I've had my 2012 Fit Sport Auto Trans for two months now. Fit freaks don't attact me as I do love many things about my Fit. On my Fit starting at 25mph the road noise sounds almost like I am in a commercial airliner flying, like a turbine engine is in my car. I don't know if it's from the tires or what. The faster I go, the louder it gets. Never heard anything like this. I have been reading how the Fit road noise issue was solved a couple of years ago (not in my Fit lol). I wanted to ask other 2012 Fit Sport Auto Trans owners if they feel their road noise is excessive? Any 2012 owners or past year owners care to comment?

 

Mmmm ... I have the same model you do, and I do not feel the noise is excessive. Unlike the economy cars of a decade or two decades ago, it's got a similar comfort level to "a normal car." It's not a quiet car - clearly it's a bit louder than a much larger car with more insulation would be - but it doesn't seem like a penalty box in any way, including noise. Supposedly pre-2012s are louder and can be more noticable.

My only advice is to check the tire pressures. They come shipped with high pressure to check for leaks, and the dealer doesn't always let them down.

Aside from that - what is your frame of reference here, ie what are you comparing it to? What was your previous car(s)?

 

Stock tires BLOW for road noise. Get some better tires if it annoys you. The engine is also noisy as well

 

I changed the stock tires which are 185/55 to a better brand, and went up to 195/55 size. The extra width (195) results in a slightly taller tire since I stayed with the 55 ratio/profile. I understand that some 205/55 will also work, but since I mail order tires I was worried about clearance. The road noise is generated by low profile tires, such as 185/55, and of course the stock tires are very poor quality.

A lot of folks will recommend 205/50, but understand that the 50 is again a low profile tire, so noise will probably still be an issue. I'm quite pleased with the Yokahama 195/55 tires we now have.

 

MY biggest road noise issue was with a 2009 Hyundai Accent. It gave me a headache whenever I took it for a long drive. My 2012 Fit is the same as my old 2010 GMC Acadia. Very comfortable. Not so sure the point of this post are you looking to add some sort of road deadening modification?

Do a search on the site....but really our 2012 are on par.

 

Many people have posted that putting on some better tires helps greatly with road noise, handling, etc. Once I wear out the stockers I plan to upgrade to a wider tire which will probably be either:

Continental DWS 205/50/R16
or
Bridgestone Ecopia 205/50/R16

From everthing I've read the Continentals really perform, but I think I'm leaning toward the Bridgestone because it's a low rolling resistance tire and I'd hate to lose any gas mileage going to the wider tire size.

-Dustin

 

My road Noise went down when I put on the Hankook Ventus 205/50/16 tires. they have a great tread wear rating and handle really well. Doesn't hurt that they were about $85/tire installed. Only time will tell on how long they'll last but the stock tries only lasted me about 27K miles. my stock GS-R tires went to 35K miles and they were one of the worst tires ever made.

Profile doesn't have a ton to do with road noise. tread pattern will make the biggest difference.

~SB

 

Interesting .. what does a "quiet" tire tread look like? Wondering what I should keep an eye out for.

 

Well, I'll wait till these tires wear down. I think they are Dunlops. I can't see putting sound deadening insulation in it. I know if I bring it back to the dealer they will just say it's normal. But this kind of noise is not normal. Really disappointed. I'll just live with it I guess.

 

Use the radio at 15 or higher.

 

Quieter Tires often have areas that have constant tread around the tire. (Essentially you could draw a straight line around the tire without having to lift a pencil.) Most Noise comes from the front or back side of a "block" of tread so those tires that have a continuous tread pattern are often quieter. (Snow tires with individual blocks are noisier than summer or all season tires in most all cases)

~SB

 

Two options:

Quieter tires (Tire rack reports).

Add sound deadening to the Fit.

Doing both will yield the best results.

Doing neither will give you what you have now for the long haul.

 

I'll also add that the road your driving on can make a huge difference in the amount of road noise. Driving on the interstate on smooth asphalt even with the stock tires there is very little road noise in my 2012 Sport, but on rough concrete, etc. the road noise does get very loud!

-Dustin

 

Did you notice a change in gas mileage with those tires specboy?

-Dustin

 

You can go to the dealer and drive a comparable model .. at least then you will know if it is "normal" or if it's specific to your car.

 

I had a Chevy Sonic for a week as a rental when I was in Baltimore. My Fit is a limo compared to that piece of crap - rattles, hesitation when accelerating.... JUNK.

 

It must be the roads you are driving on.I also wonder if your previous car was quiet compared to the Fit.

The first thing I noticed was how quiet the Fit was for a car in this price segment.
I also changed to a 205/50 Kumho Ecsta 4X and they are a great tire for the money.

They did not decrease my mpg and they are not noisy at all.

 

That's great news about the mileage. Thanks for the response.

-Dustin

 

Question Zilla, if you noticed how quiet your Fit was then why change brand new tires?

 

I can't see where I've dropped much (if at all) in fuel economy with the Hankooks. I like them and for the price, they couldn't be beat. their treadwear rating is extremely high compared to other tires and that's part of what I needed in a new tire. Quiet and sporty were the other two important things. Tires grip much MUCH better than the OEM and they should last about twice as long.

~SB