Ok - there's not a lot wrong about the Fit, but its absolutely horrible on the highway with crosswinds. Its bad enough that even dropping speeds to around 50+mph and you'll get blown around and its a very busy drive. This is in the Fit Sport, can't imagine how the base would behave with the even smaller rubber.

Is there a way to fix this? Just about every car coming by had lesser issues since they were all passing by.

Will +1 tires do enough to really improve this or its pretty much going to be like this?

Just hoping 205/50/16 might help.

 

I feel ya. I've been driving around the past few days in these winds too.

I have the base with 175/65r15's. It's kinda bad. Part of the problem is that the suspension is so soft that it moves very easily. In my '99 civic with extra stiff CTR springs and shocks, it's never been a problem to drive in crosswinds, so I'm thinking it's more a suspension issue than anything else.

I'm thinking about 205/50/16's as well, or possibly 205/50/15 so I get that inch of height drop too, that'll help the wind profile, and increase stability. Then I'll think about springs and shocks.

 

I am glad someone started a post specifically on this issue. It is a little scary on the highway with some cross winds blowing back and forth. I cant wait for some suspension mods to start appearing so I can dial in the suspension! I think a stiffer and slightly lower spring along with a bit of chassis bracing will tone down the wiggle significantly. I am sure a tire with less sidewall would work well with that combination.

 

I'm running 205/45/16's and they haven't helped, but I didn't buy them thinking the larger wheel & tire would. The Fit has a very short wheelbase and is relatively tall, so its going to be blown about by the wind due to it's shape. Lowering it may help some to decrease the air under the car, but it looks to me like its just something we're all gonna have to deal with.

 

I've found only one thing to resolve this issue... Lower the stance of the car (lower center of gravity).
Being here in flat Ohio crosswinds are a constant.
After lowering my car I have no problem what so ever with crosswinds...plus its fairly easy to resolve.

I put Tanabe DF210 springs on my car. Bought them at Advancespeedshop.com for $210.

Since installation I have no problem. One day we had 30 mph winds and I was driving down the highway going 80 mph no problem. If I wasn't lowered I be holding on the steering wheel for dear life and prob. not going over 55 mph.

Give it a chance...lower the stance...

 

A lot of this has to do with how much the Fit weighs. It doesn't weigh all that much, so it doesn't take much wind to push it around

 

I'm running them, it helps some, but not enough. IMO, the problem isn't the tires or suspension, it's the light weight of the vehicle combined with its large side area. It might be possible to improve the situation (at a cost) by increasing the toe slightly (to the edge of the spec limits).

 

I thought about weight, but then I felt it even with 2 passengers adding another 250lb+ of weight as ballast. It seems to be something more than weight... the steering gets light, almost like the car actually has positive lift at speeds. I thought about the wheelbase and height but even small cars seem to be motoring along with less problems, Corolla, Yaris, PT Cruiser, etc.

I've never felt very confident in the Fit on the highway, though the usual country roads I drive daily aren't a big problem (but even then I do feel the crosswinds pushing, but less so).

My base RSX from a few years ago, no suspension tweaks was absolutely a wind cutter... 80mph was serene and easy cruising even with crosswinds. I logged a ton of highway miles in the RSX too. Different profile though, but something seems to be pushing the Fit to the other extreme.

 

I saw you mention this in another thread as well; combined with the fact that the ride quality was described as no more stiff than stock - this mod is now on the short list of future mods for my Fit. Thanks for sharing! Did you install them yourself, how was it? If not how much was installation? Thanks!

 

actually i love the cross wind ....it reminds me of flying a cessna 152

 

Those of you with low miles on your Fits, good news...the crosswind susceptibility decreases after you put some miles on. I think this is due to the tire treads losing some squirm as well as the suspension.

 

I agree with this 100%. Yesterday I was driving down the highway and because of the crosswinds I was hanging on to the steering wheel like my life depended on it . It just really annoys me...a while ago, I was going down the Turnpike, and it wasn't even that windy, but I kept getting thrown around by the wind. Usually I see trucks or SUV's getting pushed around by the wind when I go down the Turnpike, but this time everybody was driving normally, except me who was hanging on for dear life . Thank God there wasn't a cop around somewhere cause he would have thought I was drunk driving.

 

I hate this as well. I was driving back from Las Vegas last weekend and the desert winds were horrible. I felt a push or two on the highways here in San Diego prior the trip, but on this particular drive, I was clinging to the steering wheel and tense for about 4 hours. I would try to stay away from traffic the entire time so as not to get hit by another car or myself getting blown about the road. The truck trailers were waving around like trees in the wind. Definately not a fun experience, but i still like my FIT!

 

I did it myself. Took about an 1.5 hours for me and my buddy to install them.
Follow this DIY and you'll be set.
https://www.fitfreak.net/forums/2nd-...r-ge8-fit.html

 

I highly doubt this will change anything. 40mph crosswinds are going to bother the fit stock no matter how much tire tread or how many miles are on the stock springs. Its the high profile (under car uplift), light weight, and short wheelbase stance. You much dramatically change one of the following three to solve this problem.
Can't really change the short wheelbase stance and your gas mileage would suffer dramatically if you added weight
Thus change the aerodynamics. Just like those redneck nascars do lower the stance of the car so air cannot create an uplift under the car (creating loss of control). This of course also lowers center your gravity creating a more stable profile and less acceptable to wind interferance. If you don't do this you will always have this problem with any high winds.

Period!

 

Yeah, crosswinds can be bad, and I've really noticed that any moderate to strong winds really really take down the MPG. I get WAY better MPG when the winds are calm.

 

Weve had bad winds as of past few days and the fit is forsure worse then my echo was. The echo was lighter and smaller but i guess due to the fits roofline being higher it gets hit harder, oh well :P

 

I have an '07 base and it gets pushed around too. just be EXTRA careful on slippery roads when its windy!!

 

havin a roof carrier doesnt help too

 

I would think so, too, but adding a roof rack to my Fit didn't make it worse.

BTW, another factor may be the electric steering and/or the amount of assist at freeway speeds. The steering seems rather "fast" at freeway speeds, about as fast as my 914 with it's 12" steering wheel.