i picked up a set of takeoff 13' fit 15x5.5 steelies. Yesterday morning i mounted the 185/65-15 general altimax arctics on them. i just bolted them to the car. i am happy with the results.

stock:


w/ GD steelies/artics:


w/ GD caps:


height difference between EX 185/55-16 and 185/65-15's

 

Still no ETA on our Blue EX-MT. I haven't seen one in inventory within 100 miles since July and I'm searching every couple days. Oh well, the Protege5 still runs great and no body panel have fallen off due to the rust yet.

I did notice that Tire Rack finally has the 15 Fit on their wheel visualizer (not yet at Discount Tire). Might just go with the cheap grey SE A8's for the winter tires and maybe find a better summer tire and get rid of the fugly stock wheels at the same time.

 

finally got a picture of my yellow lx 6mt on the generals arctic altimax

 

My Fit is ready for winter with Bridgestone Blizzak WS80's

 

I usually wait for the first snowstorm and then shovel an area around the car so I can put the snow tires on.

 

hahaha! We're about to get our first snow tomorrow (Minneapolis area) and I haven't picked up winter tires/wheels!

I am new to the forum and trying to read up on winter tires. The dealer I bought my car at recommended Blizzaks (that's what they sell). I did some research online and found several brands, like Nokian Hakkapeliitta, but it's so hard to wade through marketing when I've no friends who use winter tires (I'm not originally from the Midwest).

I estimate I'll average 400-500 miles a week (my job requires me to drive a lot, a few trips a year to North Dakota and South Dakota, and more frequent trips around Minnesota and Wisconsin). Studded tires are illegal year-round here and Wisconsin, so those are out. Snow here usually gets plowed fairly quickly, but the usual slush or ice can remain on smaller roads. I very rarely drive at night, so icy night roads not an issue. Anyhow, all this to say I think I'll have more cold bare pavement and icy bare-ish pavement driving, than driving through 5-15" of snow.

I am going to buy wheels & tires... if I buy from dealer I would pay them to put them on... do tire sales places put on tires (I should hope!?) and are they going to do a good job? I am more concerned about having good tires that will increase my safety, than savings. I get mileage reimbursement, so that's what's going to pay for all this....

I am doing research online, it's just gets very confusing, all these numbers (tirerack giving me a choice of 14", 15", 16", 17"... they say bigger is better, yet offer 14, 15, ? so confused...)

OK, sorry to write so much everyone, but thank you for any input you might have!

 

Hey wndy we're in mpls too and our car is finally supposed to arrive with the snowstorm tomorrow, Haven't ordered the winter tires yet, but I did put snows on the Element and the Protege5 this morning.

Wheel diameter - 14", 15", 16" or 17" is less important than getting close to the stock tire width and diameter. Perhaps the "bigger is better" advice you read applies to ground clearance? If you change wheel and/or tire size from stock going to a slighter larger overall diameter will give you marginally more ground clearance - possibly advantageous when theres 6" of snow on the roads. Of course you can only go so much larger before you run the risk of rubbing on body work or suspension parts. If you stick to sizes recommended by web retailers (Tire Rack) or a local shop, you should be OK. It seems there is a conventional wisdom that using a narrower than stock tire in the winter may improve performance as it decreases the contact patch effectively increasing the psi the weight of the car is applying to the road/ice/snow and potentially improving traction.

Blizzaks are fine, I've read that their winter specific rubber compound may not extend the entire depth of the tire tread, so the performance may drop prematurely compared to other brands. Nokians have a devoted following, they must be good. A lot of people seem to swear by the usually relatively inexpensive Firestone Winterforce tires. I'm considering General Arctic Alpin, Firestone Winteforce or Cooper WeatherMaster, all in 185/65-15 with 15" alloy wheels. I will either order the whole shebang from TireRack in which case the tires will be ready to throw on the car on arrival, or I'll have Discount Tire order what I want (they have shops locally but also sell on ebay) and have them mount/balance/install.

If you're a bit out of the metro, you might be able to find a shop who will store your off-season wheel/tire set for you when you go in to have them swapped.

There are many web tools that will compare tire sizes. Below a bunch of sizes are compared, stock tire size is at the top. Compare tool here:Tire size calculator

Good luck, hopefully the forecasts are wrong and we'll have a couple more weeks to prepare.

 

I have the same setup.

 

Grobinski, thank you so much for all the information! I'm definitely looking forward to getting a 2nd set of wheels + tires! I will post here with what I end up getting.

Did you get your car yesterday? I know Cambridge, MN got 16" of snow! I'm in the southern metro so the snow wasn't so bad, but I didn't leave the house... too many accidents & stalled vehicles for my taste, especially w/out winter tires...

Fitderp -- your car has camouflage! ;-)

 

I think you'll be very happy with those Bridgestone WS80's. Those are fantastic tires.

 

My friend works at Tire Rack and he suggested using these WS80s with all the winter tire testing he has done and I ordered up a set along with their own TRM C wheels (nice winter beaters) and they just arrived today. Well actually only 3 of the 4 tire/wheel combos and 3 of the 4 tires I ordered for the other vehicle showed up.

 

Thanks for this comparison. However, from what I've seen over the years, the same size tire from different companies will have slightly different diameters.

 

finally a snow picture!

 

You had a but more than we did in the Catskills.

 

Mine with General Altimax Arctic 195/60 R15 and MOMO RPM rims (6.5" width & +38 offset). It's less than 1% taller than the stock EX/EX-L.

 

and it all melted during the day

 

I am very happy with the smooth ride of the Bridgestone's so far, hopefully I will have to wait a while for any real snow here!

 

Fillippe got his winter boots over the weekend. Ordered the recommended package of rims + wheels + hubcaps from tirerack.com and couldn't be more pleased. Super fast shipping, good price (and a rebate) and they fit perfectly. (14" Dunlap Winter Maxx)

 

It's nice of tirerack to recommend smaller tires and wheels for driving in the snow, even though they cost less.

 

I ordered a very similar 14" package from Tire Rack (I chose the General Altimax Arctics and left out the wheel covers) and I agree it's an excellent option.

The price was very reasonable, the lug nuts were included at no charge, and the fitment is literally perfect.