If I get a new set of winter tires,on smaller rims, 16’s instead of the 17’s that are on the car now, does my 2006, mazda 6 have the valve stem speed sensor? If it does, can I run with out the sensor?
Do you mean TPMS(tire pressure monitoring system)? There are no cars with a valve stem speed sensor I’m aware of. All the cars I know read the vehicle speed with a sensor on the transmission. If your worried about smaller diameter rim throwing the speedometer off, you can get 16" tires with the same diameter as the low profile 17" tires that are on the car now. You can use this tire size calculator to get a 16" or 15" tire that will match the overall diameter of your 17" tires. http://www.miata.net/garage/tirecalc.html