Just got back from doing some basic maintenance and discovered that my right
rear tire had a piece of metal stuck in it and had been running around with
about 15lbs of pressure in it. So of course, I had damaged the sidewall and
the inside 1/3 of the tread is gone (probably from driving from Miami to
Orlando with low tire pressure- duh).
The questions. I need at least one new tire. The other three look like
they should last another 3000 miles (22800mi on the original set of
Dunlops). I'm not averse to just getting a new set of 4, since these
Dunlops don't particularly impress me. I went to Tire Kingdom and asked
what they could get for the car with a 205/50 (vs the current 195/50) since
I remember a thread that talked about getting a wider tire on the current
rim.
1) Is the 205/50 safe and appropriate for this car with 16" OEM wheel? (I'm wondering if the 205 would be better with a 55 ratio?)
2) Are all brands sized the same way?
3) Will it improve/deteriorate performance?

I got a list of what they could get on a days notice. Feedback on any of
the following would be appreciated. Prices are for the 205/50/16 tire. I
didn't list tires that were out of my price range (primarily the Michelins).

Price Brand/style
$105 Falken ZE 502 or 512
$108 Fulda Quantum Elite
$113 Kumho Ecsta Supera 712
$115 BFGoodrich G-Force Sport
$124 BFGoodrich Traction T/A
$126 Goodyear Eagle RS-A
$129 Toyo Proxes FZ4
$141 Goodyear Eagle Ultra Grp GW

I'm considering getting one of the wheel & tire packages at TireRack, but not sure if I want to double my price. It does seem reasonable when I consider the difference between shipping + $0 tax + free mounting/balancing and the cost of mounting/balancing/valvestems/etc. at a local retailer. If anyone has input about that I'd like to hear it also. Getting just the tires from them seems to end up being close to the same price as the retailer when all the aforementioned stuff is included.

Drive Safe and thank you,
Stephen
03 VY Protégé5

PS. I hope everyone is having a great holiday season and wish everyone a
Happy New Year!

 

Just about anything will be a step up from the Dunlops. Getting a wider wheel will help both in appearance and performance. Your stock wheels are only 6" wide. I'd get a 16x7 wheel with a 205/45-16, which will be closer to your OEM diameter, and wider to boot. Or you go with a 17x7 and a 205/40-17, which is still same diamtere as stock, but expect much harsher ride, especially over small pavement imperfections like tar strips, etc. The 205-50/16, and 205-55/16 are both taller than your stock tires, which will hurt your straight line acceleration. There are slight variations in sizing between brands, but not enough to make a car sit funny. I've been dealing with Tire Rack for over 20 years and never had a "bad tire" or a negative experience with them. When they say mounted and balanced they aren't kidding, lug nuts, and all, ready to bolt on and go.

 

you can mount a 205 tire on the stock wheel, i bought a set of Pirelli P-Zero Nero 45 series tires and loaded them about 6 weeks ago.

 

Well, I went to my local (read as small/private) mechanic and they suggested a nice tire that they could get for only $89/tire- and since I'm a regular there and send him customers, he didn't charge for installation. I hadn't heard of the tire so I went to the local Firestone dealer to check it out. They claimed that it was the same tire they were putting on the new GT Mustangs.
It's called the Fusion-ZRi and it's made by Bridgestone [it doesn't say so anywhere on the tire, but both the mechanic and the guy at Firestone mentioned it. The label does say that it uses "Uni-T" technology, which I know is Bridgestone's.]. I got the 205/50-16 "W" rated tire for $386 including taxes and all the silly state fees. Nice looking tread design and the extra width and height definitely looks better than stock. I'm very pleased so far.

Now, I'm sure it's my imagination, but when I drove out of there I'd swear that I could feel myself sitting up just a little higher. The total difference should be just under an inch, so it's really unlikely. I'll let anyone interested know my impressions after I've had a little time to drive on them.

Another forum had a comment that smaller tires were better since you would get more torque (he said HP, but that didn't make sense to me) for straight line acceleration. I'm not drag racing this car, so I though I'd rather have something that might improve general handling and mileage.

Drive Safe,
Stephen
03 VY Protégé5
Winter Park FL