sovin_sihota

Hi, I have a 2001 Mazda Protege SE with 185/65/R14 tires and I was wonder if it was possible to step up to 195/55/R15's or even 195/50R/16's. Any help would be appreciated. Thankyou.

Roddimus Prime

welcome to the forum. Make sure you post your threads in the correct section from now on. I'll move this one for you.


to answer your question, NO. If your wheel is a 14" wheel you cannot put a 15" or 16" tire on it. Unless you change the wheel also.

185-65-R14 means this:

185mm = tire width

65 = Size of sidewall height as a percentage of tire width. (65% of 185mm) in this case

R = tire usage classification and speed rating R is typically the lowest/slowest

14 = wheel size in inches.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~

a suitable tire change for you would be something like

205/55/y14 if it'll fit on the rim. I don't know what the max rim width is but a 205wide tire is pretty good for a small wheel. Notice when I widened the tire foot print I also shrunk the sidewall height. This provides a more "low profile" look and will increase cornering a good deal as there is less sidewall height to "Squish" in hard corners.

Rusty

Make sure your speedometer is as accurate as possible when you change sizes. Use this link to check it out.

http://www.miata.net/garage/tirecalc.html

sovin_sihota

If I changed the size of the rims to correspond with the size of the tires, would it be possible? I was thinking along the lines of 195/50/16's with a rim that would fit it?

Roddimus Prime

sure. that should fit with no problems.

www.tirerack.com will be a big help to you. Select your vehicle from their list and they have a system that will show you wheels and tires in your stock size and alternate sizes.