The hit in mpg may be more related to the DWS tires itself more than the 205/50 size.

I had them on my HHR and I also received a similar hit in gas mileage and these were the same size tire as the ones they were replacing. I think you trade off great traction of that tire for some mpgs

 

did anyone get bubbles on their sidewalls yet? I got bubbles after like 6,000 miles and had to replace 2 of them

 

how are you guys averaging 38-40 mpg??? i drive 40 miles a day to and from work and i do the speed limit and the best i have been able to do is around 34mpg... i cant drive any slower lol

please enlighten me!

 

I live in a rural area, so I don't make many short trips and don't have much stop-and-go driving. But I don't have to do anything special to get 38-40 mpg (at least, not when I had the stock Dunlop tires ). I do try to avoid full throttle starts and just drive as "smoothly" as possible, but I don't do any coasting or other tricks to improve mileage. My Fit is a MT, but my sister has an AT and she gets similar mpg. She also makes mostly long trips (100 miles a day to/from work). Just cruising along on a level road at 55-60 mph your mpg meter should be at 40 or above. If not, I'd check for under-inflated tires or dragging brakes or something like that.

 

Like they say, mileage will vary. I can see tanks up around 38-40 once in a while when I happen to do much of the driving on 45-55 mph country roads. Most of the time I'm doing shorter trips on busier roads though, and then I'll see 36 or so.

I just put ExtremeContant DWS's on this past Saturday, but I've only driven about 50 miles since then, so no way to report a mileage change yet. They do feel different--around corners, they definitely feel grippy and substantial, but they do seem to scrub off speed quicker too than the old OEM Bridgestones that were going bald.

 

not to get off topic, but what did you guys set your stock Dunlops at? mine were at 35psi so i raised them up to about 40psi.. max says 51psi... any suggestions?

 

Yes, next time you arrive home from a short drive, take an air pressure reading. Prepare to be surprised. Starting with a PSI of 40 (cold) will result in rock hard tires, a rough ride, excessive middle tire wear, additional wear to the suspension components of the vehicle, and excessive PSI of a hot tire. There is a reason for the recommedation of 33psi...and also a reason for max capability of the tire. You will of course achieve a higher mpg reading.

 

Lots of tips on the EcoFit thread. I have gotten 40 mpg for a full tank by avoiding fast starts, shifting at 3K, and generally driving like there's an egg between my foot and the accelerator. It's not very fun... but it is a challenge. PSI 40 front, 38 rear.

I normally get around 35 mpg with normal driving--winding out the rpms regularly.

 

Yeah. I got my first sidewall bubble on the stock bridgestones between 6k-8k miles. I got about 25k on it now and both my front's have huge bubbles, the right side looks like its gonna burst any day now. None of the tire shops I've been to can get the stock tires from bridgestone cause they're on back order. Not even sure if I wanna get those crappy tires again.
Thinking about going 205/50 on the stock rims but confused now. Almost bought a full set of the Continental DWS' I saw at a local shop for a great price, but had to research it more.

Really leaning toward those DWS 205/50's on stock rims.

 

So far I am happy with the 205/50 DWS's on my stock rims, except for the mpg loss. They track beautifully and are quiet and feel great on the curves. I'm still checking to see how bad the loss in mpg will be. I have about 200 miles on my current fill-up, and the meter is reading 38.3, but I have probably been trying a little more than usual to get a high reading. With the original Dunlops and similar conditions it would have been over 40, so I'm sure the DWS's cost me at least 2 mpg and maybe more. I would say "the jury is still out" on this.

 

Just got back this morning from a 5 day trip from Michigan to Colorado and back with my new DWS' I got a few weeks ago. For the whole trip, I averaged 34.4 mpg. That's a little disappointing considering what I've gotten on other shorter highway trips in the past, but, I think I'll blame most of that on the weather. I drove straight into a stiff west wind last week on the way out there, and then on the way back, drove through horrible gusty east winds all the way from Nebraska through Illinois while dodging severe thunderstorms all over. Great luck to drive against the wind both ways.

The tires handled great. Yeah, the car got twitchy like always when I hit the strong winds, but it was still controllable. They had no problems in the rain, and in the mountains they handled great on crazy switchbacks and even some rough dirt roads.

As with others, the jury is still out about the real mpg hit. I'll have to get through a few normal tanks around town to figure that out better since the wind really messed up my mileage on this trip.

 

I thought I'd chime in on the decreased mpg. I have the DW and I have at least 1,200 miles on them. But anyway, the decreased mpg is due to running wider tires (205/50/16, or w/e your upgraded size may be). There's more surface contact between the road and the tire, so there's more rolling resistance and drag, and therefore the engine has to work a bit harder. I've taken 2-3 avg mpg loss since.

 

Well, I winded up getting them. 205 50 16"... only have about 200 miles on them so far. Haven't had enough non traffic miles on them to really try them out. What I can say is that the handling has definitely improved. mpg is a little less, but thats expected with the wider tire. So far so good.

 

Not sure how I missed this thread but I've had mine for 20k now and they're awesome, I've even got 5 other friends rolling on them with similar results. My one buddy has em' on his 300+ hp MS3 and they've got 22k on them and handled the Dragon just fine, an actual all-season perf tire that is just that! These tires are just at home on the Fit as they are on the above mentioned MS3, can't miss with them. I drove through the brutal winter here in the greater Chicagoland this past winter w/o missing a beat, that included the Blizzard on Feb 1st, 2' of snow and although it obviously didn't go through the 2' of snow, it did go through the storm when it was 4 hrs into it and at times I could't see the road at all, but through it all, the DWS' stayed straight and true. The rain grip of these tires is amazing too, you can feel the grip everywhere and dry perf, well, the Dragon was slayed everytime last fall w/o the tires talking back to me one time, not even a wimper! I can't say enough good things about this tire but I think this post sums it up for me...THE BEST TIRES YOU CAN BUY WHEN LOOKING FOR TRUE, ALL AROUND PERFORMANCE, PERIOD!

 

I put the Conti DWS on my wife's 09 Sport and loved them so much that I just put a set on my 09 corvette.

 

I'm debating between the DWS and Michelin Pilot Exalto A/S...

 

you mean you put the DW's on your corvette, right? (i hope )

 

I have Conti DWS on my '02 Rex not the Fit. Luv 'um. My 2nd set of Contis actually. 1st set were Conti Extreme Contacts (1st gen) which lasted approx. 40k even wear. The DWS are a lot quieter (different thread pattern), stays true and hopefully will last as long.

 

Nope DWS. They are one of the two best all season tires for the C6 Corvette base model. And fit stock size tire size too.

 

I was debating between the exact same two. I've read great reviews about both. For me what it came down to is that Costco wouldn't install a different tire size other than factory (so I couldn't get the Michelins with the 4th tire free deal), and a local tire shop told me about the DWS, and gave me a great price on them. The local tire shop told me that the Michelins are over rated, and more expensive b/c of their name . Don't know how true that is. But I went home and researched them both on the net.

Then after reading the DWS reviews/thread on here I bought the DWS's. Thanks to Klasse Act's review (and the other boardies who I missed) I am very pleased with the tires. After about 800 miles or so, I tried some "spirited" driving on them, and they handled great. Also got a chance to push them a little in moderare to heavy rain and I was shocked at how good they handled. Drove through a highway puddle (i didn't even see it), and the car stayed straight and true, while I was preparing to adjust the steering to compensate. I can't wait to try them out in the snow.

Mpg took a slight hit as mentioned and expected, my best guestimate after about 3 tank fulls is about 3-4mpg less. But I couldn't be happier with the tires performance.