What are the pros and cons? 175/65-15
It came with 205/45-17

The difference appears to be insignificant at 1.25% overall difference.

 

Goodbye traction - hello sidewall flex!

 

You'd want to run 205/55 tires on 15" wheels.

 

205/50/15 Azenis kick butt on the street.

 

Ryans right about sidewall flex. I bought a set of o.e. 15" off ebay for snow tires and have a lot more flex, BUT luv the ride quality. Will be buying a set of summer tires for my 16" x-lites and dump the run-flats, and will be able to have a set for both seasons. Got the 15" new set on ebay for $260. Tim

 

if you get 15" with a wide width the car handles very nicely. especially like 6.5 or 7" wide rims. I had the 7-hole (very narrow 5") MC rims on my MCS and at high speed it was unstable and even shakey. try not to go with those.

 

Rick-Anderson,
First, on an MCS, stock 15" wheels and tires will fit fine- just don't expect superior handling. Drive sanely and enjoy the softer and smoother ride. Best application is just low speed commuting and easy grandma driving. The very light weight (about 25 pounds per wheel/tire combo) is nice and nimble. These are not runflats so stop if you get a puncture.

Second, there is nothing wrong with using the stock 15x5.5" rim and putting on a better wider non runflat tire. 205/50-15 is fine for more performance and smaller tire diameter (lower speedo reading). Tire selection is quite good from basic daily driving all season tires to performance oriented tires at reasonable prices compared to 17" tires. Expect a wheel tire combo to weigh about 32 to 35 pounds which is still quite light (48 pounds for an S-lyte rim and tire). 205/55-15 is slightly larger in diameter (23.9" vs 23.1").

Upgrading to 15x7" rims allows using either 205/50-15 or wider 225/45-15 rims for larger tire contact patch but also greater weight (about 2-3 pounds) and slightly less tire selection. This is more suitable for autocross or track than for street. Wheel offset can be about +38mm to minimize rubbing due to the wide tire.

 

On my MCS I use 12.5 lb. Rota 15"x6.5" wheels fitted with 205x50 Kumho V700 r-compounds for my track and autocross days. This is a relatively inexpensive yet sticky combo and they work great. Since track season is over I just removed the V700s and mounted 195x60x15 snow tires for winter use--and have already snow tested them--they make the MCS feel like a WRC ralley car in the snow. Awesome!

 

Well, the problem is I already have a set of 175/65-15s mounted to Mini wheels. Maybe I will sell them and my 17" S Lites and get something different altogether.

 

Rick-Anderson,

I am running 175/65/15 Snow tires on my MCS for the winter. I usually run 17" wheels in the summer. The snows in this size work fine, the ride is much softer and I just tone the driving down a notch or two in the winter anyway. I think you will be fine with this size for regular commuting. I wouldn't use these for spirited driving.