Thinking about going with a 195/50ZR16 Continental ExtremeContact DWS
on stock sport rims. Anyone see any issues? Rubbing or clearance? Any additional performance?

 

was the stock tire 185/55/16? I cant remember. if so, you wil run shorter profile so unless your car is lowered it will look lifted. from performance side, i think you will gain quite a bit.

 

I don't know about sizing, but the Continental DWS is a great tire.

We have them on my wife's BMW 325i and love them. Smooth, quiet, and with a 540 tread wear rating...long lasting.

 

Thanks for the input. The way I understand tire sizing is the 50 series is a lower profile than the 55 series. So won't it look lower rather than lifted? I used the link as my reference. Visual Tyre Size Calculator | Kouki Tech

 

the tire wall is shorter, yes. but the car will look lifted due to the increased GAP from the tire to the car.

But since the gap is only increasing by about 2.1mm... it shouldn't be noticeable to most people.

Overall the car will "lower" itself slightly due to the shorter height from the wheel to the ground. But because wheels don't stay perfect circles when sitting on the ground, the effect is even less.

However, it can affect the odo. my odo was reading a bit high with stock tires. saying i was going 35 when i was only doing 34 according to my GPS and police "your speed" signs. The 195/55/16 will increase that inaccuracy a bit more. I put 205/50/16 tires (and more air pressure, usually 38psi) and now is much more accurate (according to the same GPS).

 

Those will be shorter than the factory tires which will make the gap between the tire and fender larger and will make your speedometer and odometer read higher.

205/50-16 work out to be extremely close in diameter to your original tires.

 

OK, I understand now! Just trying to wrap my mind around this tire sizing thing. So besides the 205/50-16 being closer to the stock size, are there any other pro's or con's? I noticed the 205's are two pounds heavier that the 195's. That seems like a big difference, but maybe not. My real concern is driving in snow. The stock tires just suck in snow! No other way to put it! Everyone I've talked to loves the Continental ExtremeContact DWS in snow.

 

The tires I bought are Conti DWS tires, but I got them after last winter. So, I have yet to try them out in winter conditions.

While they should be better tires than my stock Dunlops, they are also wider. The current feeling by most is that narrower tires are better in snow than wider. They have less width, so they don't need to "plow" through as much snow.

And due to the overall contact patch (whatever surface area of the tire touching the ground) being smaller, it means the car is putting more weight per square inch on the ground, allowing it to dig through snow to the pavement. But of course, sometimes that's bad too, if there's only ice and if the tire is no good on ice.

So... I have no idea how differently the car is going to handle this coming winter. Gotta love Chicagoland winters... *sigh*

BTW... as horrible as I think the stock tires are... I manage to outmaneuver plenty of other vehicles (once I get going), cars, vans and trucks alike. It all boils down to your control over it. I'm just too aggressive on my starts, so I end up starting in 3rd gear.

 

I think you will like the Conti tires. I love them, Ive got the same tires on my Golf, and they do last quite a while, even with my aggressive driving. Im sure you wont notice too much of a difference in the snow either. I thought the Dunlops were terrible in the winter, and Colorado winters are MILD compared to most

 

One Major Con. your Warranty will run out sooner.
I'd go with the 205's to keep the same overall diameter and get even better handling.

~SB

 

here's how those tire numbers work.

great way to figure out a +0 size from the stock rubber
Tire size calculator

 

The tire size calculator really helps put things in perspective. Thanks all

 

you will end up with more wheel gap because the sidewall is shorter. this exaggerates the lifted look.

 

I have 40,000 miles on a set of these, and they have performed and worn well. I have the 205/50 R16s. They probably have about 10k miles left.

 

After weeks of hunting on CL for 15" steelies or Civic/Integra alloys for snow tires with no success, I'm also considering getting the all season Continental ExtremeContact DWS (195/50-16) to replace my stock 09 Fit Sport's Dunlops with 40k.

After some research here and on tirerack, it seems like the ExtremeContact DWS performs well in the winter but not as good as true snow tires while saving me the hassle and money of switching out tires/wheels in the summer. In addition to buying separate rims.

I've bought Continental ExtremeWinterContact (studless snows) for my wife's Camry last year and we were very happy with the performance last winter when we had 4+ blizzards in the Northeast. Hopefully the DWS will not let us down.

 

Many people are using 205/50/16 size on the GE Fits as it seems like the closest in size to the oem.--would replacing with 195/50/16 improve mpg?

It's easy to compare tire sizes with this Discount Tire Size calculator someone posted a while back. Looks as though the 195 size would wear sooner with more revs per mile

Tire Dimensions Made Simple - Discount Tire

 

195/50/16" will lower the car and do more harm in the winter as the op would be plowing the roads for everyone else behind you. 205/50/16" is definitely the way to go.

OP, Consider going with the continental DWS for the first season and keep up your hunt for Alloys over the next year. Since the DWS would be brand new, you'd have the best winter traction on them this season of any. I ran the Stock tires the first winter and had no issues. After that, I went to dedicated snows but that's here in VT. In NJ, you get more Icy road conditions due to Thaw/freeze after a snow storm than we do as it just never gets warm enough to thaw.

~SB

 

Cybertar,

Hi, which tires did you ultimately get? I'm very interested because it's time for me to get new ones for my 2010 Fit Sport! Thanks.

 

Not sure what he settled on but I'll tell you the Continental DWS he was looking at is one heck of a tire.

I recently put 205/50/16's on my 2010 Sport and totally love them.
Great winter performance - not that we're having a challenging winter, but the Christmas holidays in Maine made me a believer.

10" of snow down a 1/4 mile unpaved drive and no issue what so ever.
Then an hour or so on the Maine pike in blowing packed powder with the same results.

A first class tire that should have come on the Fit in the first place. No drop in MPG and speedo is dead on.

K_C_

 

Very nice! And great information. I am very close to buying the 205/50/16's, although at tirerack.com, they have only 205/55/16's. I'll assume it's close enough unless you or others tell me differently...