I have a maxx ss with factory 18" and eagle ls tires, not good in the Alberta snow. Want to go down to a 16 or 17 inch rim with a 55 or 65 series tire so that the diameter is the same. tires are available in each rim size. my question is will the 16 or 17 interfere with the brake caliper, I think the ss despite its engine and suspension changes have the same disks and calipers as the LT. Any one had a problem with downsizing to the smaller rim. I would prefer to go to the 16 rim as tires are cheaper in price .
tks
Les

You're not getting any responses probably because it's not a subject relevant to most of us in the US. I think I'm in the minority even giving any thought to winter tires.

I'd think it's safe to go down to 17" (1/2 inch closer to the brake hardware). Depending on the construction of the particular rim, 16" may be pushing it. When it comes down to it, the speedometer/odometer accuracy is not absolutely necessary, IMO. The whole idea here is that the narrower tires do better in snow.

I'm getting snow tires (21560R17) put on in a couple weeks. The dealership has them in storage for me and I'm just waiting for the weather to dip near zero.

The parts guy at the dealership looked up some prices based on the sidewall height and didn't even consider looking at sizes for 16" rims.

just picked up some used factory GM malibu or cobalt rims today. they came off a 2005 Maxx but the wrecker told me that he had 16's on the car and some guy swapped his 17's for them . Now I can start looking for tires that match my 18 diameter. 1010 tire tech here I come. Will post a pic of the tire to see if anyone can identify them.
tks
Les

if you told us what your stock tire size is then we might be able to give better resopnses also. For example the stock tire size on my 2005 LS is 205/65R15.

my stock size is 225/50/18 I am switching to 205/60/17 on gm 2007 malibu 17' rims. odometer changes from 100 kph to 98.9. went with a Hankook ipike winter tire. like the tread patttern and my tire shop is a mile down the street. rims are alloy with a chrome clad with a small channel running from the nut to the outside of the rim. 5 spoke as well
will post a pic in a couple of weeks when I put them on depending on when the snow is expected to arrive.
Les

if you get a 215/60R17 that will keep your speedo the same and you can get the Winter iPikes in that size. Plus that way you will still have almost the same width tires as stock

my other choice was a 225/55/17 which is almost exact as the stock tire but I wanted more of a sidewall depth for the minus weather conditions the 205 sits a little taller and is only about a cm narrower which wont make a huge diff but narrower is better in snow. Im not going studs on the fwd malibu as I think they would be too noisy, I run studds all roung on my 94 325 ic but it is rwd and the sound is behind me.

I've got the same question with regards to my 2006 Malibu LT (V6). Some websites give me the option of going as small as a 15" rim. A 16" was standard on the LT, I think. The LS had a 15" rim. Some of the LT's still had 4 cylinder engines, and probably smaller brakes, but I really don't know if the brakes are too large for a 15" rim on the V6.

Anybody know?