Hello. I'm researching autocross tires for a stock 2003.5 Protege 5 while trying to staying in the SCCA Solo II's Stock category. To do this, the tires must be DOT legal and fit stock wheel size or according to the of the SCCA's National Solo Rules (2005 edition) for Stock category:

"Any type wheel may be used provided it complies with the following:
it is the same width and diameter as standard, and as installed
(including wheel spacers if applicable) it does not have an offset more
than +/- 0.25 inch from a standard wheel for the car." (page 64)

Here is a list of some tires that appear to work with these rules:

Falken Azenis - RT-215 - 205/55 R16 or 205/50 R16
Yokohama ADVAN A032R - 205/55 R16
Michelin Pilot Sport Cup - 205/55 R16

I'm not sure there are any competition style Kuhmo tires (i.e. ECSTA V700, ECSTA V710, or VictoRacer V700) that will fit the stock wheels. Are there others (that, preferably, are economical)?

What is the largest tire size that can be safely/reasonably mounted on the stock wheels (16"x6", 50 mm offset, and 5 x 114.3 mm lug pattern)?

 

I'm planning on 205/50/16 Azenis for my car, but I'm interested in what other people say.

 

In attempt to gather more information, I started similar message on another forum http://sccaforums.com/forums/. There have been a number of very informative replies. See the thread here:

"Autocross Tires for 03 Mazda Protege 5 in Stock Category?"
http://sccaforums.com/forums/143478/ShowPost.aspx

Based on this thread, here's an extension of the list (from the first post) of tires:

205/45 R16 Hoosier Road Race (R3S04)
205/55 R16 Toyo RA-1
215/40 R16 Kumho Ecsta V710
215/45 R16 Falken Azenis RT-215
215/45 R16 Hankook RS-2

There have been a couple suggestions on the other thread that tires as large as 225/50 R16 can fit (e.g. 225/50 R16 Yokohama ADVAN A048). However, there are others who suggest that this tire size would not have enough clearance.

Anyone have experience or know if tires as large as 225/50 R16 would have adequate clearance?