I'm a newb Fit manual sport driver who lives in Canada. My stock rims are 15" . I was wondering if I should go with 15" steelies or 14" ones. Is there an advantage/disadvantage to have a smaller set of winters?
Yes. Smaller meaning a narrower tire patch. It's important that the circumferences of the 14" and 15" tires be the same or your speedometer will be out of whack. A P175/65R14 tire will have approx. the same circumference as the P195/55R15 tire. The P175/65 tire will have a narrower patch which means that the Fit's weight will be concentrated on smaller contact areas at each corner of the Fit which in turn a better chance for better traction. I'll be picking up my new Sport next Monday and have started searching around to get a proper set of 14" steel rims. My understanding is that the offset for the Fit's 14" oem rim is 55 mm and that the bolt pattern is 4x100. There are a lot of used 4x100 Civic rims around but not (as far as I know) with a 55 mm offset. Can anyone (preferably in Canada but US is good) who has used 14" rims with winter tires on his/her Fit tell me what rims they are?
My understanding is that the offset for the Fit's 14" oem rim is 55 mm and that the bolt pattern is 4x100. There are a lot of used 4x100 Civic rims around but not (as far as I know) with a 55 mm offset.
Got to drive my Fit on snow for the first time, if you want to call it that. It was about 1/4 inch deep. Anti-locks worked great until I got to the corner where it was just ice. They helped some but only spikes work great on ice. Didn't have any trouble getting rolling or stopping. Took it nice and easy an it did great. Can't wait to get some deeper snow to see how it does. I had a CRX back in the late 80s and it did great. Hope the Fit does the same.
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2007 Storm Silver 5sp M/T Sport
Just getting started on mods:
1 - interior light mod
2 - a/c defrost disabled
3 - maplight with HomeLink(finally)
Any pics of your FIt driving in snow, or covered in feet of snow! WOuld be awesome to see! I can't wait for the next blizzard on Long island! (I better bite my tongue, people might be angry!) I love skiing/boardin!
Thanks. I haven't been involved with imports since the 80s. Any idea what year(s) the Civics used these 14 x 5.5, 4 x 100, 45 mm offset rims?
I have no direct experience, but cribbed this from a wheel vendor's fitment table:
Accord 1982-1989
Civic 1980-2005
CRX 1982-1992
Del Sol 1993-1997
Insight 2003-2006
Prelude 1982-1991
Edit: in this thread someone found that certain Civic wheels hit the calipers.
Ice is a problem in my area of the world (and they are legal here). I am thinking of going with a set of studded snow tires for the Fit. Has anyone else run studded tires on the Fit, and anyone know how much more noise increase it causes, and if there are any negatives to studs on dry pavement between snows?
Thanks!
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Garrett
"Paradise, is exactly like, where you are right now, only much, much, better!"
Yesterday we had pretty snowy roads and whiteout conditions, and I had (thankfully) put the Dunlop Winter Sport M3s on last Sunday. The car did very, very well. I was in far more control than most cars on the road. The only problem I found was with the car is very light and upright. On a snowy bridge with a crosswind you really need to be paying attention. In pretty much all other conditions, the car performs very well. I feel very safe in my Fit.
2 feet of snow in london yesterday and not much of it was cleared this morning ... after an hour and a half of shoveling the driveway and clearing the car of snow (there was ALOT) i thought to myself ... time for a spirited winter drive
i can report that the fit does handle itself very well in the snow ... when ground clearance isn't an issue ...
even though i'm on the base fit which i estimate has about half an inch of clearance over the sport models there were many situations where i grounded out, this is not entirely the car's fault as this snow storm hit us out of nowhere and snow removal was not up to par (usually they clear it before most people wake up)
other then that i'm very satisfied with the fit's handling, i havnt even changed to winter tires (still on the stock 175 all seasons) and i didnt lose traction at all (except for the afformentioned grounding out parts), in my family's other car (2001 corolla which IS equipped with snow tires) i'd slide all over the place which is alot of fun but probably not the safest thing in the world. the fit on the other hand gripped and gripped, i had to conciously try to make it break loose for it to do so. another gripe i have with the fit is the abs kicks in rather early which is not really desirable in my mind
As Jonas said, we had a decent snowfall here in Cleveland yesterday and the roads were very slippery. I had a set of Nokian Hakkapilliita RSI's put on my blue base Fit three weeks ago. These tires are awesome and well worth the price. I don't recall slipping or sliding at all. These tires weren't too bad on dry roads either. The Nokians are pricey, but the Finns have their act together when it comes to snow tires
As Jonas said, we had a decent snowfall here in Cleveland yesterday and the roads were very slippery. I had a set of Nokian Hakkapilliita RSI's put on my blue base Fit three weeks ago. These tires are awesome and well worth the price. I don't recall slipping or sliding at all. These tires weren't too bad on dry roads either. The Nokians are pricey, but the Finns have their act together when it comes to snow tires
Those are nice tires, must have been fun.
In a general statement, I rode the last big storm with the original base fit wheels. The worked great, no slipping and definitly held in traction through turns. Had to pull the e-brake for some rally action, scared the s*** out of my gf, but the Fit can handle the rough weather with ease.
Rally cars use tiny narrow tires for more direct weight on snow or dirt roads for more direct contact. Same holds true for the tiny ass base model tires- 175/65/14s
For snow tires it's best to contact Jim@tirerack.com for more info.
Studded snow tires are good for hard packed frozen mud or ice and heavy snow.
When the ice is gone and there are dry roads your studded tires will have LESS traction due to running the tires on the studs. It's like walking on the sidewalk with golf shoes on.
To do well on the dry roads you need more rubber contact.
Studded tires also tend to be noisy and could wear road surfaces more- hence some areas have laws on when studded tires can be used in the winter months.
We run studded snows up here in the winter. JB and I are about to get them put on our vehicles. EVERYONE here runs them and once the snow is gone, they do tend to run a little louder with a constant tapping. Obviously they're going to be loud since they're studs biting into the snow. Haven't run them on the Fit yet, but I think we have a Monday appt. I dunno what tires she's running, but I'm running Blizzaks ftw
We run studded snows up here in the winter. JB and I are about to get them put on our vehicles. EVERYONE here runs them and once the snow is gone, they do tend to run a little louder with a constant tapping. Obviously they're going to be loud since they're studs biting into the snow. Haven't run them on the Fit yet, but I think we have a Monday appt. I dunno what tires she's running, but I'm running Blizzaks ftw
There lies the problem, little snow here, but when there is, they do absolutely nothing about it. So the options are no studs and less traction for the ice, or changing wheels just before the snow hits. When I first moved here I had a set of Nokia (pre N) tires on a Volvo. One night I got held up by an ambulance with its lights on, I was able to go faster than it....well below the posted limit.
I am just trying to figure out what the noise level will be with the studs....at 70 MPH.
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Garrett
"Paradise, is exactly like, where you are right now, only much, much, better!"
I will soone have to put winter tires on my Fit. These will go on the original 14inch rims.
I know nothing about tires...
Any suggestions ?
and why?
Just put my new Bridgestone Blizzak AS 50 14 inch 175/65 snow and ice tires on my Fit Sport. Got them from Tire Rack on steel rims for $527 (includes shipping) Took 2 days to get them and an hour and a half to put them on. They are the same tires I have on my Mazda RX-8 which were marvelous in the past years on snow and icy roads in the NE.
Got them from Tire Rack on steel rims for $527 (includes shipping)
Do you happen to know if those Tire Rack rims have a 45mm offset. I know the offset is stamped on alloys but not sure if that is the case with steel rims. Thanks.
contact patch size doesnt really change when you move from narrow tire to a wider tire (within a reasonable range) keeping tire pressure constant
the reason a narrower tire works better in the snow is it tends to "cut" into the surface alot easier then a wide tire, same reasoning for why a wide tire hydroplanes easier
there's a really scientific way to explain the relationship between grip and contact patch shape but thats too nerdy and i dont want to go into it
...the reason a narrower tire works better in the snow is it tends to "cut" into the surface alot easier then a wide tire, same reasoning for why a wide tire hydroplanes easier...
Agreed. Also another factor is that the 175/65 sidewall is taller and flexes a bit more than the 195/55 which helps to shed snow from the tire's tread.
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