SUV/CUV vs Passenger Tires?

[PHRiSCo]

I've scoured the internet and forums and can't find a clear answer; Can I put passenger car tires on the CX-5 as opposed to specific SUV/CUV/Light Truck tires? The Mazda 6 is only 200kg lighter than the CX-5, with a similar or higher load index does it matter? I was hoping to put on some Pirelli P Nero Zeros on my CX-5 summer rims instead of something like a Michelin Latitude Tour.

Thanks!

 

[Ride92]

As long as the load index is near the same and safe for the weight of the CX-5 you should be good. Looking at tirerack most stock size 19" tires for the mazda6 seem to be between 92-96 and the CX-5 all seem to be 99. I know on my wife's Audi A4, which is quite a heavy car, we recently changed tires and went from a 97 load rating to a 93. The salesman said I wouldn't notice the difference as the 93 is still acceptable for that car, but I can honestly say the tires are much more wishy washy steering isn't as sharp. Point is. The higher the load rating the stiffer the side wall may be and give better steering feeling. With a low profile tire I don't know how much that comes into play but her 215/55R16 have a noticeable difference

 

[leeharvey418]

The qualification of 'passenger car' versus 'SUV' tires is purely marketing. Yeah, there might be some structural differences between certain tires, but there are structural differences between different tires within the same marketing segment.

As Ride92 noted, the load rating is what matters. As long as you're keeping the tire size the same, the load rating will be the same (not counting SL vs XL, but that's a separate issue). And if you change tire sizes, you're golden as long as you stay above the lowest stock load rating for the vehicle, which is 99 in the case of the CX-5.