Love my Fit, but there is one thing I'd like to change. I don't like the way it wanders on the highway. It seems like every little undulation on the road surface requires a minute steering correction. It's too "darty"

I don't really care about "bling" but I'd be willing to upgrade the wheels and tires if I was confident it would help alleviate that problem. Any first hand experience on this? Will upsizing the base model's tiny wheels/tires, specifically going to 15" wheels and wider tires help give it better highway manners???

 

i have a base too and i experienced the same thing with freeway driving, but i never thought too much about it. Just thought it might have felt that way coming from driving a big lifted SUV as my previous car. I'm rocking 16" hfp wheels now, just for looks though, i never intended to try to fix that problem. But it still drives that way so maybe its just the way the Fit drives? lol. New wheels may have changed it a bit, but like i said i never paid too much attention in the first place, so i was never looking for any difference after getting new wheels. But maybe wheels and some stiffer springs might help

*edit* where have i heard the saying "vtec just kicked in yo!"?. LOL. I remember it was funny though but dont remember where i read it from! +1 rep for a tight name! hahah

 

When I switched from my 15" Sports to 16's I noticed that the car was less responsive (not as darty). It now takes bumps better (not as harsh), but the car accelerates slower. Overall 16's feel a lot more sturdy to drive than 15's.

 

Even on my 2008 Sport, after the first 2500 miles, it was quite apparent that the "Sport" package Dunlop 195/55-15 SP31 A/S tires on 15-inch alloy wheels were sadily lacking in decent performance. I upgraded to Honda HFP 16-inch alloy wheels and the General Exclaim UHP 205/45 tires which made a world of difference. I've seen a lot of recent comments about the better handling of the 2009 Sport, which has 16-inch tires and after driving one last week, my opinion is that it isn't any different than my 2008 with its 16-inch configuration. The Fit is much better running a 16-inch configuration.
FWIW,
-Rod

 

I just put my stockers back on while I try and sell the wheels/tires in my sig, and oh wow what a downgrade back to stock. Car handled and drove so much better with the 5Zigens.

 

Had the same problem with my '08 Sport on the 15" stockers and Dunlops. All but gone with 16" SSR's and Bridgestone Potenza RE760 Sports.

Your mileage will go down a bit with stickier tires though the handling benefits are truly impressive.

 

VTEC JUST KICKED IN YO! was that little fast and furious avatar with the asian thug guy driving the S2000! hahaha

 

i Think it was from that comic that used to be in Import Tuner magazine. LOL. . where the dude has a pea green civic dx and it would go boosted randomly. HAHA

 

I have an 08 SSM base, I went from the stock steelies to some 15" Equip 03's. It handled great but the rears scrubbed and I lost like 5MPG. Im currently rockin old civic HX wheels with a stock sized tire, they seem to perform better than stock(they sure as hell look better) I even gained 2 MPG avg. If you want to go that route, you need a 5mm spacer up front to clear the caliper.


BTW Vtec is like turbo-lag w/ none of the boost

 

I'm upgrading to some Konig Daylites and putting it on some Skunk2 Springs. My brothers fit handling got much better when he upgraded to some of the special edition heliums.

My main problem with my base fit is the wind, I get pushed around all over the place on the highway, supposedly the springs should help out with that.

 

Could you tell me what years those wheels were produced? I'm looking for a set. And a 5mm spacer is all you needed to run them? Sweet!

 

changing the spring/strut/shock combo with stiffer/lower ones will improve the "dartiness" on highways
i have the 15" for winters, but i had them on right after i changed to coilovers and highway stability improved dramatically
WARNING!!! coilovers r stiffer than stock

 

I think they made them in 98, they come off a civic HX. The wheels actually have an Enkei stamp on the inside. there going on Ebay for about $400/set

 

I have 15" Konig Heliums and Falken RT615's. They are AMAZING for highway travel. Incredibly stable, but fairly loud. The confidence these tires give me on the highway is awesome, especially combined with my GF210's and Progress RSB (no roll or dive).

I'm on 14" winter tires right now and I definitely miss my summer set! The 14's are comfier and quieter, but they have very soft sidewalls and make the car feel tippy on the highway.

 

As a band-aid fix until you replace the tires you can run 5-10% more pressure in the fronts than the rears. I do 38F/34R.

Doesn't cure it, but it's a heck of a lot more driveable on a windy day.

 

Thanks for all the great replies guys...

Anyone know which HONDA wheels will fit on the Fit without too much trouble that are reasonably priced. I don't really care for the alloys that come with the sport, I'm looking for something different. Preferably 15" from a different Honda model.

 

Any 4 Lug OEM Honda wheel from year 2000 and on should fit fine. Si wheels, GSR Blades, Civic HX wheels (shown above), Civic fat fives. Just hopefully you can find somebody selling them.

 

Actually, the "darty" feeling probably has more to do with the high electric power steering assist on our cars, than the base steelies and 175 tires versus say, 15" sport with 195 tires.

In fact, going wider and lower profile on your tires would actually increase the tendency for your car to follow road ruts or crowns. It is called tramlining, and it increases when you go with larger thread blocks, unidirectional threads, softer compounds, and wider width and lower profile. All things that will increase grip for performance cornering, but comes wit a price.

I personally experienced this effect on my old Audi when I did a +3 size change to 18" wheels and 225/45/18 V groove Yokohama tires. It was quite obvious the increased tendency to track the road groves. I have not noticed this nearly as much when I went from my base 14's to 15's on the Fit, but then it's not as drastic of a tire size change, and I'm on touring tires.

hope this helps