195/50/R15s are +1 on a Terc/Paseo. Hard to find rubber that's both cheap and decent though, last I looked. I think it was Falken or Hankook that made them.

 

............okay

Had an impulse purchase tonight. A set of Mini Cooper 15 inch rims came up for sale on Kijiji. The reason they were so attractive was that they are a 15X5.5 rim. This is what they look like.
http://www.mini2.com/galleries/showphoto.php?photo=7374
With that width, i shouldn't have much of a problem clearing the fender, or so my little mind thinks. Only down side is that they presently have 175/65/15 rubber which will be a little tight in that wheelwell if I am estimating it. Speedo will be out about 5%. But the price was $250 for all four with the useable tires. I think I can mod the center caps to eliminate `Mini`too. Comments...

 

As you said, 175/65/15 tires are 5.2% bigger than the stock ones. I wouldn't drive them, you'll get transmission and brake problems on the long run. For best results, you should try to get the size difference between stock and replacement tires under 3%.

This site is great to estimate tire sizes :

http://www.miata.net/garage/tirecalc.html

 

How do you get brake or transmission problems? I could see if they are differing sizes between pairs, but they're not pulling or impeding on anything. The only thing they do is turn at a circumference that differs from stock tires.

 

Thus creating a different leverage against all parts invloved. Think leverage doesn't mean much? try to pull off lug nuts with a 6" long ratchet vs a 36" breaker bar.

 

... and take a moment to think of why these knuckleheads with dubs aren't doing much other than toodling around on them... it does matter. +1...

I agree with 3%, it's prudent, and well within engineering practice for longevity. I'd also not go more than Plus 1 on a street car, as going further isn't going to give you any performance advantage save pure racing applications. It's a big reason why anyone serious about getting traction use stockish-sized wheels -- they hook up better off the line. Lower profiles were developed to cope with cornering force, and esp with an FF chassis, make it harder to get traction in a straight line.

Whether it's prudent to use circs greater than stock is going to depend on what they're going on. If you're dubbing up a Corvette, for example... that's a 420+ hp 6.2L V-8 designed for *light* track use (ever see someone try to flog a bone-stock base C5 or C6 around a track? Scary...), so using more wheel is going to fall further within its ability to cope, than a Terc, which is designed with much less performance in mind...

It seems like you make the purchase, and then try to find justification on this forum for them, Maxbaby. I can't help you with buyer's remorse, if you don't do homework first.

 

An issue I had with improper offset on a fwd is torque steer especially on rough pavement leaving an intersection. Better grip that steering wheel.

 

To give a completely different take on the tire circumference and offset issue...

Shortly after getting my car, I changed for rims with a wider stance and taller & wider tires - it noticeably improved cornering. I used regular steel rims from a '87 Civic, so it was entirely for handling and not for looks. They rate as 5.1% taller than stock (175/70/R13 vs 155/70/R13). I've had no ill effects from it after 5 years and 50,000 miles except for the speedometer being more inaccurate than it was to begin with. I live in the mountains, so all of that driving was on hills. Most of the mileage was delivering pizza and I am not gentle at all in the way I drive (hard acceleration, hard braking, high speed turns on bumpy roads, etc). It's worst case driving behavior for wear and tear IMO, though I did take very good care of the car. I wouldn't worry about using the taller tires unless you plan on driving around with the car loaded with 4+ people on a regular basis, which would put the car at the edge of it's design performance and increase likelihood of them rubbing.

That said, I don't think there's a significant benefit to using tires that are taller. I went with the 70r13 instead of 60r13 because that size was more available. With the 15" rims, I think the main thing to be concerned about is if the tires rub or not. IMO, if they don't rub, they ain't too big

 

My '95 came with 195/50R15 Dunlop G/T Qualifiers on Prime aluminum rims. Seems to handle ok with them, no rubbing. Had to buy a 21mm deep well thin walled socket for the lug nuts though, so keep that in mind when you get new rims. I'm hoping that eventually replacement tires won't cost too much, as these cars were designed to be inexpensive to maintain stock.