Hello all. I have dug around and obtained some very useful info regarding all the wheel sizing issues for the CX-5. I have visited my local Toronto area Mazda Parts Department, where I purchased my wife's CX-5 and gotten all the crucial measurements folks will need when getting aftermarket wheels, specifically winter tire/wheel packages. My Mazda Parts guy looked up all the specs on his parts spec lists and I confirmed these specs with a third party, Kosei Wheels from Japan. Kosei makes the popular "Sport Edition" aftermarket wheels found at the TireRack.com and 1010Tires.com. Look up the Kosei "Grand Infest D5" wheels on the Kosei website, for example, and you will see that they are the exact same wheels as the Sport Edition D5 wheels, at the Tirerack.com website. If you go to the Kosei website "Wheel Fitment Guide" dropdown box at http://www.koseijp.co.jp/engfl/Wheel Fitment Guide/Kosei Fitment Guide.html , you can choose the Mazda CX-5 and see for yourselves what the specs are listed as.
According to the Mazda parts guy (and many online sources) most Mazda OEM wheels for most models are generally designed around a 5 x 114.3mm bolt pattern, and have a wheel hub center bore of 67.1mm.
The CX-5 has two wheel/tire sizes in North America: 225/55R19 tires on 19" x 7.0 " JJ wheels and 225/65R17 tires on 17" x 7.0" JJ wheels. Both wheels have offsets of 50mm (ET50), a bolt pattern of 5 x 114.3mm and have a wheel hub center bore of 67.1mm. Both wheel/tire combos are identical in width and have identical strut clearance and distance to the fenders. The overall circumference of both wheel/tire combos is almost identical with the 19" wheel/tire combo being a tiny bit larger, causing a speedometer variance of less than 0.8 km/h at 100 km/h. The only real difference is the height of the rubber sidewall, with the 19" wheel/ tire combo giving a more "full-looking" (and arguably, better-handling) wheel visual impression with less rubber height.
Since most aftermarket wheels have a larger wheel hub center bore of 73mm (including the aformentioned Kosei and Sport Edition wheels), you will need to purchase wheel hub centering rings to reduce the size of the aftermarket wheel hub center bore to fit the smaller Mazda CX-5 wheel hub of 67.1mm. Gorilla does not make 73mm to 67.1mm centering rings, but several other companies do, however, Gorilla does have 73mm to 67.06mm centering rings which will work just as well (keep in mind a 0.04mm difference is equivalent to 40% of the thickness of a single sheet of 20 lb copy paper!). I know the slightly different size works well because I have been using the 73-6706 Gorilla centering rings on my 2006 Mazda6 for 6 years and Mazda6 has the identical 67.1mm wheel hub center bore as the CX-5. The TireRack sent me the slightly smaller rings because they only use Gorilla centering rings, which just means the centering rings fit just a tiny bit tighter on the wheel hub.
For those people out there looking to get winter tire/wheel combos, I suggest getting the much cheaper to purchase 225/65R17 tires on 17" x 7" wheels, even for those who have original 19" wheels on their vehicle. The contact patch will not change (amount of rubber that actually connects to the road) and the ride will be arguably a bit more smooth, especially in the winter.
I am buying an aftermarket set of winter wheels/tires and had to be sure of what I was buying since no online tire retailers, including TireRack.com, have identified compatible wheels yet. I hope this info helped some others out there. Cheers!
According to the Mazda parts guy (and many online sources) most Mazda OEM wheels for most models are generally designed around a 5 x 114.3mm bolt pattern, and have a wheel hub center bore of 67.1mm.
The CX-5 has two wheel/tire sizes in North America: 225/55R19 tires on 19" x 7.0 " JJ wheels and 225/65R17 tires on 17" x 7.0" JJ wheels. Both wheels have offsets of 50mm (ET50), a bolt pattern of 5 x 114.3mm and have a wheel hub center bore of 67.1mm. Both wheel/tire combos are identical in width and have identical strut clearance and distance to the fenders. The overall circumference of both wheel/tire combos is almost identical with the 19" wheel/tire combo being a tiny bit larger, causing a speedometer variance of less than 0.8 km/h at 100 km/h. The only real difference is the height of the rubber sidewall, with the 19" wheel/ tire combo giving a more "full-looking" (and arguably, better-handling) wheel visual impression with less rubber height.
Since most aftermarket wheels have a larger wheel hub center bore of 73mm (including the aformentioned Kosei and Sport Edition wheels), you will need to purchase wheel hub centering rings to reduce the size of the aftermarket wheel hub center bore to fit the smaller Mazda CX-5 wheel hub of 67.1mm. Gorilla does not make 73mm to 67.1mm centering rings, but several other companies do, however, Gorilla does have 73mm to 67.06mm centering rings which will work just as well (keep in mind a 0.04mm difference is equivalent to 40% of the thickness of a single sheet of 20 lb copy paper!). I know the slightly different size works well because I have been using the 73-6706 Gorilla centering rings on my 2006 Mazda6 for 6 years and Mazda6 has the identical 67.1mm wheel hub center bore as the CX-5. The TireRack sent me the slightly smaller rings because they only use Gorilla centering rings, which just means the centering rings fit just a tiny bit tighter on the wheel hub.
For those people out there looking to get winter tire/wheel combos, I suggest getting the much cheaper to purchase 225/65R17 tires on 17" x 7" wheels, even for those who have original 19" wheels on their vehicle. The contact patch will not change (amount of rubber that actually connects to the road) and the ride will be arguably a bit more smooth, especially in the winter.
I am buying an aftermarket set of winter wheels/tires and had to be sure of what I was buying since no online tire retailers, including TireRack.com, have identified compatible wheels yet. I hope this info helped some others out there. Cheers!