Just wondering how everyone finds the ride on their stock tires vs bigger alloys. I have an LX with 15" steels on it and they seem very heavy. I was considering getting bigger 16's or 17's.

I don't know much about unsprung weight, but i was told a lighter wheel will lessen the small bumps in the road. I find the car decent on the highway (60 mph+) but the slower B roads tend to bring out the "floppyness" of the suspension. Am i going to loose any benefits of less unsprung weight by going to a lower profile tire on bigger wheels? Also the firestones on it suck big time, is that a larger factor than wheel weight.

sorry for so many questions, I've looked at lots of info on the subject and i think I know how it all effects the ride, but not specifically to the Fit

 

The stock alloys, at least, don't save much weight over the steelies. Maybe a little with the whole wheel and tire combination, but not a vast amount.

I'm not quite sure I understand what you mean by floppiness; are you talking about cornering response, or handling of bumps? A lower profile tire will pass more of the surface imperfections of the road to the car, but perhaps be somewhat more precise in hard cornering. All other things being equal, they will tend to be less robust against damage to the wheel from road hazards, too. To my eye, lower profile tires look silly, but that's just a matter of taste and apparently lots and lots of people disagree.

To some extent, you can achieve similar performance improvements/changes by increasing the pressure in your tires; just be aware that any great increase in tire pressure will lower your ultimate traction and make it more likely to slide in corners and less able to stop quickly. I find that going up a just a few psi makes a quite noticeable and welcome improvement in feel, though, and doesn't greatly affect safety.

Wheel weight makes more of a difference with acceleration and braking than anything, so far as I know. My knowledge is kind of limited, though; I'm certainly no expert.

 

By floppiness I mean the cars ability to handle bumbs, it seems (to me) to be thrown off balance by bumps and potholes at slower speeds. I have bad roads on both the highway and city roads and it seems to iron out the bumps better at highway speed.

maybe it might be a suspension issue, but my old car (09' accent) which had a great deal of miles on it felt nearly as bad as this car.

I drove the ex with 16" alloys and it felt better during the test drive, just wondering how everyone else felt.

 

Its not going to get better with a bigger diameter wheel.

 

okay cool. guess i'll have to invest in some better suspension.

 

yeah i was thinking of getting some konig rims, their way lighter that the steel wheels correct? and i was thinking of getting 16' tires/rims. but is there a signifficant difference going up an inch? thanks