I am upgrading my wheel and tire package on my 2002.5 protege5. Wanting to know what issues I may come across going up to a 17" wheel without modifying the suspension?

The setup I want to get is this: 17x7.5" BBS RX with Pirelli eufori 205/45VR17

Any comments or suggestions?

Thanks

 

All I can tell ya is that if you don't lower the car at the same time it will appear to be sitting up higher, making it look a bit worse (in my opinion).

 

You will not notice any difference with that tire. The overlall height of your new wheel will be 8.8mm greater. But however, with this 205/45/17 wheel, your speedo will be off by almost 2.5%. So, at 60 mph you willl actually be travelling almost 1.5 mph faster.

A more accurate tire to get would be either a 205/40/17 or even better a 215/40/17.

Remember that you will need a rim with at least a +45mm offset to avoid possible rubbing issues.

Also remember with a 205 tire you can use a 17x7 rim which will cut down on the weight of the wheel.

 

Redfyre would you mind showing us the calculations you used to come up with all your figures? I have no idea where to begin, just looking to learn a bit. Thank you.

 

http://www.miata.net/garage/tirecalc.html
something i saw on this site a while back. It shows you the speedo differences.

 

So would it be a bad idea to put either 205/45-16 or 205/50-16 on the Stock 16" rims. The OEM size tire that I would be replacing on my 2001 ES are 195/50-16. I would greatly appreciate any response.

Thanks

 

http://www.chris-longhurst.com/carbi...yre_bible.html

You'll be off 1.75% with a 205/45/16 tire and 1.66% with the 205/50/16 tires.

Hope this helps.