winter tire downsizing
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Junior Member
Joined: Oct 2018
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From: burlington
winter tire downsizing
Hi all,
I just bought my first Mazda this year, such a nice upgrade from my 2002 Echo. I bought the Mazda 3 GT hatchback and had a couple of questions regarding winter tires. The GT comes with 18" rims but I wanted to down size to 16" for my winter tires, as they are much cheaper. Doing this was fine on my Echo as it had none of the sensors that the cars have today. Is switching to a 16"rim/tire going to cause any problems with the GT? I've heard some stories about the TPMS light being on all the time, speedometer being inaccurate, will lane assist still function properly, I assume ABS will still work fine...
Has anyone noticed any problems in doing so?
Also I live in Burlington, Ontario. Does anyone have any recommendations for places to buy rims/tires? It says on Costco's website that they only mount tires that correspond to the tire infro sticker on the car, so I'm guessing they won't mount downsized tires for liability issues
Cheers,
Iain
I just bought my first Mazda this year, such a nice upgrade from my 2002 Echo. I bought the Mazda 3 GT hatchback and had a couple of questions regarding winter tires. The GT comes with 18" rims but I wanted to down size to 16" for my winter tires, as they are much cheaper. Doing this was fine on my Echo as it had none of the sensors that the cars have today. Is switching to a 16"rim/tire going to cause any problems with the GT? I've heard some stories about the TPMS light being on all the time, speedometer being inaccurate, will lane assist still function properly, I assume ABS will still work fine...
Has anyone noticed any problems in doing so?
Also I live in Burlington, Ontario. Does anyone have any recommendations for places to buy rims/tires? It says on Costco's website that they only mount tires that correspond to the tire infro sticker on the car, so I'm guessing they won't mount downsized tires for liability issues
Cheers,
Iain
Last edited by biglokii; Oct 26, 2018 at 09:42 AM.
Senior Member
Joined: Nov 2008
Posts: 2,726
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From: southern New Hampshire
Done properly it will not cause an issue. That said, "done properly" means you will buy new rims and 16" tires with the same outer diameter as your 18" set (which should be 205/60 R16), and then have a TPMS reset performed.
Senior Member
Joined: Jan 2018
Posts: 713
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From: York PA
I bought my winter tires from Tire Rack and recommend that anyone looking for tires and especially tire/wheel combinations check out Tire Rack for research and possibly to purchase tires. Their site recommends specific combinations for your specific vehicle. The original tires on my Mazda 3 Touring are 215 R45 18 and the winter tires are Michelin X-Ice XI3, 205 60 R16. As shipo stated, it is important that you match the outer diameter of the tire. I also confirmed that the wheel offset was identical.
Tire Rack shipped the tires mounted and balanced to my home. I bought a cheap jack, JACK STANDS, socket and 2 foot bar from Harbor Freight and install, and switch the tires myself. (The first year I used the jack in the car and the job was much harder than with the right equipment.)
The 16 inch wheels are better handling snow and potholes.
I have never had a problem with the TPMS light. It operates properly. I suspect the Tire Rack site may have indicated that I need something specific for the TPMS and I went with whatever they recommended - but I really don't recall.
Good luck
Tire Rack shipped the tires mounted and balanced to my home. I bought a cheap jack, JACK STANDS, socket and 2 foot bar from Harbor Freight and install, and switch the tires myself. (The first year I used the jack in the car and the job was much harder than with the right equipment.)
The 16 inch wheels are better handling snow and potholes.
I have never had a problem with the TPMS light. It operates properly. I suspect the Tire Rack site may have indicated that I need something specific for the TPMS and I went with whatever they recommended - but I really don't recall.
Good luck
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