Mazda3 tires 2 small

[Macadonious]

I have noticed that the M3 rear likes to slip out from time to time around hard corners. The car does not lean that much nor shift weight too much. The only thing I can accuse the car of doing is loosing traction. I think it is becouse of the GoodYear Eagle RSA's on them. I have had simular experance with these same tires on another car. I think also the tires should be a bit wider and have a Z rating rather then a V. This ought to eliminate the rear from slipping.

I would like to know your opinion on this. The tire size I have selected would be a set of 225/45-17. This will make the speedo only .4% too fast. Were when doing 60mph you are actually doing 59.8mph

This is my resourse for my information on tire size

 

[Mazda3]

I don't think its the tire width, its just the tires. Don't forget this car is being marketed to the masses as a econo-box commuter. They needed to select a tire that would offer "decent" cornering, but also offer "some" all season traction. But you are right, a good set of Z rated tires would greatly increase the cars cornering ability.

 

[LeeLee]

I think it's just the tire and not the size. 205/50R17 is perfectly fine for a car of the 3's weight and power. You don't necessarily need a Z-rated tire to get good performance, since the lette rating is just a max-speed rating and has little to do with traction. A better indicator of traction is of course the traction rating, and tread design. Any tire with an H or higher speed rating should be fine for the Mazda3. Just find the one that gives you the best combination of handling, ride, and wear.

I am looking to get the Michelin Pilot A/S, but it's fairly expensive. I may go up to 215/50R17 just to have access to a wider selection of lowe priced all-season performance tires. Personally, anything above 215mm I'd worry about hampering performance. 225mm may get you slightly better turn-in and raw grip, but it will also be heavier and make the steering much more twitchy when running over road imperfections. Also, whereas 215mm will fit okay on the stock 6.5" rim, 225mm will look pinched.

 

[Roywhitep5]

there are alexas in japan that were fitted with 19by 9 inch rims.

245/35/19

once those start being produced, you'll have crazy grip

 

[Brian_B]

The Goodyear Eagle RSAs are pretty poor tires. You should see if any tire shop around you will give you a credit for them (being pretty new, right?) towards the purchase of some better tires. If you would like to see what's good and what isn't, go over to the Tirerack website and look at their survey results. You'll notice that the RSAs are pretty poor and that you can get some much, much better tires for the same amount of money. For example, the Dunlop SP Sport A2 is a good one, as well as the Continental ContiExtremeContact.

 

[wongpres]

Just some background info:

The factory 17-inch alloys are 6.5-inch wide. I'm not a tire guy (so I may be wrong on this), but I've heard that you can't go wider than 205 in 6.5-inch rims.

As an aside, the Mazda6 17-inch alloys are 7-inch and the tire size is P215/50R17, which kinda reinforces that 6.5-inch limitation.

 

[Macadonious]

LeeLee, The rating does transcibe into grip aswell as max speed rating. I use to auto X so I do know this.

Wrongpres, to some point you are right, but when you go wider, it also goes taller, so there for by countering that with a thiner hieght, then you will not go over too much of the rim.

 

[Notorious]

Just some background info:

The factory 17-inch alloys are 6.5-inch wide. I'm not a tire guy (so I may be wrong on this), but I've heard that you can't go wider than 205 in 6.5-inch rims.

As an aside, the Mazda6 17-inch alloys are 7-inch and the tire size is P215/50R17, which kinda reinforces that 6.5-inch limitation.

Same with the msp. 17x7, but you can mount a 225 tire but it'll rub in the msp. But you are right, you don't want to go past 205 in a 6.5 inch wheel.

 

[Togan]

tire calculator thing is fun its the first time that ive seen smth like that

 

[Macadonious]

Same with the msp. 17x7, but you can mount a 225 tire but it'll rub in the msp. But you are right, you don't want to go past 205 in a 6.5 inch wheel.

And why do you not want to go over 205? I looked at the tires on the M3 and it could very well stand to be wider.

 

[LeeLee]

I agree with Macadonious that 215 on 6.5" rims should be fine. Most 215/50/17 tires spec rim widths from about 6" to 7.5", with 7" being recommended. But 6.5" rim should certainly be okay. I would only begin to worry if 225 tires are used because it would be on the lower edge of acceptable rim width. Plus it would look odd.

 

[frenzy2223]

I looked on www.tirerack.com and they state that for a 215/50/17 the Rim Width Range is 6-7.5" and the Measuring Rim Width is 7". For a 215/45/17 the Rim Width Range is 7-8" and the Measuring Rim Width is 7" also. I still don't think that there would be a problem using the 215/45/17's. See www.tirerack.com for definitions.

 

[frenzy2223]

I looked into this and I found that the 1997 Mitsubishi Eclipse GSX came with 17x6.5 wheels and comes stock with 215/50/17 tires. So this sould help with your decision.

 

[frenzy2223]

I found this info at http://www.wheelweights.net/wheels.pdf and the tire size at www.tirerack.com