Last night the two driver's side wheels were stolen from my Fit while parked in my driveway.

Filed a police report and began the insurance claim process.

The good news is that I wanted to replace these tires. My daily commute is 60% highway, 40% fun backroads, and I drive our Fit in a spirited way (I'm aggressive in the corners, not towards other drivers). On the highway I've found the Fit to wander a bit and have a weak "on center" feeling. Perhaps four new tires could remedy these problems?

My question for the Freaks is: what tires would you recommend, and why?

 

sorry to hear about the theft.

i currently run RE760 summer tires on my Fit. very grippy and asymetric so i can rotate them on any corner no problem.

i suggest going with 205/50/16 size (if your car is a sport trim) as there are more tire selection available and circumference is about the same as 185/55/16 stock size.

btw, check out ip security cameras. those can be had for pretty cheap and has nightvision. it's worth the investment for your house.

 

205/50 All day bro i run Eagle gt there the shit

 

Should have specified that the Fit in question is a 2012 Fit Sport. I have four snow tires and rims which means I am not limited to considering all-season tires.

Thanks kenchan and Wafulz for the 205/50 endorsements. Collecting options and opinions at the moment in order to determine the best option that insurance will cover.

@ kenchan: been reading about IP cameras since our first daughter was born in May 2012. Had not considered one outside, though the thieves were clever enough to avoid our neighbors and our over-active motion-activated driveway flood light.

And I'm certain that I set the alarm before I went to bed. Wondering if it would only alarm if they tampered with the doors or windows?

 

That really blows - sorry for your loss!

After seeing this article in NY Times - note the car pictured:

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/08/ny...pagewanted=all

I bought a set of locking lug nuts from College Hills - highly recommend.

Good luck with the insurance settlement!

Oh, one more suggestion: Remington pump action 12 ga. Don't even have to load it - the sound of the action alone should do the job!

 

While tires are being recommended, what sizes would be appropriate for a base Fit, which uses 15" rims. my wishlist criteria at the moment are:

Wider than stock.

Same approximate circumference, so effective gearing+power, as well as odometer and mpg computations, remain the same.

Stock rims

Unaltered suspension

No rubbing.

Thanks, Paul H (and...bummer about the theft. hope he gets a blowout and totals.)

 

Base-model stock size, as you probably know, is 175/65-15.

Closest replacement sizes are either 185/60-15 or 195/60-15. They bracket the OEM size in diameter, being ever-so-slightly smaller or larger respectively. Even the 195/60 probably won't rub; since the Sport model runs 185-section tires that size won't be any problem at all.

How much difference? According to most online tire-size calculators, if you travel at 60MPH on the OEM tires, the same engine RPM will give you 59.5MPH with the 185/60s. Close enough?

It is for me. I run 185/60 winter tires; when it's time to replace the factory summer tires I'll go for whichever size costs less -- for some tires, 195/60 is le$$ than the 185/60 size of the same tire.

 

night vision cameras are worth the investment as you can get clear image in total darkness. i would just point it to your car and run software to record during the night time or as needed. just make sure you buy one made for outdoors. GL!

 

I have "Hankook Ventus V2 Concept" Tires that I use as my summers (they are high performance All Season) and I love them (205/50/16 - another vote here). They have a very long expected life (probably 50-65K miles) and grip like crazy. I went with an All season partially because we sometimes get snow in october-december but not much and not for very long. I don't want to run snow tires for 3 months when there's a good chance we will have very little snow, so the all seasons were the best option for me.

As for the Night vision cameras, they use Infrared lighting which works great but only if you have enough light or the camera is close enough for the infrared beams to "light up" the car. Many Infrared cameras are limited in distance. to 20-30'. (I deal with $20K Bosch cameras at work that will go for 300' at night). These 20'-30' devices likely won't work well unless you point two cameras at one location (2 cameras with IR lights = twice the infrared illumination). I'd go with something that will work at 50' for a 30' distance. One other option is to pick up an IR Illuminator (essentially an Infrared flood light) and that should help with night vision.

~SB

 

camera's are good if you want to watch them steal your stuff. lol. never a guarantee anyone would beable to identify and then catch who it is however. Buy some lock lugnuts. A good guard dog never hurts either, i prefer that to a camera

 

the camera i use is plenty to cover my driveway and around the house and across the street.

guard dogs are useful until they throw a tastey steak bone. lol hahaha do watever you want. i prefer a garage... aka where my G and Z resides. one wheel and tire costs more than the entire set for the Fit.

 

Well that depends...

Do you need all-season tires or do you have dedicated summer and winter tire and wheel sets? How many miles are you expecting to get out of the set?


Thread title is misleading, I thought this was a complaint thread and the plot twisted at the end.

 

My apologies for the thread title, though I hope you enjoyed the plot twist.

Yesterday I put on two snow tires and drove it back to the dealership where they quoted me $268 per tire for OEM replacements (Dunlops). This price seemed absurd, and gave me an excuse to search out cheaper, better tires. Or, more appropriately, allowed me to plead my case for new tires to my wife.

When questioned specifically about the tires, my insurance adjustor said that Commerce Insurance will cover the cost of two tires, and these do not need to be OEM tires. Based on the suggestions here I chose four Kumho Ecsta 4X from Tire Rack at $91 each, which brings the total cost to $408 (including shipping and handling). I'm not counting the $50 rebate offered by Tire Rack because my last rebate experience did not go well.

Despite this good news, Commerce Insurance will not cover the cost of wheel locks (thank you to all who suggested these), IR cameras or blasters, dobermans, or Remingtons (thanks JoeB). The wife and I decided to go with wheel locks despite the out-of-pocket cost ($55 for parts), and the rest will simply have to wait. Perhaps Santa will bring us the shotgun? Come Christmas I'll put out a larger stocking just in case.

@JoeB: great, heartbreaking article in post #5. Reminds me of similar stories in recent years of a rise in copper electrical wire thefts from the foreclosed homes.

 

Good choice on the tires, i'm glad you made use of the forum to make your decision. I've been wondering about those Kumhos myself since everyone's been raging about them. Price you got is not bad either.

Also good idea to get those wheel locks despite the out of pocket cost. It won't stop a theif, but it will be a big enough pain in the ass that they might just walk a little further down the street for an easier target.

I did enjoy the plot twist

 

I would worry that the thief who stole the first two wheels and tires will be back to get the replacements.

 

so he gets new tires and wheels every week.

 

This was the same sentiment from the police officer who processed my initial call and the the officer who walked me through the police report when I picked it up earlier today. For a moment I considered replacing the stolen alloy rims with steel rims.

With four wheel locks I would like to think I won't have to worry about this becoming a weekly problem. Also, with a $500 deductible, I can't afford to have this become a weekly problem.