I know nothing about cars, so I was very thankful to find this forum to pick the Fit Freaks' brains!

<15 Fit EX>

My SO is scared to death of hydroplaning (again) so I'm looking for a nice tire that handles the rain and standing puddles. We do a Lot of interstate driving (not sure if that will help narrow the search?).

She also thinks I'm stupid for getting another Fit (so sadly my 1st baby was wrecked) because she doesn't think it'll go-go in snow. I want to prove the Fit go-go's in the white stuff and find some nice snow tires as well!

Thanks a lot!

 

Read through this thread…

 

I have a Mazda Protege5 that was pretty bad in the snow so I ordered winter tires on steel wheels from Tire Rack and it improved the traction in snow way more than I expected. Also keep in mind that winter tires use a softer compound so they improve your handling and braking on freezing cold pavement in dry conditions compared to all-seasons. I can do the seasonal swap at home in an hour and it's also really nice to have them available to use as full size spares. Two times I've found a nail in one of my all seasons so I just stuck the winter wheel on there for a few days until I could get to the tire shop. I'll definitely get winter wheels on my FIT when/if I get one.

 

Thanks stembridge & mtnbiker26! As for All Seasons, are there any recommendations that handle well in the rain?

 

I got a set of Continental ExtremeContact DWS tires (to go on aftermarket wheels), which are supposed to be really good in the wet.

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Thanks a lot! I appreciate everyone's help

 

I had Continental DWS on my Infiniti G35 and they were pretty good. They weren't as good as the all terrains on my H3, but I felt much better in the rain and light snow with them. I highly recommend them for a general all season tire. I had them for about 10,000 miles and they were showing very little wear, should last a good long time.

 

Go to these . and . We're considering the General Altimax RT43 for the '13 base FIT .

 

Thanks a lot Odie! The Altimax look nice!

 

My first Fit was a 2009 sport. Came with crap OEM Dunlop 5000sp's and where dangerous in the wet,but surprisingly good in snow. They were quickly replaced by Continental DWS Extreme Contact 205/50/16 and they were golden. Loved those tires! I traveled to work on a well polished old highway and they stuck like glue to the road surface when wet. Excellent on dry and pretty good in deep snow. At one time I also had Michelin Ice X 2's the first year for winter tires until I got the Conti's and they were good enough in snow,so I sold the Ice X to girlfriend for her Scion XD. She has used them 4 years and absolutely loves the Michelin Ice X,so I can highly recommend them as a winter tire.


Fast forward to my new 2015 Fit EX that came with Firestone FR740 high performance all seasons. So far are ok in wet or dry,but snow season is a bit away. Can't find any reviews on them from Tire Rack but if they aren't any good I will be replacing them again with Conti's DWS Extreme Contact.

 

I don't know where you live but if you get any kind of snow, it's definitely worth getting a dedicated winter tire set. In the spring summer and fall, I run Yokohama S Drives. They are supposed to be a performance tire and they have huge "channels" in the tread which I believe are designed to allow the tire tread to work properly in water. I'm very satisfied with their grip in all driving situations on dry or wet pavement.

For winter I use Michelin X-Ice tires but bridgestone Blizzaks and Nokian Hakkapelittas are also very highly regarded. Since I run a tire specific to the season, I get optimal traction all year round, rather than a tire that will be average in all situations. Also, you get double the tread life of your tires since you run them for only part of the year.

My suggestion: if you live in an area that gets some snow for more than a month a year, invest in two sets of tires, one for summer one for winter. If not, go with a good quality all season tire like the continental that the others recommend.

One last thing: I don't want to sound preachy but if your SO is afraid of hydroplaning, the best solution is to drive in the right most lane and to slow down (to a reasonably safe speed). Even put on the hazard lights if you are in a torrential downpour and afraid of not being seen. I drive relatively fast because I only buy the best possible tire but if I didn't have that, I'd be driving slower and in the right lane. Even a great tire won't save you if you go too fast in inclement weather.