Is anyone using or seen 18 inch wheels on a Protege5(2002). I'm just about to buy some new wheels and really had my heart set on 18's. Can anyone tell me what they think about 18's on a Protege5?. Does it work, and also what size wheels are best.
TDK

 

I've seem them, but read how they make a lousy ride.

 

screw the ride, GET 18s!!!!!

 

I like the way you think. But the question i have is will they actually fit and not put my speedo out.

 

of course they will put your speed o out... it will say 60-km.hr when you will actually be going 200km/hr...


well not that bad... no more than a couple of km/hr... so who cares... go for them!


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

tire calcualtor if you like

 

stockwheel/tire height it 23.68 inches and 18's wrapped with 205/35 is 23.65 so if you get that size, you will be perfect

 

I tried the calculator. What i can't understand is why the tire specs change as the width changes. For example, i compared 215/35/18 with 205/35/18. Below are the results. Why does the width of the tire change the sidewall, radius, diameter etc. The height of the tire is same for both tires.

Specification Sidewall Radius Diam. Circum. Revs/Km

215/35-18 75mm 304mm 608mm 1909mm 524
205/35-18 72mm 300mm 601mm 1887mm 530

 

b/c the first number is how wide the tire is, the secondnumber is a percentage of the first number, goto www.discounttire.com and goto tiremath 101

 

SO....to actually answer your question ........ YES you can run 18's on your car....you just need to get a wheel with the proper offset or you are going to be having trouble...

write to Rishie once you have decided on a particular style of wheel...he will be able to tell you if that particular wheel is available in the proper offset for our application....he will certainly be able to make you a good deal on them too.

 

yes you can put 18s on because thats what i got on my ride. of course i had to put on 35 series tire to make it fit but the ride isint that bad after all

 

Welcome MP5WGN. Glad to have another member. Got any pics of your car bling blinging.

 

see 18" rims do fit.

 

My friend as those exact rims on his 2dr '95 civic. He has 18"s also. For his Civic, I wouldn't have picked those wheels.

 

At SEMA they had P5s with 19s! A good example would be the Wings West MP3 (not a p5, but close enough). Of course, nobody really has to drive most of those cars. Not to mention that you'd ding a rim everytime you went over a bump or a railroad track.

IMHO you'd be better off with 17s because they weigh less, cost less, perform better in real world driving (generally speaking anyway), and tires are cheaper/easier to find. I could be wrong (I didn't check) but I think you can fit wider 17s than 18s also. Wider tires = better traction. Just my $.02

 

Hey guys how you doin'? Just wanted to chime in for a minute to drop some reminders.

The first thing is the P5 has tighter/less front spacing than the sedan, third gen. Therefore do not always assume that a wheel seen on a sedan will fit the wagon. If you have a sedan you're lucky because you can run the majority of wheels out there with various different tire widths available.

On another note, several of the vehicles I had seen at SEMA did not feature the "Required offset" for an unmodified fender. I can't emphasize enough that one must be very careful when fitting rims to the P5.

As for ride quality, I would have to say that is a somewhat relative question. The ride will have a lot to do with tire/wheel weight along with suspension. I do not mind 18's or 19's even with the roads over here. Our roads aren't that smooth, but probably a lot better than ones with freezing climates. So if your roads are really pitted then it wouldn't be a good idea.

I totally agree that the optimum size for looks and performace combined would be 17's that are lightweight. I'd like to emphasize again to always look into the offsets of the wheels prior to purchase. There are probably 1/15 Protege5's that don't follow the recipe. I think it's rarer than that even. But I have seen members every blue moon say that they have an "unrecommended" offset and they don't rub. And one always has to factor that in as well. But I always say, "Better safe than sorry." If one follows the recipe it's "GUARANTEED" to work.

So, the resourceful person should find a style they like and then call the actual Manufacturer and find out the offset of the wheel. I am totally here to help but we deal in a different line of wheels than what the majority of protege owners desire. We're performance oriented and it's just too difficult to keep up on all the new ones out there. However, if you call and check the WIDTH and OFFSET together you'll be in good shape. As a warning, don't get frustrated. hehe. That's what happened to me. Oh, and always find out the "risk" of rolling your fenders. Wrinkiling/cracking paint, etc...

Sorry for the long post.

Best regards, Rishie