14'' Steelies on a P5 / ES

gmagnan

Member
Are there people here running 14 inch steelies on their P5s for winter ?

I've got 185/65/R14 snow tires I want to put on my ES, but I'm having trouble finding 14'' steelies with the right bolt pattern (5).

Where did you guys get yours and how much did it set you back ? I've been to the dealership and to Canadian tire and both service reps looked at me like I was crazy :rolleyes:
 
I live in Canada and I'm a little slowwww.... eh?

That, and we get a lot of snow... I don't trust 4 season tires in a snowstorm, and I don't want to get roadsalt and such on my alloys
 
my firneds has an es.. used the all-seasons last year and said they were horrible... bought 4 winter tires this year. I bought winters too, also to save the mags from salty streets.
 
gmagnan said:
Are there people here running 14 inch steelies on their P5s for winter ?

I've got 185/65/R14 snow tires I want to put on my ES, but I'm having trouble finding 14'' steelies with the right bolt pattern (5).

Where did you guys get yours and how much did it set you back ? I've been to the dealership and to Canadian tire and both service reps looked at me like I was crazy :rolleyes:

14" will not fit over the brakes...... I have 15" with 185/65/R15 (Goodyear UG 500, with spikes) and that's as smal as u can get
 
GXL said:
What's wrong with your all season Dunlops?

All seasons should be considered 3 seasons in the snow belt, IMO. The rubber coumpound freezes to easily and the tread pattern is no good for snow...
 
Re: Re: 14'' Steelies on a P5 / ES

323Sport said:


14" will not fit over the brakes...... I have 15" with 185/65/R15 (Goodyear UG 500, with spikes) and that's as smal as u can get

Sorry Pal. I have 14" steel wheels and they fit great. Bought them at my local Mazda dealer for $48 each (CDN + taxes). I have 185/65-14 Yokohama Guardex A720 and they are FANTASTIC! Car is very safe in the snow, best I've owned in the last 20 years...

And by the way, 185/65-15 are too big (3.3% off) versus our original 195/50-16, 3% is the max you should use, so you're using the wrong tire size. In 15" tires, you should use 195/55-15 (1% off). Your speedometer is way off...when you read 60mph, you're actualy going 62mph.
 
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I can understand the wheels and the salt, but all season tires for the most part hold well in the snow.

Last winter in Cary, NC we got 2 feet of snow in 1 1/2 days, my Pirellis P4000 all season did quite well along traction control on my VR6 Passat.

Now summer tires are another story. My Dunlops 5000 suck big time on a dry summer day, can't wait for them to wear out so I can get some Pirelli P-Zero's or Yoko Parada's spec2 205/45/16.
 
All-seasons are not generally that good in the snow. The best you can hope for is that they'll be adequate for light winter driving, but certainly they won't be anywhere near as capable as winter tires will be. All-seasons don't have the tread or the rubber compound that make winter tires perform so well on snow and ice.
 
bmorton said:
All-seasons are not generally that good in the snow. The best you can hope for is that they'll be adequate for light winter driving, but certainly they won't be anywhere near as capable as winter tires will be. All-seasons don't have the tread or the rubber compound that make winter tires perform so well on snow and ice.

You are right. At -15C, the rubber on 4 season radials hardens, and the tire becomes very stiff. Winter tires are a must, for your safety, and for the safety of your loved ones.
 
Re: Re: Re: 14'' Steelies on a P5 / ES

Red Baron said:


Sorry Pal. I have 14" steel wheels and they fit great. Bought them at my local Mazda dealer for $48 each (CDN + taxes). I have 185/65-14 Yokohama Guardex A720 and they are FANTASTIC! Car is very safe in the snow, best I've owned in the last 20 years...

In that case the brakes on the protege5 are smaller than the 323Sport ones (Euro & Japanese version of the Prot5) cause i have 15" and the gap between the rim and the brake caliper is no more than 1 mm. Sorry thought that the euro and usa versions are the same....
 
-15C Damn!

That's friggin cold!

I guess you do need winter tires...

It doesn't get that cold here during winter, maybe 15+F at the most, record low is set at -9F Too cold for me anyway.

My Dunlops will have to serve me during winter, ain't buying snow tires:D
 
-15C is about +5F, +15F is -9C. And since we have 16" wheels, we don't have much sidewall, which makes it even worse. Just be very very careful.

BTW, not last winter but the previous one, it wen't down to -31C one night (that's -24F)!!!
 
323Sport said:


In that case the brakes on the protege5 are smaller than the 323Sport ones (Euro & Japanese version of the Prot5) cause i have 15" and the gap between the rim and the brake caliper is no more than 1 mm. Sorry thought that the euro and usa versions are the same....

Remember it's not necessarily based on wheel size. Some small wheels fit and some big ones don't. There are so many dimensions in a wheel to say that one size fits all.
 
Re: Re: 14'' Steelies on a P5 / ES

turbo740 said:


Remember it's not necessarily based on wheel size. Some small wheels fit and some big ones don't. There are so many dimensions in a wheel to say that one size fits all.

If youre talking about offset or ET then yes. But in my case the biggest gap is between the furthest point from the center and the caliper so no smaller wheel could fit there (PS they are original mazda wheels)
 

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