If they are wearing unevenly you need to check the alignment. There is no reason why they would be wearing unevenly with 400 miles on them. You can have some uneven wear on the front shoulders of the tires if you are pushing the car and having it understeer all the time.

 

Hey jim, do you have any deals on this tire(195/55/15) or a similar tire in 205/50/15?

 

I've got close to 5k miles on them, and they're wearing pretty well. Not even 25% gone yet.

I autocross on them, so they look like a burn victim right now, but that's just my abuse. The first 2000 miles wore nice and even, and they're starting to soothe out again.

These tires are kind noisy, I thought they would quiet after a bit, but they're still a little louder than normal street tires. They do make a cool noise when stopping though.

If anyone has any specific questions, I'll do my best to answer them. Hopefully I'll get some serious miles on them before I take them off for winter.

 

dewthedew,

Is there anything specific you are looking for out of the tire? Higher performance, longer wear, better ride quality. Let me know and I can look at some options.

 

I'm waiting for my Fit to come in, and I'm thinking of going with 16x7 rears and 15x7 fronts... that is unless you or others think that's not a wise choice on the Fit Sport (GE8).

Mainly, I want an all season tire with good handling characteristics and decent long-term wear. Yet one that is fairly quiet, and capable of doing as well as an all season can in the event of ice/snow. I have a set of Bridgestone Dueler H/L's on an SUV and they have been phenomenal in ice and snow. They're at 45,000 miles and still have just barely under 1/3 of their tread left.

Weather wise, keep in mind the SUV has 4-wheel drive and electronic stability control. I don't know, maybe the 4-wheel drive and the electronic stability are giving me the performance in bad weather, and the Bridgestones have little to do with it. Still, I would venture to say if the tires were crap I'd at least experience some sliding to a degree, right? You probably know more about the above than I would.

All things considered, your recommendations for a decent balance of all of the above? (oh and, did I mention the tire has to look good also! )

Thanks for your time, Jim.

 

First off I would not recommend the different diameter wheels front to rear. The car is not set up that way and would limit choices and handling could be negatively affected. I would look at the 16X7 wheels with the 205/50R16 tires. The best tires would be the Conti Extreme Contact DWS, Pirelli P Zero Nero M/S and the Michelin Pilot Exalto AS. All of these are going to do what you are looking for. The Conti is the best that we have tested of those three.
If I can help let me know.

 

Couple more questions, if you don't mind. If you DO mind, that's ok... I'll just never buy tires from you guys again!

I've always kinda' liked cars that have that dragster look. That's not what everyone else does these days, but I was never really one conform to what everyone else is doing at a given time, only because everyone else is doing it.

Not into extremes like the old funny cars (proper term?), but I like that "sloped from rear to front, with the nose eating the road" look. So my main reason for asking about the staggered wheel/tire setup was mainly a cosmetic thing... and if it had performance benefits then that would be a bonus.

Would it not be good for the Fit because the Fit is front wheel drive? Would it adversely affect handling that much? Fuel economy? No, I'm not determined to do it no matter what... that's why I wanted to ask people who actually know about these things before I commit to anything.

What affect would dropping down to 15x7 wheels/tires have on the Fit? Finally, considering the Fit's stock setup is 16x6 53mm, what will going to a wider 15x7 or 16x7 do to my fuel economy? Doesn't sound like much to me... but some have said even a slightly wider tire will cause a slight loss of power and fuel economy.

Who better to answer the above than a "tire man."

Thanks again for your time, Jim.

 

Changing the diameter of the wheel is not going to give you the look you are after. Changing the diameter of the tire is the only way to do what you want to do. The problem is that by doing that you will throw off the anti lock brakes and handling of the car. I suppose you could put lowering springs on just the front of the car or you can use a coilover suspension and just lower the car more in the front.
That is the only way I can see accomplishing what you want to do.

 

Well alright, that's what I needed to know. Again, I appreciate your time, and will be purchasing some rubber (and possibly wheels) from you hopefully sometime in the not-so-distant future.

Thanks, Jim

 

Just let me know if you have any other questions.

 

The bigger the tire patch the more it wants to follow the road surface, dips and dives and sut=rface adhesion. The stickier the tire tread the more pronounced the tire will follow the path of best adhesion.
Actually, based on our tests this year a lightweight wheel like the Kosei k whatever equipped withe Direzzo Star 185/60x14 tires easily srtripped our test copurse by more than 1.2 seconds over anything else on a 33 second course. very lightweight wheel/tire combos (these weighed 28 lb total per wheel)
For detailed explanation check Car&Drivers article on the effects of coMbo weight and diameter on accel and mpg's..
Anyone looking to seriously a/x SHOULD GIVE THEM SERIOUS CPNSIDERATION. iF YOU'RE ALLOWED wEAR FACTORS BELOW 200 GO TO hOOSIERS OR SIMILAR SIZE TO 185/60X14 .

 

annunC8,

You can not do what you are looking to do on your car. If you change the diameter front to rear you are going to throw off the anti lock brakes on the car. Then if you put a narrower tire on the front of the front wheel drive car you not going to have as much traction either. I would not recommend it. Unless you want to buy an old muscle car I would go another way.

For an all season tire I would go with a 205/50R16 tire and look at the Conti DWSBridgestone G019 or the new Yokohama Avid Envigor.
Let me know if I can help.

 

dewthedew,

What are you looking for out of the tires? All season, summer performance? We do have some rebates going on right now.
Let me know if I can help.