Winter tires, 195/50 R16, on a budget...

[kiffer]

Hey guys, I'm a new Protege 5 owner and I'm new to these forums.

I just bought my yellow '03 and am in serious need of new tires. I live in the Pittsburgh area and since winter is around the corner and I'm planning on having a winter set and a summer set I gonna go with winter tires. Problem is, I just bought the car and just moved to the area so you can imagine I'm strapped for cash. Any one have any suggestions for a set of winter tires?

Thanks for any help.

[bucksatan]

You can look in the for sale threads here: http://www.mazdas247.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=131, and check your local threads here: http://www.mazdas247.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=70 . You can also google for a local mazda or protege club in your area, I know the toronto one has a fair number of offers for snow tires, both mounted and tires alone. There is also craigslist and other local boards, with a little luck you might find something on there. And of course, you can also look in the auto section of your local paper and go through the flyers on the weekend.

Good luck in your search and congrats on the new car.

[JoshP5]

Icebear (http://www.edgeracing.com/tire/4242/).

[Tom03es]

Or, if you still have a decent amount of tread depth left, see if any tire places will sipe your tires. Siping will "basically" turn a set of all seasons into winter tires.

[kiffer]

Thanks for the quick replys and suggestions.

My friend has a set of 1 year old Blizzaks ws-50's onn wheels, he would practically give me. The size is 185/70 14, could I put those on? I know it would screw up the speed-o reading but what other problems would I encounter if I did this and would it screw anything up majorly, minorly, or permently?

Do it or Don't do it?


***Edit wheels are off an audi***

[bucksatan]

assuming that they wheels clear the brakes and fenders the overall size difference isn't very much. According to this page: http://www.net-comber.com/tirecalc.html the speedo would only be off about 1.5 miles an hour at 65 miles per hour. That difference is only slightly bigger than from using 205/50;s on the stick rims. I would go for it assuming that the rims fit properly.