ES3

I'm thinking about going with 215/60/15, vs. my stock 205/65/15's I know it' will change the calibration of my speedometer, and while a wider tread will be better in the summer, the midwest winter mixed with a wider tread will make traction worse. Anyone have any perspectives on how much worse the wider tire will be in the winter months? Also, how serious is the impact of speedometer calibration?

blux

uh, 205 to 215 isnt THAT much if a difference...its not like 205 to 275, but ive seen a lot of cars that have 215 stock so I would think that traction should still be ok.. WIDER IS BETTER!!! and it looks hella cool..

-as for the spedo....I'm not sure how much it would be off, theres some caculation or somthin....but recalibration is like overly expensive..

squarehat

215/60/R15 is actually a tiny bit smaller in outside diameter than the stocks (since the aspect ratio is 60 vs 65)

According to the Tire Calculator at http://www.miata.net/garage/tirecalc.html , the speedo will read 60MPH when you're actually doing 59.2MPH (+1.3%). In most cars, the speedo is already off by 1.3%, so it's not a huge difference.

I'm all for the wider tires. I was behind a 95-99 Maxima today, and the stock tires looked wider than my ES, thought they looked more aggressive.

Kyle Harty

iTrader: (17)

I love the look of fat tires, like when you're behind a Supra or something with real wide tires on the back, just looks mean as hell.

I'd go for the plus size if you're in need of new tires. It should help a little with summer traction and handling without having too much of an effect on winter driving. Just make sure you get a tire that will do OK in snow and you should be fine.