OK. First of all, the Honda wheels are out--the hub-bore is too small. Secondly, we know a 17x7" wide wheel with an offset of 47mm is fine (I am taking that 47mm number of faith); that is the OE wheel on the ET SE. I am not sure how you plugged in the numbers to the calculator. I see an error. Follow this: Now, the 15" Mazda wheels that you are speaking about are not 7" wide...they are only 6" wide. Without even looking at the calculator, the Mazda wheels are going to be just fine. But for grins, if you punch in the numbers to the caluculator with the correct widths, it gains clearence on the inside by 8mm and is also narrower on the outside by 18mm.

For additional reference, TheTireRack offers a number of wheels that are still 7" or wider (not ideal for winter...but I am trying to illustrate a point...). I see some18x8 wheels with an ET47, for example (Kazera KZ-H). If the TR says they fit...they fit. They are really good about that. What that also tells us, however, is that we have certainly some room to the inside. For our purposes, 1" is (rounded up to) 26mm. The KZ-H wheel in question is 1" wider than stock and has the same offset of 47. That means, without looking at the calculator, we have 13mm inside wider, and 13mm outside wider. And it fits. That means that a 7" wide wheel at 47mm-13mm or ET34mm would also fit...and, God forbid, so would a 47mm+13mm or ET60 (though it would look rather silly). Hope that helps. Now go find some nice cheap Mz3 wheels! (FYI--you could also look for Mz6 base-pkg wheels. Many Mitsubishi wheels--Eclipse/Galant--will work as well.).

 

Brilliant. Thanks.

 

Discounttiredirect.com is an excellent source if you're looking for aftermarket wheels. Just open up the wheels bar, put in your car info, and click on interactive search. It'll show any wheels you pick for your car right on your vehicle. They know what fits and what doesn't. The info center bar gets you to a tire size calculator which will tell you cool stuff like revs/mile, actual speed for the tire size you choose, circumference, etc. etc. They'll hook you up with free mounting and balancing, lugs, hub centering rings, shipping. It was the most economical source I could find and they were a pleasure to deal with.