Scott - In addition to the tires being more expensive, I also considered the crappy roads around this state. If I went with 16s, I'd have to go to a 45-series tire. The 15s have a 205/50, but I'm not worried about it. I've seen 205/45 tires on other cars, and I just think they'd be asking for trouble when driving some of the roads around here.
Klync - I have no plans to lower the Protege. For the same reasons, really (road quality). I don't want to be scraping my front bumper all the time on the inclined entrances to everything, and speed bumps, etc...
