Hi all,

Long-time reader, first-time poster here...

It's come time to replace the stock Dunlops on my 2007 5-speed sport. I'm at about 42,000 and, living in Illinois, don't think I'll get much traction in the winter if I keep going.

So I'm looking for some new tires. My main thing is gas mileage, road noise, ride comfort, and, perhaps most importantly, tire life. Ok, so these are the basic things everyone wants...but I'm not so interested in racing performance and do mostly highway driving. I should also note that my Fit Sport is at stock height with no mods.

I do want to get some Michelins (have had great experiences with them in the past) and have two questions for you experts here:

1) Anyone tried the Michelin Pilot Exalto A/S? How are they?

2) If I go up to a 195/60/15, will I experience rubbing? I'm interested in the Michelin Primacy MXV4 and these don't come in the 195/55/15.

Thanks so much, fellow Fit owners!

 

I have not tried any Michelins on my Fit per say, I had always liked the Dunlop SP37s that came on the car, though, they are highly expensive to replace (Price jump from the dealer I work at for Michelin's to Dunlop SP37s is around $80/tire to $110/tire employee cost) I have changed a lot of Michelins out for customers at the dealer, and they usually get around 50K miles out of a set, which is good. The specific one's you mentioned I'm not sure if I have seen or talked to anyone running those on the Fit. Sorry I'm not too much help.

On another note though, I just put 17s on my 5spd Sport last weekend, and took off the factories with a set of BF Goodrich Potenza's 195/60/R15s and I had no problems at all with rubbing or anything with a stock height car also. Rode pretty well, but your speedometer will be about 2mph faster with them at just about all speed ranges. You're fuel mileage will be close to the same, but will show you to be getting less due to speedometer miscalibration. You will lose about .05 miles for every mile driven if you check between two mile markers on the highway. No drastic changes, car will run like normal, just have a small number variance.

Hope this helps! And, congrats on the first post! Welcome to the posting side of the forums!

 

^ You mean slower right? I too have taller tires and my speedometer reads "60 MPH" when I'm actually going 62 MPH.

I haven't had any experience with Michelins at all; however, as for whether you're tire size will work, send Mahout a PM (private message) or email. He has helped many people clarify what wheel and tire combination will work (or rub) for their Fit.

 

yeah, you're right, I always get things like that backwards. Sorry about that.

I found this on another thread from Mahout Actually. I don't know how to quote to another thread, so he should get full credit for this. I just thought it might be of some insight to you Fithawk.

Michelin Pilot Exalto A/S
I replaced the Dunlops with the Michelin Pilot Exalto A/S - P195/55-15. They are great. They run a lot quieter than the Dunlops and have great snow and rain traction. The basic tradeoff is that while they are stickier, the sidewalls aren't as stiff. In a hard turn there's a more pronounced movement to the side before you get full bite. The ride is a bit smoother.

 

Its alright, no harm done.

To quote you either click the quote button at the bottom right of a post or just copy/cut the words you want to quote, click the quote bubble , then this will pop in your reply box, and you simple paste the quote there. Or just highlight the statement and click the quote bubble.

 

Thanks so much for the suggestions and words of advice.

I think I may go with the Exaltos after all...I was maybe a little concerned with their durability, but I think I'd rather avoid messing up the speedometer reading (I know, it wouldn't really be messed up...but I like an accurate speedometer!).

Thanks again!

 

I am on my 3rd set of tires now.
I ditched the Dunlop OE at about 25k (they didn't fair too well in autocross)
I switched over to Yokohama and they gripped well but started to chop a bit, got the vehicle aligned out and did some suspension adjustments and they held out pretty well replaced them at 64k.
After some research I landed on the the Goodyear Eagle GT II and have been very pleased so far, they are very quiet and lateral grip is very good even on a wet road course. I have about 10k on these and they are all wearing evenly at my last rotation.

 

My personal opinion here, but since you live in a snow state, I highly recommend getting a second set of rims and installing some dedicated snow tires on there. All seasons are junk compared to snow tires (in snow, slush, ice, cold). You will not believe how well they handle in snow compared to any other all season tire. I've literally used the car to plow snow and had no problems. Meanwhile, years ago, I almost got stuck in 1" of snow in my all seasons.

Again, if at all possible, get another set of rims (Civic 14's are cheap and snow tires will be $50-60). Then you can get some summer tires for better traction and fun driving. You do end up spending more up front this way, but remember, they will last twice as long as well.