I have a 2003 Mazda Protege DX
Will a 15x8 with 205/50/15 Tires work on this car without having
turning or rubbing issues? I'm not sure what offset I'm looking at; so
any inputs is welcomed.

 

the offset is going to be really important. at that width, you will need around a +30 to +40 offset to keep from rubbing the inside. 15's are going to look small on that car though. i have 17's on my 2002 p5 and they look right.

 

my wheel specs, btw, are 17x7 +50 offset. i could use another 10mm taken off of the offset at that width.

 

Thank's for the input. Right now I'm on 16x7.5 and the ride height and stance with no body kit and stock suspension looks high to my liking. Going 15's and in the future going with coilovers will give me a more lower ride height and stance.

 

the experience that I have had with suspension mods is this; for an aggressive look without destroying functionality, you want to add with rims what you take with suspension. your example would be to go with a drop like 1"f, 1.5"r and go up to 17's. the taller you go, the narrower you need to go. 17"x 6.5-7" is plenty.

smaller rims make the drop look bigger, but they also make you run the risk of scraping more. I have seen people run 18's with bigger drops and no extra scraping. they may rub at that point, but the scraping would be a lot worse with shorter rims.

 

The problem with this car is the body roll so I'm going with 15's and coilovers to eliminate that area. Along with front and rear sway bars, that should lessen the body roll IMO.

 

if you are looking to get rid of body roll, wheels aren't the way to do it. get a good set of adjustable end links to go with a set of thick sway bars. then, add a rear strut tower brace. if you want to get really crafty, go with an adjustable front strut tower brace also. the stock brace should be just fine though.

there are sub frame brackets you can add to make the body that much more stiff, but I wouldn't worry about that unless you are road racing.

 

Thank's man! That's the next step I'm looking into.