I was looking at some snow tires on Tire Rack's site and noticed an alternate size to the 195/55 is 185/60/15. Would this size worked with a lowered drop of 1.5" or do you think there would be any clearance issues?
Thanks!
If yu have the standard 15" wheels with 55 mm offset there should be no rubbing issues. If you have aftermarket wheels with 42 mm offset the you will probably have an issue with rubbing.
How can you make such an absolutest statement?
I have snow tires on the wifes Fit, I forget who makes them, and they worked well. Snow tires add traction, nothing is going to make you a better driver. Overall, in mild snow (up to 5"), the Fit should be fine on stock tires. If you have the coin snow tires are definitely worth it, imo, but are not a must in most snow climes.
You may find the winter tire tests in the latest consumer Reports of interest. Especially regarding oise (Canadians wouldn't care snow stays on the ground all winter but for those of us who only tread on snow occasionally ...
5" of snow is 'mild' ? lol there is no way in hell a fit would run 'fine' on
5" of snow on stock tires. i know cause it wasn't able to get past my
driveway last season. lol
took my legacy to work.
__________________ 08 FitSport Storm Silver Metallic (5MT)
Suspension: EnduraTechs
Dressup: Black fog lamp surrounds, Megan axle-back.
Wheels: DragDR21 15x7 +40mm, Ziex912 195/50/15
Int & Ext: Factory a/s floor mats, Zeta deadpedal,
factory trim kit, JDM visor, JDM door handles, MOMO Champion,
Daikei hub 20mm spacer + AS01 adjust, RecaroYoung Sport
child seat VivoLite, TypeR style satin shift knob, Zeta cargo cover,
Mugen window visors, ONYX metalized 30% tint.
ICE: JVC Arsenal HU
Hi,I'm new to the forum and have a question not knowing too much about tires and rims.I'm waiting like a lot of people on a silver sport honda fit from my local dealership.My question is could i use a base fit's 14"steel wheel's on a sport model in the winter to save my alloys?I didn't know if going from 15" down to 14" would be a problem with the added ground effects on a sport.I found a good deal on a base fit's 14" steel wheels and thought they might be a good way to go.Any advice would be much appreciated. THANKS!
As long as you choose a proper size tire to go on the 14" rims you'll improve your winter get-about. The diameter of the tire is not a fuction of the wheel size.
For example, the winter rule is generally to go one size narrower and a slightly larger tire diameter to get maximum traction and ground clearance.
If you have 195/55x15's 23.44)you can go with 185/65x14's (23.46)or 185/70x14((24.2); the latter giving a little more ground clearance while the 185/65x14 are close to stock. If you have 185/55x16's (24.01) go with the 185/70x14's (24.2").
As for brand of tire, check TireRacks performance ratings (use lap times rather than opinion where you can) or check this month's Consumer Reports for their ratings. Winter traction is dependent on tire compound, tire strructure, tread design, and footprint. They are not all the same on any two tires.
good luck.
5" of snow is 'mild' ? lol there is no way in hell a fit would run 'fine' on
5" of snow on stock tires. i know cause it wasn't able to get past my
driveway last season. lol
took my legacy to work.
I don't doubt your experience, but I ran in WELL over 5 inches of snow many times last winter on the stock all seasons. In fact, 5 inches most certainly IS "mild" up in this area of BC. I can actually recall a number of days when there was upwards of a foot of fresh snow and the stock tires took me into work and back without much of an issue.
That being said, I'm sure the WR's I picked up will do a MUCH better job, just like they did on my wife's Jetta. I didn't find the stockers THAT bad on snow, but they were poor on ice. You really had to pay attention and be aware of what was going on.
i see there may be several different wheels from the boneyard that work. i plan to get 2 or 4 for winter tire mounts. any references you can point me to that list wheels i can use? relatedly, i have the base with 175/65/14 tires and might replace them with a bit larger profile all-seasons (175/70?). thoughts?
i see there may be several different wheels from the boneyard that work. i plan to get 2 or 4 for winter tire mounts. any references you can point me to that list wheels i can use? relatedly, i have the base with 175/65/14 tires and might replace them with a bit larger profile all-seasons (175/70?). thoughts?
Basically you're looking for a 4x100 bolt pattern, 56.1mm center bore, and something in the +45mm to +55mm offset range.
I'm going to put winter tires on my OEM Fit steel rims, and I have some 15" Civic alloys that are going to get 185/60R15 all seasons.
Add to that to make sure the wheels clear the calipers. Some Honda wheels we have don't. Wish I could say which ones fit but we didn't mark which hondas they came off of.
Stay with the 175/65R14 for the tires. If you are going to a separate wheel just put on winter tires. The car already has all season tires as OE. If you go this way you should only do it with a full set of four tires. Two winter tires just makes the car very unpredictable in all conditions.
If I can help with the tires let me know.
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