Question about tires on my Protege DX

[a61688]

Hello all. I'd like to start by saying that this forum is the best Mazda forum EVAR! On to the goods.

My Pro has Tokico HP struts and springs with about a 1.5" drop from factory. I upgraded my wheels from 14's to 15's and they came with 205/55/15's that rubbed pretty bad on the sidewall of the rear tires when the car had weight or quickly turned. Right now i am running 195/55/15's with no problem but need and miss the grip of the 205's.

My question to you all, should you choose to answer ( MI ), is if 205/50/15's would be a feasible solution to the rubbing. I noticed that with the 205/55's, it would rub because the tire sat a bit fat on the wheels and with body roll would slightly touch the upper part of the sidewall. Would going to 205/50's solve this?

 

[tweety2300]

I'd say go down to 205/45

 

[a61688]

I'd say go down to 205/45

Diameter difference would be 2.2% shorter and speedometer would be 2.2% too slow. 205/50's will be 1.5% faster and 1.6% taller. Both would stick out .7 inches further out when compared to the stock tires/wheels. Currently the 195/55's stick out .5 inches compared to stock. I'll upload a picture in a minute to give you an idea of what they look like and maybe we can figure this out

 

[a61688]

https://www.dropbox.com/s/nvta4yp9v17jgoy/2012-08-13 18.12.36.jpg
The wheel's offset brings the 195's right to the fender if not a bit further out. I'm a little worried that if I get 205 anything again, my theory about the sidewall being too tall won't matter and that it'll still rub.

 

[a61688]

After many hours spent measuring current wheels/tires and looking up info on the 'internets', I've decided to get the 205/50's. Many places recommend it as a wider tire that is still close to oem and Tire Rack doesn't even have a 205/45 in stock at all! If anyone wants to offer their thoughts, I'd be glad to listen since the purchase will be in the future. Thanks for taking the time to post, even though I basically answered my own question

 

[tweety2300]

What's the offset on your rims?

 

[a61688]

What's the offset on your rims?

38

 

[tweety2300]

If you have the opportunity to trade your rims for other ones wit a higher offset do it. I'm runin 214/45/17 +52 no issues

 

[a61688]

If you have the opportunity to trade your rims for other ones wit a higher offset do it. I'm runin 214/45/17 +52 no issues

i was afraid you'd say something like that. so no go on the 205/50's huh? i mean, the 195's aren't that bad, just that i can feel it losing grip around tight corners at speed and in the wet, i can force them loose. Driving normally, they're fine. I guess I'll have to get used to them for now.

 

[tweety2300]

Just use better tires, 185 can do better than a cheap 215

 

[a61688]

Just use better tires, 185 can do better than a cheap 215

Well, I'm using Kumho Ecsta 4x's and they got better reviews than a lot of the tires on Tire Rack. Can you recommend any better ones?

 

[concept]

http://www.caranddriver.com/compari...mmer-performance-tires-tested-comparison-test

 

[a61688]

http://www.caranddriver.com/compari...mmer-performance-tires-tested-comparison-test

Awesome article! Here are my options from TireRack.com:

Dunlop Direzza Sport Z1 Star Spec
Toyo Proxes R1R
BFGoodrich g-Force Sport COMP-2
Dunlop Direzza DZ101
Firestone Firehawk Wide Oval Indy 500
Yokohama S.drive

Of the bunch, the BFGoodrich's, Firestone's and Yoko's are the highest in tread with 340, 320, and 300 respectively. BFGoodrich's and Yoko's get AA in traction while the Firestone's get A. Firestone's are W-rated while the rest are V-rated. As far as the surveys go, the Firestone's are better overall than the Yoko's. Prices are at 94 (BFG), 84(F) and 80(Y) a tire. The BFG's look to be the winner of the bunch. The other options have less than 300 tread and I'm not sure I want to sacrifice too much tread and have to replace more often. Any thoughts?

 

[tweety2300]

No on the firestones ive seen other peoples split apart from the secondary rubber it also happened to me, and a couple other people I know, it seems to be a Firestone issue

Speed rating doesn't really matter either unless you plan on being over 100 often which the protege can barely manage 80 much less over 100 which you don't need to be going that fast in a slow car anyway

Check out neo gens my brother runs them on his Honda and they do great

 

[a61688]

Check out neo gens my brother runs them on his Honda and they do great

http://www.nittotire.com/Tire/neogen#size They don't come in 195/55's.

 

[concept]

I'd tend to go with the BF Goodrich tires.