I took the plunge of replacing Honda Jazz GE 1.5 stock tyre to 205/55R16 and was pleasantly surprised.

- Absolutely no rubs anywhere. Nothing, nada, zilch.
- About 10mm clearance at the tightest point (just before full lock)
- Ride much smoother and stable than stock 185/55R16
- The wider track gives stability, and the taller profile provide cushioning for smooth ride over bumps
- Looks great, fills the wheel well nicely and not overdone
- 1" larger diameter provides 1/2" additional lift for supermarket parking and gravel roads
- More fuel efficient for freeway cruising. Indicated 6.6 L/100km and only filled 5.8L!
- Corrects (!) speedometer perfectly. Indicated 100kph is now 100kph on GPS, not some 96 or 97 error

Of course there is a trade-off, and it is the acceleration on those freeways ramps. It's not so bad but I don't think I would do it with 1.3L engine. I would also think that city driving economy would also be worse.

I will report more as I put more miles on them

 

Thank you for the report---do you really think wider tires are more 'stable'?

I have 175/65R15 tires on 15X6.5 Konig Heliums---greater stability would be nice.

 

205 tires are the way to go for the Fit (for summer tires - winter tires are better to be narrower to dig into snow).

 

I just bought my Fit and it came with brand new 185's. Do you think it is worth replacing them now with 205/55's? I can get a full set of 205's for $300 and I could try reselling the 185's.

 

Just a note you aren’t getting better fuel economy.

Your gauges are just considerably less accurate because you have tires that are considerably larger than they’re supposed to be.

If you want the gains listed without throwing off your gauges, affecting the gearing (and slowing the car’s acceleration), and without increasing weight, buy 15” wheels and use 195/60/15 tires.

 

This is false. The width don't have any effect on the speedometer. Only the circumference matters.

 

If I am not mistaken the 205/55's have a larger circumference. I used a calculator and depending on how fast you are going it is about +2 mph above speedo.

 

The 55 is affected by the 205. A 205/55/16 is considerably taller than a 185/55/16.

55% of 205 is a bigger number than 55% of 185.

Thank you for posting misinformation though. If you don’t want to throw the speedo off but want a 205 tire on a wheel that doesn’t need a 205, get a 205/50/16. (IMO 205 are too wide for the OEM Fit wheels. Balloon tires are bad)

 

My bad! The size to go is in fact 205/50/16!

With that size, it is +0.4% difference in circumference, and the speedo will be almost accurate (speedo telling 70 mph, in fact going 70.3 mph). This is the size I have on my Fit.

Sorry for the confusion!

With the 205/55/16, it is a difference of 3.7% in circumference, and speedo will be off a little bit more (speedo telling 70 mph, in fact going 72.6). The 50 is better, but the 55 should all in all be acceptable (under 5% difference is acceptable).

 

Acceptable if you want to lengthen braking distances, yes.

 

I ran 205/55/16s for a season of rallycross, under hard load they'll rub in the fronts (i.e. cornering hard, and hitting a bump with the suspension already loaded). Bad for the fender liners, so probably not a great idea on a street car.

Your speedo/odo will read slight low (about 3 percent as mentioned).

You will have slightly less torque on acceleration.

Don't thinking stopping distance is affected, if you have to brake unusually hard you're usually traction limited anyway.

All that said, keep in mind there's some slight variation in tire sizes between brands and even individual tires of the same brand, so some tires may present more of a problem then others when upsizing.