Buying Winter Tires for the Mazda3 GT

Hey all,

I'm a newbie to the forums - just got a 2007 Mazda3 GT sedan earlier this year and its been fun! Unfortunately winter is upon me, and I am looking for some advice on buying winter tires. I am no expert at this at all (pretty much, I just know how to drive the car and get the occasional oil change)...

Reading through some threads, it seems like I can get 205/55/16's instead of 205/50/17's...Is this perfectly fine? As in, NOOO problems? Will it mess up my mileage, or is there ANYTHING else I should be aware of?

I was throwing a fit trying to find decently priced winter 17's, so if I can use these 16's problem-free, that would be a relief!

UPDATE: I will probably buy cheap steel rims to fit the 16's, if that is okay...

Thanks for any help!
DDC85

Are you putting them on your stock rims? If so that won't work. 16 in tires on 17 inch rims. If putting on stock rims use the stock tire size.

I will probably buy steelies to fit the 16's...Is this okay?

In that case yes that will be the perfect tire size. As long as they are 16x6.5. That would be my guess.