I want to buy new wheels/tires soon, but the the ones that I want to buy would not allow me to run in HS. That means that I would have to buy autox tires for my stock 14" wheels.

Okay, so that brings me to the question - if I buy some type of DOT ultra-performance tire in a 14" size, can I expect it to handle well or would it be a big waste of money?

On one hand, I want my car to look nice daily with the new wheels, but I don't want to have to race in STS since I only have the Zetec. But, I fear that a 14" tire, even in "race" compound, might not handle as well as an allowed 16x6.5 wheel option might WITH max performance tires.

As I understand it, I could go up to a 16x6.5 wheel and stay in HS eventhough my car is a 2.0L Zetec with 14s standard - is that correct?

Anyway - your thoughts, comments, suggestions would be welcome!

Don Francis - 1999 Contour Zetec MTX -- Stock except for stereo mods & 20%/5% tint:
Sony MobileES head unit, Pioneer 6x8 in front doors, 3 JL Audio 10" in the trunk, RF Punch amp pushing the doors, JL 300x2 amp on the 10s
Auto X Novice --> NHS 11 (ya gotta start somewhere) - thanks auto x guys for your advice!