I can all but guarantee that this tire will not be an issue. The tire will stick 0.4 inches/10mm closer to the fender and suspension. There will be practically zero difference in how much wheelwell space is used up. There will be no change in speedometer (not even 1 mph difference).

This should be fine.

 

I've had General Altimax Artics 215-65-16 on my FWD Patriot for 2 winters. No issues at all. Good handling, quiet on bare road, no issues in rain, good tread life. Great tire for all kinds of snow: if those tires can't get you there, stay home.

MoeBucks is right on the speedo. I checked with my Garmin; might show +1 MPH at most, so if anything you're going slightly slower than it says . . . so you won't get a ticket unless you really deserve it.

 

P.S. Theres a tire calculator at http://www.miata.net/garage/tirecalc.html where you can put in your size and see a graphic of the difference.

 

I opted for the Continental eco plus 215-65-16 (hoping for 60,000+ on them), installed on Sport Edition D-5's from tirerack.com ($900 w/shipping) These tires are the same 27 inch diameter and only slightly wider than the stock Goodyears that were so noisy after 40,000 miles that I junked them. New rims are super lightweight at 18.1 pounds apiece and the Continentals are a pound lighter than the Goodyear 205-70-16's , I am hoping for a slight increase in mpg

 

Just courious, seen alot of threads about tire size effecting speedometer and MPH, does it affect odometer and actual miles driven as well.

 

It does effect your odometer. All of that stuff is calculated based on wheel revolutions, but obviously bigger or smaller wheels rotate at different rates.