mikespr5

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

gcs118

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).

Redfyre

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.

gcs118

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.

mixmaster_matt

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

jgrave

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

Redfyre

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.