205/50/16 Which one to buy?
 

I've got a 2009 Honda Fit Sport, standard Fit Sport rims and my tires are damn near bald. I've been reading through all the threads trying to find the best tire to buy. I'm most likely going to wait until I can find some deal on tirerack or discounttiredirect or something along those lines.

What I'm looking for: something that's quiet, handles wet conditions, doesn't effect mileage too much and is going to last a while. I live in Florida, so snow or any cold conditions are not an issue. Any additional input would be great.

I was considering Continental ExtremeContact DWS, General G-MAX AS-03, Kumho Ecsta 4X... I can't decide too many options and not enough condensed information!

All the tires you are considering are good A/S choices.
I went with the Kumho Ecsta 4X and have been very happy with them in all conditions wet/dry

I've had them for around 5K now with no issues and I would reccomend them to anyone looking for a good A/S tire that has plenty of grip.

I did not notice any more noise then the stock Dunnies and no hit in mpg's
so I say get you a set.I caught a deal at discount tire $50.00 a tire with a 50.00 rebate from Kumho if you got 4:thumbups:

Continental DWS or Kumho Ecsta 4X would be my vote.

I'm getting close with my stock Dunnies as well and plan to go with Continental DWS in the 195/50/R16 size. Several people have posted that they lost a mpg or two going to 205/50/R16 with the DWS and I'm hoping I can avoid that with the slightly narrower and shorter 195/50 size.

-Dustin

If it dnt snow you will loveeeeeeee Conti DW wet or dry there lovely

wet they dnt brake lose grip well

At night dry there even bettter

i touge alot

psi i run 37 front 36 rear cold

i see my self buying another set

Very road comfee no road noise just my panels lol i broke one kinda : /

:yeahthat:

No snow means go DW over DWS.

My friend has run both those and the Khumo's on his and his GF's Fit's. They both prefer the DW.

Its an EXCELLENT tire, even most of the folks I know in AutoX with at least a 16" rim have a pair as the "rain" tires. Fantastic in the wet, and maybe only a few tenths of a second off the best Ultra High Performance Summer Tires in the dry. Best all around option, IMO.

+1 on the DW I've run them on my Mustang and they kick a$$
I went with the Kumho 4x for the Fit and for a all season tire it really performs well.

I'm looking at both the DWS and the Exsta 4X's but I have to deal with snow so what would you say? I've read the DWS are a little better in the snow but they have a soft shoulder. With the pot holes here in Michigan I'm concerned about the shoulders blowing out on of the many craters.

Just went through this same exercise about a week ago and ended up going with the Ecsta 4x. Stock tires lasted me 32K...and even had a little bit of tread left in them, but I wanted some good tread for the rain.
Didn't want the best handling tire out there. Was more concerned about: noise, mpg, longevity, wet road handling....you know, all the same boring stuff. :wiggle:

Plus, the price is really good...and they have the rebate going on right now if you buy 4. My first ever set of Kuhmo's. So far, so good. *Maybe* slightly quieter than stock. Less noisy going over road transitions and various other road imperfections. Noticed that right away.
Only burned half a tank of gas on them so far, so with the next fill up, I'll have a better idea of what the mileage looks like.

Also, it's a pretty light tire. Comes very close to the stockers, which to my surprise are very light tires! I knew that if I went with a much heavier tire, it was going to kill me on city efficiency....so this also played a big part in choosing the Ecsta's.

For the price though, even if they don't live up to my expectations, after the rebate, they are a pretty inexpensive set of tires!

Love my Falken 912's! 205/50/16. Good traction and durability. Got a set for under $350 so I'm happy. Just make sure not to touch the snow with them!

i'm on conti dw's

very nice tires

considered the kumhos and bridgestones also

do the DWS.

Franklyl I think a better size is the 195/55-16 rather than the 205/50. The 195 will be slightly wider than stock and slighly taller, with a greatly improved ride. Granted, these is less to choose from...I went with Yokohama's.

Running the Generals for daily use. How much grip does one need for street use! These tires are perfect. Star Specs for auto X.

Are you on Z II's yet? I just ordered my BFG Rivals :vtec:

Running the old Star Specs. Just returned from a South American vacation and had an auto x on the 11th. Next event I'll have the new tires. BFG,s look interesting.

Nice! My friend tried the ZII on his GE and liked them A LOT. I have 205/50R15 Rivals in route and my buddy got the 225/45R15's :vtec: Supposedly, mounted on a 7.5 wide rim, the 205 rival is the same size as a 225 Hankook RS3 :thumbups:

Just finished my first tank with the new Ecsta 422's.
Looks like I lost 2-3 mpg, even after loading them up to 40psi at the beginning of the tank fill up. (ran 36psi on the original tires).

Disappointed seeing that efficiency was a key factor in picking out a tire.
Maybe the next tank of gas will get better. :popc:

Most tires actually have a "break-in" period. Some tires have layers that need heat from driving to mesh them a bit.

Id not look at mpg until you have a few hundred miles minimum

ck42 ur 2 lbs heavier now per-wheel : / i was 6 lbs over before so i know what its like

Yea, tire weight certainly factored into my buying decision too. I knew it was a little heavier, but after considering all metrics, these were the ones I went with.

Also, I'd say about 75% of this last tank of gas was highway mileage - which means that the additional tire weight should have been negated.