There not in yet so I'm not sure if they fit. if they don't I'm going to put them on my ES. But I think they might?

 

Can you post an update when you confirm/disprove that 14" rims will fit?
Shoot me an email mrirvine@nbnet.nb.ca

What width and offset did you get.? If they don't fit the MP5, how will they fit the ES. Isn't the ES 4 bolt not 5 bolt?

 

Yes mine is 4 lug but I have an old set of 14" rims. and the 5lug 14" rim my sister will take for her Neon.

 

I just got a set of 15" rims off of TireRack and plan on running blizzaks or equivalant.

I ran them on my last car and the diff was amazing.

 

14" rims? What is the advantage to that? Are you a canadian owner? Here in the states the P5 comes with 16's. 14's will look funny!

 

14"ers are for winter. Why 14"? Because the tires are cheaper.

 

I'm in New England, and yes it might look a little funny. The 14" will let you run a taller side wall on the tire and with the pot holes that we get this will make your ride over potted roads much nicer. also there is less of a chances that you'll mess up the front end.

 

The big plus of 14 inch wheels is that you can get narrower tires for them than a 15 inch.

Ie. on a 14 you could run a 175/70/14 vs a 185/60/15 ), it would look way dorkier but the narrower tire would excel in snow and ice. If you can find snow tires in 185/60/15 let me know I checked everywhere for this size last winter and had to settle on a 195/60/15.

As for 14 inch wheels fitting, I doubt it. I just put 15 inch alloys on my ES GT for the winter and there is not a whole lot of extra room between the calipers and the wheels.

 

Fom what I have managed to learn about the stcok Dunlop 5000S tires they are not intended for real snowy driving. A little snow cover should be fine but real snow will be a problem with them.

I have only had my P5 for a short while and have begun the search for a snow tire for it (I live in Rochester, NY)... it would seem that there really are none out there in the 195/50-16 size to be had. I called the dealer today to see what they recommended and they did not have anything to say about it. The are currently "making some calls" to see what they can find both in the 16" rim size, and also what a set of 15" rims for the car will cost.

I'll post more as I get the info.

 

I have also been doing research on snow tires due to driving from philly to vt over the winter.

I have noticed that Tire Rack has a package out for the protege and p5 already.

15's (steel rims) $32 each
Bridgestone Blizzak 195/55HR15 $108 each
Michelin Artic-Alpin 195/55HR15 $78 each
Michelin Pilot Alpin 195/55HR15 $106 each
Hubcaps $24 for all

or you could use 16's (factory rims or steel):

16's (steel rims) $43 each
Bridgestone Blizzak 205/55HR16 $138 each
Michelin XM+S 330 205/55HR16 $63 each (special order)
Michelin Artic-Alpin 205/55HR16 $96 each
Michelin Pilot Alpin 205/55HR16 $96 each
Pirelli Winter 160 205/55HR16 direzonale 205/55HR16 $68 each
Pirelli Winter 210 205/55HR16 snow sport $132 each
Hubcaps $28 for all

These prices are all USD, without shipping because of the costs.
You can get alot of info off the site:

http://www.tirerack.com/index.jsp

Enough info?

Mike
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mazda_protege5

 

I thought that this link might be of some use:

http://www.miata.net/garage/tirecalc.html
it allows you to put in one tire size and then see how another one compares to it...

basically the numbers say that a 195/50-16 is the same OD as a 195/55-15 (when you are doing 60mph your spedo will show 59.4). Using a 205/55-16 will result in a reading of 63mph on the spedo at 60mph.