over $600, if not $700 mounted. so best long-term solution i think, but not best short-term for money reasons.

So, does anyone have experience with CHEAP wheels like at discount tire? OR, can anyone recommend a decent tire set for under $500? tire rec's would only be "overall good"...decent tread, decent grip, mostly summer but some rain, daily driver. nothing fancy. I've only had expensive tires on my 8, so i don't have any knowledge of "economy" tires and what would be a good choice for her car. THANKS!

EDIT: boy that's a long post...sorry! i was thinking out loud!!

 

ok so i found a great deal on 2 tires, but the brand of those 2 is super expensive. so, instead of matching them with 2 new tires of the same brand, i'd like to buy two econo tires. does anyone have experience with mixing tire brands? keep in mind this is a 150-ish (or less) hp mazda 3 sedan that's just a dd, so i'm not too worried about performance or anything, just want it to be cheap but safe.

 

RX8 wheels + Mazda/Mazdaspeed 3/6 = win.

 

Depends on the tires, of course. Normally, I wouldn't imagine you having any issues in a FF car. When rain hits though, then yes, you might have a worrisome situation. Generally, don't mix tires unless you're in some dire situation (which this doesn't seem like). It's not as bad as using new tires on the F/R and keeping old on the opposite, but it's still not good.

 

i'd vote for option 3

 

Option 3 would be awsome

 

I would do the RX8 wheels.

 

I had Kumo solus on wife's 3.

good tires for the cheap.

also check out your local BJ's or costco for good prices on all non-high performance all season tires

 

ha ha **** i didn't realize people had replied!

thanks guys. i just added pics to my oem wheel f/s thread...........and after i saw the oem wheels again i kinda had a moment i love those wheels, i think i might get some new tires for them instead of selling them. just not too keen on having 18"s on a daily driver with like 140hp, ha ha

i thought about costco! their website sucks. but also, i realized most 225/40/18 tires are not cheap, just by the very nature of their low profile i guess.