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Mazda Protege/Protege5 Tires and Wheels

33 messages,  Last post on Oct 23, 2009 at 12:00 PM

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What is this discussion about? Mazda Protege5, Mazda Protege, Tires, Wheels, Hatchback, Sedan

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#4 of 33 Re: Tire noise on P5; alternatives? [lacebugboy] by civiletti Aug 24, 2007 (11:46 am)
Replying to: lacebugboy (Aug 19, 2007 7:00 pm) Proteges transmit lots of road noise to the cabin, and performance tires are generally noisy. Check out the tire tests at tirerack.com for comparison. I'm happy with Michelin PE2's, which have excellent dry road handling, best of class wet road handling, and less noise than other perfromance tires I've had on my '99 pro es.   Most tires get noisier as they wear.   You can also install sound insulation under the carpeting - not a quick job, though.
#5 of 33 Check the tire pressure too. by mazdafun Sep 06, 2007 (8:03 am)
Sometimes installers forget to readjust the pressure after they install new tires.
#6 of 33 Replaceing 16 "wheels with 15" by larry80 Nov 05, 2007 (8:12 pm)
Has anyone had any experience with putting 15" wheels on 2003 Mazda Protege 5? I would like to mount a set of winter tires on 15" steel rims.   Thanks Replies to this message: iamz (Nov 06, 2007 9:49 am) autonomous (Nov 06, 2007 10:55 am)
#7 of 33 Re: Replaceing 16 "wheels with 15" [larry80] by iamz Nov 06, 2007 (9:49 am)
Replying to: larry80 (Nov 05, 2007 8:12 pm) I have 15" aluminum wheels for my winter tires. As long as the wheel clears the brake hardware you should be OK. Replies to this message: autonomous (Nov 06, 2007 10:55 am)
#8 of 33 Re: Replaceing 16 "wheels with 15" [iamz] by autonomous Nov 06, 2007 (10:55 am)
Replying to: iamz (Nov 06, 2007 9:49 am) Agreed. This should not be a problem. If you want to save money you can use steel instead of aluminum wheels. This is going to be my 6th year on snow tires and steel wheels and they have paid for themselves in saving wear and tear on my alloy wheels and summer tires.
#9 of 33 New wheels and tires by userm Nov 11, 2007 (1:43 pm)
I have a 1999 Mazda Protege (120k) that needs new wheels and tires. Love this car bit don't want to spend a lot. Any suggestions? Thanks. Replies to this message: autonomous (Dec 04, 2007 2:44 pm)
#10 of 33 more on P5 winter wheels/tires by jwehrman Dec 04, 2007 (11:15 am)
Hi all,   I have an '03 P5. Looking to see if my 1yr. old Dunlop Graphipcs (sp?) 205/55/R15 will mount ok if I can find some cheap steel or alloy 15" wheels. Tire Rack has some for $50, but that's more than I wanna pay. Any ideas would be appreciated.   Thanks,   JW
#11 of 33 Re: New wheels and tires [userm] by autonomous Dec 04, 2007 (2:44 pm)
Replying to: userm (Nov 11, 2007 1:43 pm) A few suggestions: 1. Steel wheels would be cheaper than alloy wheels. 2. Smaller sized wheels (15") would be cheaper than larger (16") ones. 3. Buying a package (i.e. tires & wheels) is cheaper than buying them separately. 4. Buying a well-known brand allows cross-shopping. 5. Many tire brands are owned by the same company.   Personally, I have found BF Goodrich to be a great value as my summer "performance" (Traction T/A) tires and my winter (Winter Slalom) tires.
#12 of 33 Tire suggestions by mazdafun Dec 21, 2007 (12:29 pm)
This is based upon my experience with my '89 323LX, '99 ProLX and my wife's '91 Saturn SL2 and '03 P5:   All were all-season performance or touring tires:   Avoid: General XP2000 - all went out of round after only a few thousand miles. Ditto for the second set I was given as replacements. Size was 175/70R13, on the 323. I'll never buy another set of General tires again. BF Goodrich Traction T/A H (185/65R14 size on Pro) - very weak sidewalls; I have to inflate them to at least 36psi to avoid unstable cornering, plus they are wearing unevenly and are very noisy at only 5,000 miles on them. I will be replacing these soon with a set of Dunlop SP Sport A2 Plus tires. Others seem to be happy with these, but based upon my own experience and that of a few friends and co-workers, I will be avoiding this brand in the future. Firestone FR680 (stock on '99 ProLX) - slippery on wet roads, snow, ice. Good wear, decent on dry roads. Avoid unless you will drive only under dry conditions.   Good: Falken Ziex ZE-512 (Pro) - Decent on dry roads (not as good as the Dunlop SP Sport A2 or SP5000), but a little slippery on wet roads. Wore faster than the Dunlops (all of them), lasting only about 25,000 miles. Dunlop D65A (Saturn) - Great tire wear. The rubber compound on the sidewalls cracked (after 7 years) before the tread wore out. Decent handling and noise. Wore very evenly. I'm not sure this is made any more though. I think these were replaced by the SP Sport A2 model. Dunlop SP5000 (P5) - Costly. Wife got over 45,000 miles on them, but others have gotten much less tread life. Very good dry handling. OK wet and snow handling. Just very expensive. Bridgestone/Firestone RE910 (Saturn) - Decent tire. Better in dry handling than the Dunlop D65A they replaced, but a little less traction on wet roads. Noisier than the Dunlops too. Kumho Ecsta (P5) - sorry, forgot the model name, but it's one of few that match the stock size and are all-season performance tires. They are noiser than the Dunlop SP5000 tires they replaced. Wear seems even. Handling is not as good as the Dunlops, but are still a good match for the P5.   Excellent: Michelin X-One - (323) Best tire I've had for wet traction and cornering, w/o being a dedicated rain tire like Aquatreds. Very comfortable and quiet, with decent handling for a touring-type tire. Tire wear was incredible. Last set of tires I installed on my 323 before I sold it (had put 20,000 miles on them by then, and wear was negligible). Dunlop SP Sport A2 (Pro) - Excellent dry handling and predictable, progressive cornering, best hydroplaning resistance (even better than the Michelin X-One tires) out of all the above. OK in terms of comfort and noise. Though they wore quickly, I got 35,000 miles out of them with frequent fast corners (occasional 4-wheel drifts when road conditions were right - fun, fun fun!) but moderate straight-line speeds and accelerations. Sufficient traction on snow and ice to climb hills w/o tire cables installed, but you'll need to temper your driving to be safe. Replies to this message: autonomous (Dec 21, 2007 1:11 pm)
#13 of 33 Re: Tire suggestions : BF Goodrich [mazdafun] by autonomous Dec 21, 2007 (1:11 pm)
Replying to: mazdafun (Dec 21, 2007 12:29 pm) BF Goodrich Traction T/A H (185/65R14 size on Pro) - very weak sidewalls; I have to inflate them to at least 36psi to avoid unstable cornering, plus they are wearing unevenly and are very noisy at only 5,000 miles on them. I will be replacing these soon with a set of Dunlop SP Sport A2 Plus tires. Others seem to be happy with these, but based upon my own experience and that of a few friends and co-workers, I will be avoiding this brand in the future.   Interesting. The 205/50/R16 BF Goodrich Traction T/A tires I use on my Protege5 are V rated (similar to the stock Dunlops, 195/50/R16 V). The V rating means they not only handle higher speeds but are pricier than the H rated. I wonder if the tire construction is substantially better with a higher speed tire. I have no issues with the sidewalls to date. I routinely overinflate my tires as I like the crisp feel and the handling.

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