Hi. I am considering purchasing a 07 Fit Sport and would like to get some feedback regarding how it handles in the snow. My last Honda was a CRX which I drove until the frame rusted in half. I always put snow tires on the front and all season radials on the back plus weight over the rear tires.

 

We run FOUR dedicated snow tires (a Tire Rack 14" package) and have had NO problems getting where we want to go.

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Why would you put weight in the BACK of a front-drive car?

 

You better do some research on snow driving tips. I have not heard of any advantage - in fact mostly just dangers - to adding weight to the back of a front-drive car.

Use four tires. Very simple reason. With grippier tires up front, upon braking it's the rear tires that'll lose traction first - and they'll try to swap places with the front. Fun for them I guess, but bad for you. I suppose two snow tires are better than none, but if the snow is bad enough you need them at all, it's foolish not to pony up for two more. My two cents.

 

Thanks for the feedback. When driving in snow/ice/slush you want to be able to get traction and have control. The reason I added weight in the back of my CRX was that it helped prevent the back end from spinning out (360) when driving in certain types of snowy (slushy) conditions. It worked great in combination with good rubber on all four tires.

 

Hy,
I'll just give you my recent experience on an icy slope.
Disclaimer : I'm driving a Honda 'Jazz' that is so far I know the same as Fit model but for Europe.
We had unusual snow this winter and there's a slope coming to my home that is in the shade of trees. It got pretty icy.
I had no problem with my Renault Clio with all season shoes, but my wife couldn't climb the slope with the Jazz/Fit. So I took the wheel, used the low gear with idle power, and I was surprise that the Fit didn't do so good. I guess that lack of low RPM torque plus weight balance not so good don't help the Fit. I never drove a CRX but I dreamed to. I would say you might be desapointed. I'm definitly going to get 4 winter shoes for my Fit. I'm not so sure about adding weight. Could be good on slush and dry snow, but I'd think it would be terrible on icy road.

 

The Fit sport auto actually has a cool feature in manual mode that lets you click up to "2" to start off. A frequently used manual-transmission trick you can't normally do with an auto (I think)

 

I use manual stick shift as almost any european driver. Starting in second gear works on flat road. Hopeless in a slope with a Fit. By low gear I ment avoiding spinig the tires in the slope, but definitly, the Fit/Jazz is really not as good as my renault Clio. I have the feeling that it comes from aft/front weigth balance, and torque at low RPM. Both are about the same weigth (Fit is about 50Kg heavier).

 

Ditto. I think the extra weight in the back was a band-aid for the problem of having way less traction in the rear.

TireRack has steel wheels for some absurdly low price, I have an extra set of wheels with snow tires sitting in my basement (like I do for all my cars). With those on the Fit, it goes great!

 

Rule of thumb for driving ANY car in snow:

- Get FOUR good snow tires. I've used everything from cheap Hankook's to Blizzaks. Personally, I wouldn't spend the extra money on Blizzaks. I saw no performance increase in snow. (We get 500" per year).

- Practice STOPPING and turning in an empty lot. Too many people go way too fast. In traffic, plan to stop 3 - 4x the distance you normally do.

- Use common sense.

 

How do you even FIND your car under all that snow????

 

This.

Go play in an empty unplowed parking lot. Practice getting the car loose and getting it back in control. Without this practice your sub-conscience brain will not know what to do when you lose it in the middle of a busy intersection. And your thinking brain will not be able to handle it. If you only know how your car feels tracking straight in snow, I feel bad for you.

I try to nearly stop 50 ft before my real stopping point and then roll slowly the rest of the way. I have never went sliding through an intersection this way...

 

^--what he said. Plan to stop waaay behind your target. If you fail, which you will sometimes, you'll be OK. On a normal day people would be annoyed; on a snowy day no one will.

 

If you have snow available any time of the year, this is the best experience you can get. I read about the e-brake 180 several years ago, and my brother and I tried it out in his '70 Torino in a snow covered lot. It gave us both the experience and confidence to try it out in the dry (I needed to go at least 45mph in my '68 Skylark to get a full 180), and more importantly, it gave us both a good idea of how to deal with cars seemingly out of control.
Sliding around a little more over the years added to that, and that has literally saved my life on at least one occasion (150'+ puddle on the freeway, between a tanker and K-rail, completely blind), as the only part of my body that knew what to do was what connected me with the seat.
The brain is too slow; trained reflexes will save your life.
--
Barry

P.S. After the puddle incident, I found a place to park and then walked around, shaking, for about two hours. It really was that close. Make the investment in your skills now so you can be an old man and tell these stories (like me). :-)