tires for the 17" wheels

[Mikey444]

The stock tires that come with the 17" wheels Good year RS-A, I find them to be pretty shitty, the only reason why the car stay on the road with those tires is because the car is good, if you read reviews about these tires you will find a lot of complaints about tread wear and road noise and a lot of ppl say it does not stick to the road at all. I only have 11 000 kilometers on my car and I am already looking for new tires

So I was wondering, I found a really good tire out there, but the size is P205/45 ZR17 and the stock is P205/ 50 R17. I am wondering is having the car lowered by an inch with this tire would be a big problem. Or else i will just pop on some Michelins Alpin Pilot A/S

[goldwing2000]

It's not the lowering that is a problem, it's the decrease in diameter. If you put those tires on, your speedo will read faster than you are actually going. Like your speedo will say 120 but you'll only be going 100.

There's technically nothing *wrong* with it but people generally do not go to a smaller tire. The decision is yours, of course.

[Mikey444]

I understand, is there a way of reseting the speedometer, if not, I'll just pop some Michelins on. The reason why I was thinking of putting those other tires on is because I read some extremely good reviews about them, no negative coments, thnx for your input.

[sndsgood]

the company doesnt make the tires in the size you need? there really is no way of resetting the speedo as far as i know. i'd pick a pair of tires that actually fit your car. there are enough good brands out there to make a tire in your size. give toyo a try. i love their tires i use the fz4's

[Mikey444]

the company doesnt make the tires in the size you need? there really is no way of resetting the speedo as far as i know. i'd pick a pair of tires that actually fit your car. there are enough good brands out there to make a tire in your size. give toyo a try. i love their tires i use the fz4's

I would love TOYO tires, but they dont make my size

[fkmp5]

if you want Toyo's, keep in mind you can get a little bit of a wider tire (someone with a Mazda3 chime in here to suggest sizes) but something like 215/45/17 is only slightly smaller in diameter than your stock 205/50/17 and should still fit on your stock rims without rubbing anywhere.

play with the tire calculator on miata.net to see different size tires and how they would affect you:
http://www.miata.net/garage/tirecalc.html

PS: You can get Toyo Proxes4 (for example) in 215/45/17 if you are dead set on Toyo.

[Mikey444]

yea but the smaller diameter will cause my speedometer to not give the actual speed, I will look into slightly wider tires but not change the diameter, thank you for your input though. I really apreciate it

[cutiepie_1980]

Won't that affect the odometer as well??

[Garfinkle]

If your tires are done after 11,000km it's got to be the way you drive that wears them out, not the tires.

[Da 6]

goodyears aren't that good....michelin mxv4+(Better as a snow tire) are only like 1 step up but aren't worth the price you pay for them.....dealer charged $160 per tire when I had to get another set....could have gotten falkens cheaper all around for what I paid...someone managed to squeeze on 225 45 zr17"s o their stock 6.5 17 rims...funny thing is thats the tire and size used in rev it up...

[fkmp5]

yea but the smaller diameter will cause my speedometer to not give the actual speed, I will look into slightly wider tires but not change the diameter, thank you for your input though. I really apreciate it
right.. i know how it works.. which is why i suggested the 215/45 series.. it is smaller yes, but only a wee bit smaller (speedo is off less than 2%) .. the 45 is a percentage of 215 .. just like the 50 is a percentage of 205 .. so 215/45 is very close in diameter to a 205/50 ..

45% of 215mm = 96.75mm versus 50% of 205mm = 102.5mm

difference is only 5.75mm (less than ¼ of an inch)

[Mikey444]

If your tires are done after 11,000km it's got to be the way you drive that wears them out, not the tires.

I think so not, I didnt wear out the tires on my Altima nearly as fast, far from the Good Years.

[Mikey444]

right.. i know how it works.. which is why i suggested the 215/45 series.. it is smaller yes, but only a wee bit smaller (speedo is off less than 2%) .. the 45 is a percentage of 215 .. just like the 50 is a percentage of 205 .. so 215/45 is very close in diameter to a 205/50 ..

45% of 215mm = 96.75mm versus 50% of 205mm = 102.5mm

difference is only 5.75mm (less than ¼ of an inch)


The problem with a 215 width is that it does not crunch thru the snow as a tire that is not as wide

[sndsgood]

yeah but on my toyo fz4s i got over 75,000 miles out of them with a few days of autocrossing thrown in. sure beats the milage you got. have u looked into nitto?

[Roywhitep5]

i heard that next year falken will come out with 215/45/17 azenis like they had at rev it up

[Da 6]

i heard that next year falken will come out with 215/45/17 azenis like they had at rev it up(boom01)....they weren't 225?...

[bvmazda3]

right.. i know how it works.. which is why i suggested the 215/45 series.. it is smaller yes, but only a wee bit smaller (speedo is off less than 2%) .. the 45 is a percentage of 215 .. just like the 50 is a percentage of 205 .. so 215/45 is very close in diameter to a 205/50 ..

45% of 215mm = 96.75mm versus 50% of 205mm = 102.5mm

difference is only 5.75mm (less than ¼ of an inch)

It's actually 5.6% smaller.. Speedo says 100, yer doin' 94. At 100 000 miles on the odo, you'll only have driven 94 400...Still not a big difference.. Less chance of tickets, I suppose ... :) More torque too!!! LOL

Edit: spelling

[fkmp5]

It's actually 5.6% smaller.. Speedo says 100, yer doin' 94. At 100 000 miles on the odo, you'll only have driven 94 400...Still not a big difference.. Less chance of tickets, I suppose ... :) More torque too!!! LOL

Edit: spelling
overall diameter is only 1.8% less .. this means at 100mph you're really only going 98.2 mph .. source = miata.net tire calc (http://www.miata.net/garage/tirecalc.html)

actual sidewall height, however, is 5.6% smaller..

i would definately accept that size as a replacement..

[streetdragon]

i would go with the michilin pilots. my buddy has them on his tiburon and they stick.

[AzMz3]

(boom01)....they weren't 225?...


I think he is right, after looking at the pics of the Rev-it-up cars they do look alittle different then mine.
I'm happy with them till 215's come out.
--Herb--

[Mikey444]

i would go with the michilin pilots. my buddy has them on his tiburon and they stick.

Thank you for your input

[badAzLava3]

Rev it ups were 225.

Many choices in 225, zero speedo diff.

[AzMz3]

Rev it ups were 225.

Many choices in 225, zero speedo diff.


Cool

---Herb---

[PeteyBoy3K]

I've always liked how much better my golf handled/held after getting bridgestone potenza RE950's I liked the rain-shedding (thus, they form an arrow point tread design) and they had the dual-rubber so that they didn't harden as they got older. They also had no noticeable abnormal wear patterns, were lasting 45K miles (I traded in the golf before they ran out and had gone about 40K), were quiet and got pretty good mileage... and with all that the car felt much less "squishy"

not sure how they compare with any of the other makes, nor have I seen any reports/complaints/compliments. I just thought they were pretty good tires.

[Mikey444]

actually, can anyone send me a link to a tire company that makes a tire with the same diameter as the stock one but are slightly larger and would fit to the rim, many thanks!

[Da 6]

depends...cause under normal conditions a 215 wouldn't fit on a 6.5 rim but as shown earlier 225 could fit...but gotta be 1 stif sidewall to pull it off

[badAzLava3]

You can get a 245 to fit on a 6 1/2 but I wouldn't drive on it.
It all comes down to sidewall support.

In reality, a 215 or a 225 are better suited to a 7" wide rim.
The closer you can get to the "best" width, the sharper the steering.
A 225 will feel a little mushier than a 205 on a narrow rim.
Once the rim width catches up, the "sharp" feeling comes back.
A little extra air helps a lot. A stiffer sidewall helps too. A shorter sidewall helps (50 series to a 45 series for instance).

So for me an Azenis or Kumho MX with a stiff sidewall loses less feel than some floppy Dunlops or Pep Boys Futuras.

[AzMz3]

You can get a 245 to fit on a 6 1/2 but I wouldn't drive on it.
It all comes down to sidewall support.

In reality, a 215 or a 225 are better suited to a 7" wide rim.
The closer you can get to the "best" width, the sharper the steering.
A 225 will feel a little mushier than a 205 on a narrow rim.
Once the rim width catches up, the "sharp" feeling comes back.
A little extra air helps a lot. A stiffer sidewall helps too. A shorter sidewall helps (50 series to a 45 series for instance).

So for me an Azenis or Kumho MX with a stiff sidewall loses less feel than some floppy Dunlops or Pep Boys Futuras.


I agree, I would never have put a 225 on the stock rim unless it had a stiff sidewall like the Azenis. They do over hang alittle but they don't feel mushy at all. And I have pushed them very hard on some turns.

---Herb---

[Mikey444]

In the end, I am just going to pop on some Michelin Pilot Alpin Sport A/S All season, P205/50 R17's the stock size of the Mazda 3. Those tires are really grippy, they stick to the road like nothing else

[GFXguy]

In the end, I am just going to pop on some Michelin Pilot Alpin Sport A/S All season, P205/50 R17's the stock size of the Mazda 3. Those tires are really grippy, they stick to the road like nothing else

i still cant decide whether i want the Pilot Sport A/S or the Pirelli P Zero Nero A/S

someone help (cryhard)

[Da 6]

...They do over hang alittle but...

---Herb---thats good for those drive thru curbage incidents(2thumbs)

[AzMz3]

thats good for those drive thru curbage incidents(2thumbs)

They don't hang over that far. You would still screw up a rim if you curb it.

[Da 6]

still better than what I got...the rim protrudes past the tire...