Since I love my Fit very much and this is my first "new" car and I'm paranoid about hitting something in the snow, I'm considering snow tires. I only have to drive in bad snow maybe a half a dozen times a year. I work 45 miles away but my job is such that they understand and would not penalize me for not braving the snow, although since I'm hourly I would not get paid, so I try to make it whenever I can. I think they sent me home early once last year.

I'm trying to weight the pros and cons of snow tires, since I can probably get away without them.
Any suggestions / recommendations?

How much do snow tires affect mileage?

 

arguably, tires have very little affect on mileage. in fact, i'd argue that you would not even be able to measure it.

your mileage will be reduced significantly by the cold ambient temps and the snow you will have to push thru.

the advantages of snow tires in winter are a no-brainer. get them. traction difference is amazing. you'll wonder why you didn't get them sooner and you'll never drive another winter without them. i guarantee it.

 

I have winterforce snow tires for my fit- I lose about 3-4 mpg in the winter. I can't say if it's exclusively tires, but even on long HWY trips, it's 3-4 less, so I don't think it's cause the car is cold. Maybe "winter gas", whatever that means.

I am quite certain that it's the tires, but I guess I could be wrong. I doubt it

 

This'll be my first year with a car, I don't even have the winter tires on yet, but I second the recommendation to get winter tires based on what a coworker said.

We got over 4 metres of snow last winter, just 7cm shy of a snowfall record. My coworker had always relied on all-seasons, but losing complete traction one too many times finally scared her into getting a set in mid-January. This was on a new Mazda 3, too.

She says it was like night and day once she got the winters on. She didn't lose traction or skid even once afterwards, without changes to her winter driving habits. She'd pass trucks and SUVs in the ditch, their drivers mistakenly thinking that power to all 4 wheels meant a damn when it came to braking on slush.

You can probably get away without winter tires, but all-seasons become stiff and don't grip as well when the temperature drops below 5°C (40°F).

I expect FE will drop with winter tires even if there's no snow. Parts of winter tires are designed to grip ice, after all.

 

Please feel free to add to the list.
Lets weigh the pros and cons of snow tires:
pros:
1. you can save your life
2. better control of your car
3.

cons:
1.buying two sets of tires for winter and summer
2. the tires are geared toward traction so mpg could potentially be affected
3.

 

I don't think H-rated winter tires will have a very big effect on fuel economy. I swap them onto my STi for winter and don't really notice anything big MPG-wise; maybe 1MPG -- maybe. Winter gas does much worse than that to my mileage.

Granted, the STi isn't running low rolling resistance tires in summer, but then neither is my Fit. I would expect to see a bigger MPG difference between winter tires and low rolling resistance tires.

 

I just noticed that the Province of Quebec, in Canada, made snow tires mandatory for all cars. Once Dec. 15 arrives, you must have them.

Since I live in New Mexico...and I know lots of people think we get no snow...but that is very wrong...as we live at 7500 ft of elevation. We do get many snowfalls, and sometimes 7- 15 inches of it at once. But...due to the large amount of sunshine, the roads and sidewalks are clear by noon the next day.

So I have not used any snow tires in recent years...both of our cars are front wheel drive, which does help.

And since I am retired, I can always just roll over and wait until noon!

 

In our case, with only occasional snow the narrower 175/65x15's yield about 2 mpg higher than the 205/40x17's and about 1 mpg more than the stock 195/55x15's.
I doubt that you can 'prove' snow tires get worse mpg. Any mpg change is virtually 100% due to cold startups and 'spinning tires' from poor traction.

 

Id say my 07 lost about an average of around 3 MPG with studded snow tires on the stock sport wheels. One reason could have been my regular tires were on 15" SSR Comp 8.4 lb wheels which improved mileage.

But man, the snow tires were fantastic!!!! Had a hitch on it, towed my snowmobile on the trailer up to the Mich UP snow belt about 6 times last winter. I got about everywhere 4 wheel drive trucks got.
I highly recommend snow tires!
OH when towing my sled, MPG dropped to about 29 in heavy snow LOL

 

after 3 weeks on snow tires..... i have yet to get any lower mileage in "normal"/clear conditions.

now, when it's snowing and a mess out, you will get significantly lower mileage.

 

Safety > MPG

Your car won't get very good mileage if you write it off... The last recording you will get will be more like 10mpg for the tow truck to the wrecking yard.

 

I've averaged about 35 MPG over 5,600 km, with air conditioning and highway speeds averaging 115-120 km/h. I got my winter tires two weeks ago, and my most recent tank MPG was... 30.8! Worst so far, and that's with barely any window defrosting and reducing my highway speeds.

They're Michelin X-Ice, and I notice it's hitting that VTEC threshold (3400 RPM) at slightly lower speeds than before. Not much, but it means I limit myself to 110 km/h instead of 115 if I want to keep it from sucking extra gas. I understand the winter fuel mix reduces MPG, too.

 

completely agree

 

You don't say what size you had and the MichX either. Could be you installee taller and heavier tires which would cause exactly that.

 

I'm sure the winter tires are heavier, and they're mounted on (OEM) steel rims too. I'll check the tire codes today... I *think* they're 175/70R14 84Q, that's what I had written down when I booked the appointment in late October.

 

If you went from 175/65x14 tires to 175/70x14 your diameter increased from 22.9 to 23.65 inches. That decreases your odometer reading first and second adds considerable effort to your driving. A 5 mpg drop would easily account for the change in tires. The good thong is some of it is fictious as the odometer now reads 3% low and perhaps more.(you really need to compare the revs per mile between the two tires to get the real odo change). A change in weight is far more of a difference and I would gues 1 to 2 lb per tire would easily account for a 10% change. The rest likely due to cold weather starts.
Out of curiosity was a 175/65x14 snow tire not available? Or were you looking to raise the Fit a little as well? That is a good idea to decrease thr approach angle so the tire tends to roll up over the snow easier. A steep approach angle more easilystops the tire.


As for mpg here's what happened when we changed from 205/50x15 tires to 175/65x15 tires on dry roads:
205/50x15 tires
30.1__6,912__280.1 corrected mileage
31.4 7.103 223.1
29.9 7.914 236.9
31.8 8.112 258.1
32.4 8.052 260.7
31.12 average
sigma = 1.084

175/65x15 tires
29.8 7.924 236.2
27.8 7.822 217.2
30.1 8.222 247.6
30.7 6.782 208.3
31.7 7.152 226.6
30.02 average
sigma = 1.43

Significance test at 95% confidence level:
31.12+1.96(1.084)/2.236 < 30.02 <31.12-1.96(1.084)/2.236
If 30.02 is not less than (31.12 - .96) nor greater than (31.12 + .96) there is not enough statistical evidence to say that the two samples are different.
30.02 is less than (31.12-.96,), or 30.16, so the two samples are statistically different.
It is reasonable to say that 175/65x15 tires got less gas mileage than 205/50x15 tires

And likely because of the greater tread weight at the larger diameter of the 175/65 tire.

 

I finally checked it out, they're P175/65R14, same as my regular tires.

It's hard to believe 2lbs x 4 is contributing that much to a lower MPG... I suppose it's not the total weight that's the problem (I've have probably close to 400 lbs extra in passengers without impacting MPG much), but rather having to spin those extra 8 lbs at 3000 RPM?

 

We had the opportunity to measure mpg for 175/65x15 winter tires vs 205/50x15 summer performance tires. For the 5 gas tank fillups before and after changing tires here's the result:
205/50x15 tires
30.1mpg 6,912 gal 280.1 corrected mileage
31.4 7.103 223.1
29.9 7.914 236.9
31.8 8.112 258.1
32.4 8.052 260.7
31.12 average
sigma = 1.084

175/65x15 tires
29.8 7.924 236.2
27.8 7.822 217.2
30.1 8.222 247.6
30.7 6.782 208.3
31.7 7.152 226.6
30.02 average
sigma = 1.43

Significance test at 95% confidence level:
31.12+1.96(1.084)/2.236 < 30.02 <31.12-1.96(1.084)/2.236
If 30.02 is not less than (31.12 - .96) nor greater than (31.12 + .96) there is not enough statistical evidence to say that the two samples are different.
30.02 is less than (31.12-.96,), or 30.16, so the two samples are statistically different.
It is reasonable to say that 175/65x15 tires got less gas mileage than 205/50x15 tires

And likely because of the greater tread weight at the larger diameter of the 175/65 tire.

Its also expected the larger diameter and tire width both reduce mpg by experience over 50 years.

 

Its not the extra weight but how far from the hub the weight is rotating. It may be only 4 lb total but rotating at 12" means a torque of 4 lb-ft for the four wheels (1 lb-ft per tire). If you're only generating 40 lb-ft at 40 mph thats a 10% loss. And at 25 mph perhaps 20% loss.

 

Based on weather channel reports I'd say you need them. As far as mpg from winter tires its changing sizes that matters:
205/50x15 tires
30.1__6,912__280.1 corrected mileage
31.4 7.103 223.1
29.9 7.914 236.9
31.8 8.112 258.1
32.4 8.052 260.7
31.12 average
sigma = 1.084

175/65x15 tires
29.8 7.924 236.2
27.8 7.822 217.2
30.1 8.222 247.6
30.7 6.782 208.3
31.7 7.152 226.6
30.02 average
sigma = 1.43

Significance test at 95% confidence level:
31.12+1.96(1.084)/2.236 < 30.02 <31.12-1.96(1.084)/2.236
If 30.02 is not less than (31.12 - .96) nor greater than (31.12 + .96) there is not enough statistical evidence to say that the two samples are different.
30.02 is less than (31.12-.96,), or 30.16, so the two samples are statistically different.
It is reasonable to say that 175/65x15 tires got less gas mileage than 205/50x15 tires

And likely because of the greater weight at the larger diameter of the 175/65 tire.
On the other hand, considering the slip-sliding you do with the stock tires you should get better mpg with more tractive tires. Only when dry do you see the comparison we got here.