Tire size wheel speed issue
 

Alright, I need advice from you people for my 1999 Protege ES running the stock alloy rims. 195,55,15 is the recommended tire size. My problem is I want a wider selection of tires but still need to run a pair of the 195,55,15's. Width, offset & wheel speed are concerns I'm told. So I need to know if any of you have upgraded to 205/55/15 or 205/50/15 or 195/60/15's and had enough clearance on the stock rims. I'm not tooo worried on the 205/55/15 as it's only about a 1/2", but it's a cold January Minnesota night and I'm not wanting to go out and guess at this in below zero temps.

Another concern that a couple stores mention is the tire speed and height differences effecting the computer wheel sensor and the ABS. To me, the height is fractional that I doubt that would be a concern.. however, the RPM's differing might be a problem. Currently I run two 195/55/15 Kumho ECSTA 712 in the front.. and the tire is rated @870 RPM. The rear is running two 195/55/15 Bridgestone Potenza RE92.. and these rate a speed of 886 RPM's and so far, no problems.. so there must be some degree of tolerance in the sensor to wheel speed variances. I have found a pair of BF Goodrichs Tour T/A VR4 that have the same speed as the Kumhos, (870 RPM) however, they're 205/55/15 and a little taller... 23.9 as opposed to 23.4 in diameter.. it's so slight I can't possibly imagine this being an issue to the computer... so I hope the width is my only concern unless somebody here has had another experience. The Madza dealer and the Mazda customer # were pretty useless, can't give out recommendations past what is in the owners manual.. so please, help me out.. common sense tells me this is ok save for the clearance which might be a problem.. thanks~

Hello Charvey, and Welcome to our happy little corner of the net, and to our Club. There are TWO BIG fridge'S in the corner with anything you can think of in them...help yourself...of course only take what you can LEGALLY have.

make yourself at home on one of the big fluffy couches, kick your shoes off, put your feet up on one of the tables, yes we are allowed to do that, mom don't care....and take it easy.

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Welcome!!


The small amount of difference in the diameters of those tires won't be much to bother with....the only thing you will experience is a small amount of speedometer error....if you want to know how much....go to this site and you can compare the stock tires sizes to anything you want to use and it will give you all the deminsional differences and how much speedo error you are going to have.

TIRE SIZE CALCULATOR

But you are correct....your only real concern is the width and if it will rub or not.

hey! there's no beer left!
 

thanks for the welcome & suggestions Sir Nuke...it is always appreciated to have someone greet you a the door with a smile :D

The 205/55/15 were fine on the stock rims. Some online tire stores offer a 30 day or 500mile gaurantee for the product from the manufacturer.. if you dont like the tires, send them back and we'll refund or exchange ( you loose shipping costs)... which is a deal I worked out with Discount tire for my BF Goodrich T/A VR4. They ran 90.00/tire installed/life balance with a 100% replacement gaurantee until 3/32 of tread life for an additional 24.00. I read of some of these tires having problems in the later part of the treadlife.
They seem a little noisy, no more than my Bridgestone RE92 were at first. Handling wise, well.. 205's are little different, but the tire seems to have a sure grip and good handling. I can't praise them as I only have about 20 miles on them. I'll follow up and let you know how they fare thoughout the rest of winter and spring, that will be the true test for an all season, hope I dont wreck the car in the process.