205/55R16 vs 205/50ZR16

raymariamnoah

Member
:
2002 Mazda Protege5 Manual Transmission
Opinions on tires mounted to stock protege5 wheels:

Pirelli Cinturato P7 205/55R16 XL
Or
Continental Extreme Contact DWS 205/50ZR16

I have been reading here that the biggest tire size of 205/50R16 is optimal due to more availability of tires in this size...
 
205/55 is a BIG tire for the protege. go with the 205/50-16 size. also, the DWS is a very good tire.
 
i went with a different continental the control contact sport a/s as it has a better treadwear rating and i am in the south but the dws should serve you well up in NYC.
 
Yeah the DWS is the best all season tire for the money and it's available in the stock size.
 
Running 205/55R16 on my car with no issues, it rides MUCH better now. Running Cooper CS5 Ultra and very happy with them.
 
Running 205/55R16 on my car with no issues, it rides MUCH better now. Running Cooper CS5 Ultra and very happy with them.

the 205/50s ride very smooth compared to 195/50s as well. 55s start getting wide do you have any rubbing or gas mileage issues?
 
the 205/50s ride very smooth compared to 195/50s as well. 55s start getting wide do you have any rubbing or gas mileage issues?

No rubbing, even loaded down with camping gear on rough roads. We haven't had the car long and my wife doesn't track mileage for some reason... We took it on a trip and averaged 27mpg, and that was on HWY 1 (scenic and curvy coastal road) as well as some single lane mountain roads and about 10 miles of dirt road, SO basically, I'm not gonna complain about fuel economy :).
 
the 205/50s ride very smooth compared to 195/50s as well. 55s start getting wide do you have any rubbing or gas mileage issues?

i ride on 205/55/r16s and they rub so bad especially over bumps it wears out the inside of the tire and caused a blow out at one time so i need to go get some 50s but i thought about 45s just to be safe
 
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