(winter/snow) tire/wheel size range

[CHICO2003]

Odds in Vegas that someone will tell me to do a search: 2:1

Anyway, Mazda Corp gave me a hard time. I need your help guys. I know there are some really knowledgeable people on this board so I'm sure I'll get a lot of really good advice.

Is there just ONE specific wheel/tire size to get or is there some range to work within? I need some winter tires and I don't want to pay the $600 (or more) that most tire stores are quoting me for a set of tires I'll use for a couple of months out of the year. Used tires off ebay are the way I'm leaning... they're dirt cheap but I'm just not sure what size to get. I've read so many things on this board (using the search)... some people say get 195/60/15's... others say 205/55/16... I'm guessing there's a range to work within. The last thing I want to do is damage my ride. The whole odometer being off thing doesn't bother me that much... it'll only be temporary afterall. I'd rather save $400 bucks than have an accurate odometer for 12 intead of 10 months/year. (I'm sure most of you would agree)

So basically I just need to know what range is suitable for the Speed. Really appreciate your help on this guys! I'm sure there are many others out there with the same exact question so hopefully this thread will help others as well.

 

[girth]

There is a wide range of sizes that will work just fine. Narrow is better for snow, but it doesn't really matter too much if you don't do much snow driving. Plus, if the snow gets too deep it won't matter HOW narrow your tires are because the MSP doesn't have that much ground clearance.

So my point is, narrow is blown out of proportion. I prefer a little wider winter tire so you don't lose so much performance in the 80% or more when the conditions are just fine. As long as you don't go bigger than stock tire size you'll be fine. I'm running 205/55/16 winters.

 

[mazdamp3_18]

last year i had 225/45/17 dunlop wintersports..

this year i have 185/65/15's

 

[CHICO2003]

so these people from tire rack (and other places) that tell me that I need to get 205/55/16's are full of crap huh?

 

[CHICO2003]

Ok cool... thanks for the help guys! What about wheel size though? more specifically, the bolt pattern and BS. I know we have 5 lugz but is that all there is to it? anything else I need to know in finding the right types of wheels to go with my 205/55/16s? (this thing's gonna look so mint after I paint an orange border around the black steel wheel) thanks again for your help on this! I'd either be broke or doin donuts down I-95 without this advice. Thanks again.

 

[mazdamp3_18]

the bolt patern is 5x114.3....

i dont remember the center bore...
or the offset you will need..

i could look into it at work tomorrow if needed.

 

[girth]

The center bore is 67.1mm for the MSP. The offset of the stock racing hearts are +55mm. I was told by discount tire direct that you should go with a minimum of +40 offset in 16" rims. I don't exactly know why (dunno)

For winter I'm running 16" rims with +40 offset and 205/55/16 tires. They actually fit as good or BETTER than the stock wheels!