[decooney]

Yes, I would put something on there to protect it. One thing you cannot protect against, is rocks from your tires hitting other peoples cars. For my car protection, I am now considering doing LineX bedliner type guard, or some sort of heavy duty stick on 3M protector tape. Heck, if required, I'll be the first guy on the block to paint my entire car with LineX, put stripes on it. Boy wouldn't that look like crap, but it would be functional.

In any case, these tires cost much less than a good paint job. If you are worried about your paint, you can always sell the tires now. By chance you hit a road with any loose rock on it (and you will at least once), these things throw rocks like a hail storm. If you are more concerned about performance using these 15" tires on the street, then you'll be dealing with paint chips on the side and back of your car - guaranteed. Good Luck.