17s or 18s?
 

That is the question. What size wheels should I get for my Protege 5? I don't want to ride on extremely thin tires (no rubberbands!). I will lower the vehicle if required, but if 18s would fill up the wheel well nicely w/out lowering springs, I will leave it at stock height (I think?)...

17s or 18s?
 

That is the question. What size wheels should I get for my Protege 5? I don't want to ride on extremely thin tires (no rubberbands!). I will lower the vehicle if required, but if 18s would fill up the wheel well nicely w/out lowering springs, I will leave it at stock height (I think?)...

18"s?? Go all out and get the 19"s!!!

http://mixx.8m.com/images/xenex2.jpg


:D

If you are gonna lower it you gotta go 17s or you will be riding on rubber bands. 18s fill it up pretty nicely. You really need to decide if you want to lower it. 17s and lowered look closest to what I think you are talking about. There is little wheel gap and you can have some decent tires as wel.

Yeah decide for yourself...you saw Inimicals 19's...here are my 18's the car is lowered about 2" all around, this is driving height.

http://mazdaprotege.net/ebay/tangentkhs2.jpg

Someone care to post a side profile of your Pro with 17's to give him an idea?

BLAZED....regardless of the WHEEL size....17's, 18's OR 19's...NONE of them are going to FILL the wheelwell. since for you to have the PROPER sized tire for any of those size rims so that the tires don't RUB, or put your speedo so far off its not funny....the DIAMETER of the TIRE will be or SHOULD be the same or as close as possible to that of the stock tire....the width will be greater...but the diameter should be close....THUS to decrease the fender to wheel gap you will need to lower the car.

Here is a pic of the rear wheel of my Juggalo Wagon with 17's on it. H&R sport springs, and 205/40/17 tires. This is pretty close to a perfect wheel well gap for me.

http://sweednhouse.homestead.com/files/File0005.jpg

I'm jelous of the Juggalo wagon..... :p


so hey, got a question (sorry to go off-topic slightly).....

let's say we got wheels + tires who's diameter was greater then stock..... then if let's say I travelled 10,000 kms on it, it would only read like 8,000 kms or something like that? what's so bad about that, then if I ever wanna trade in or sell my car (god forbid), it would have less clicks on it.....

nothing is SPECIFICALLY BAD about that.....just realize it will also throw your speedo off....you think your going 60 and you are really going 70 (these numbers are exagerated).

and with a taller tire...it will slow down your acceleration....it requires more torque to turn the larger tire, as in it needs more machanical advantage to turn the wheel/tire.

but an ADDED advantage is IF you can attain the same rpm with the larger diameter tire...you will increase you top end speed.

oh..... I'll always prefer acceleration over top speed........

okay, thanks Nuke, back to the topic.....

so nuke...what sizes would I need for 17s and 18s, respectively...to make it close to stock? And where can I find pictures of these size tires? I will go 18s probably because i'm looking at the axis alegis (which is only 18" or 20"):
http://www.axiswheel.com/images/ALEGIS.jpg

or the axis se7en (which comes in 17" and 18", but the 18" is only $40 more per wheel):
http://www.axiswheel.com/images/se7en1.jpg

Further, which wheels do you like best? :)

Hey what size of tire do you have?????

Blaze....here is the thing....you can have EITHER 17's OR 18's...that part if up to you....there is a correct tire for EITHER wheel size to keep your TIRE DIAMETER very close to stock. this will keep your speedo reading correctly....

you can go to this TIRE SIZE CALCUALTOR and mess around with it if you like, what you do is put in the size of the tire you have now....the stock size....and then put in the size of the tire you want in the NEW tire size...it shows you the differnce...and at the bottom it shows you how much your speedo would be off if you made that choice...

but to get you started....WE have 195/50/16's as stock rubber....

you could go with 205/40/17's and your speedo would only be off by .9% too fast....it would read 60...you would really be doing 59.6 MPH...

or you could go with 215/40/17's and your speedo would only be off by .4% too slow....it would read 60....you would really be going 60.2 MPH

now .... for 18's the absolute closest you could be is by using 205/35/18's....this puts your speedo off by .1% too high so with a reading of 60....your really going 59.9....or

with 215/35/18's your speedo will be off by 1% too slow....so when it reads 60, you are doing 60.6 MPH..

NOW. none of these numbers mean that with any of these sizes...and the wheel you chose and with your car lowered....that nothing will rub...HOWEVER...there is a way to find out....

CALL RICHIE!!! or try and write him and tell him EXACTLY what you would like....which tire...which wheel....everything...and he can tell you what is available...and what works and what won't....BELIEVE what he tells you...HE has a suspension shop...HE is a protege driver....not only will he stear you straight....HE can probably make you one hell of a deal on the whole thing....Talk to him

OH and BTW....if you want MY opinion....fo the two rims you have pictured there....I personally perfer the axis se7en

NOW...go to this thread http://www.protegeclub.com/forum/sho...&threadid=6325 and read about richies fitment recipe, his shops address and phone number are at the end of the first post.

I had to get 215/35/18 in order not to rub.

You aslo have to realize, it will be a tight fir no matter what, and different wheels have different sidewalls. Making some that much wider than the other. I have Falekn ZIEX tires and they work fine.

When my camber was corrected for lowering I began to rub more frequently. Not during regular driving. I would catch the lip of the tire on the fender well when I was driving at an angle onto a higher or lower road. And I have to drive at an angle, otherwise I scrape like a sonofawhore. Had to get the fenders rolled.

Front fenders will be fine, just worry about your back, it's trial and error.

Blazed....all this information is 100% correct...just because ONE tire will work on a specific rim and not rub...does not mean that another brand will not.....this is why I recommend you call Richie....this is his business...his livelyhood....HE KNOWS! you get ahold of him....his phone number is in that thread I posted above, and tell him what wheels you want...and what tires you want..and he will tell you if they will work or not...make sure you tell him if you have the car lowered...and how...with what springs...all that stuff....he will steer you in the right direction. Good Luck.