I was just out picking up my snowblower. Streets are heavy. With snows and the TC on ECO3 it went well.

 

Hi folks -

I just moved to Colorado from northern CA, so will need to deal with winter weather. The tire sellers of course recommend Blizzaks and other snow tires like those mentioned on this forum for my Fit Sport 2009.

The problem is, I live in an apartment and have no space to store an extra set of tires.

Have any of you found all-weather radials that work?

Thanks!

 

We don't often have much snow here in Dodge. But, when we do the Blizaks on our Fit enable us to outdrive even the four wheel drive vehicles in the neighborhood. Got them from Tire Rack and used a tire stacker in the garage for the off season tires.

 

I'll be joining you in Boulder at the end of the month. Moving from Illinois. I thought about a separate set of snows, but decided to try Continental's ExtremeContact DWS's. Check the threads on them in this forum and reviews on tirerack. They appear to be one of the few (if any) all-season's that reasonably handle snow and ice.

Not sure if they have an OEM matching fitment as I'm running aftermarket wheels.

 

I have also heard good things about the Nokian WR G2, which despite being an all-season, have the mountain/snowflake symbol (the Continental DWS don't, I believe). You might check those out in addition to the Continentals.

 

I have used the latest Nokian WR2 on my 08 Fit. Snow traction was very good in 6" of snow. Summer handling was great, but some tread noise. Same tires on my wife's Versa, but no noise in summer.

If your serious about snow safety, buy good snows and put your tires in a tire hotel, a current trend here. I my opinion, any snow is better than any all season, so don't sweat about which to buy. Over 4 years of use snow tires are not an extra expense anyway. I have found Tirerack data to be very reliable.

 

First, where to store a set of tires. Check your local tire shops. We have some in our area that will store your seasonal tires for free. Summers in the winter, winters in the summer...

Second, I bought a set of General Altimax ARTIC winter tires. Before you start bitchin at me for buying Generals, they are a rebadged Nokian. Yup, owned by the same parent company. But remember, buy a narrower, taller tire for the winter!

Nokian Hakkapeliitta 5

General Tire - Off-Road and Performance Tires - The Tires - Winter

 

The DWS is the best of the all season tires we have tested. They are not going to approach the winter tires for traction though. If you have room for the other tires and you liven in the snow belt winter tires are the ticket. I agree with OrangeBlossom that the Fit with snow tires will be better than a 4wd with all seasons.
If I can help let me know.

 

Without looking through all 18 pages of this post, what tire pressure is everybody running in their snow tires? I ask because most cars I've owned previous to the Fit have recommended 3 to 4 psi more in M&S tires in the manual. No such information in the Fit manual. I just got 185/70/14s General Artic Altimax for my 2012 Fit Sport and have inflated them to 36psi. It seems to work for me, not too hard not to soft so I'm probably going to stay with it.

 

I would say just run what the car has listed. A couple PSI won't hurt anything but 3 to 4 can give you a stiffer ride and can wear down the middle faster.

 

I think I was running 38-40 for my road trip over the summer.

right now, I'm trying to drop it back down a little to 36-38.

This is on Conti DWS (which I got from TireRack in march).

Prior to that, I was running the Dunlops at 35... because I was using gas station air compressors... which only only have markings in multiples of 5 (I don't like guesstimating too often). I now use an air compressor with tire gauge at home (which has multiples of TWO markings =.=').

 

38 to 40 in any condition is too high for the Fit. You are going to get a stiffer ride more wear in the middle of the tire and less contact patch. A couple PSI over stock would be fine.

 

Thanks for the info, I did back it down on the rear, but I still have a couple of pounds extra in the front, and even then they look a little flat. The main reason I asked is my previous cars explicitly stated in the manual to run an extra 4 psi in winter only tires. If I didn't on my 95 Jetta it would squeal like a pig in the corners.

 

Bought brand new set of Nankang SW-7 r15/195/50 winter tyres last year. This winter still works good on our Jazz for daily usage both on snow and clean roads.
Only they are a bit loud on higher speeds.
Nankang - SW-7 winter tyres review

Our still very daily and stock looks 08' 1.2 Jazz ->

 

I have an 09 Sport MT, and I hated my first winter in Omaha with the OEM rubber. Awful stuff, with near-record snowfall--but I didn't get stuck! Last year, I bought (Tire Rack) a set of General Altimax winter shoes in 65/175 size mounted on 14" steel rims. I didn't want to shell out twice a year to swap tires, and I didn't want to buy new rims unless I could get some serious performance tires on them. My speedo reads a little high, but it is a softer ride with the higher profile. Tire Rack doesn't sell any larger steel rims for the Fit than fourteens. The Generals are outstanding in the snow, pretty good on ice, but not as great in the wet. I only wish there were more snow this year to enjoy them!

 

huskerfit, it is a good point that a higher profile tyre is better for snow. i feel a lack of comfort with low profile tyre on winter roads and when all suspension is freezed and in some really cold days all Jazz feels like with quite hard sport suspension setup

 

Could you post a photo of your fit with the 14" rims... I am looking at getting 14"'s for snow tires on my car through tirerack.com I am concerned that 2" smaller will look ridiculous... what has been your experience? The tires I'm looking at are 185/70R14 on steel wheels.

 

No need for a photo--they look pretty damn dorky. That's just the reality of it. But the winter traction is amazing! I'd suggest going with skinnier tires than the OEM width: I got 175/70. When it comes to snow and ice traction, thinner is better. You might also want some wheel covers for those Tire Rack steel rims (they come painted black). Even with--or maybe especially because of--the wheel covers, this setup looks pretty dorky on my Fit. But I'd rather look dorky(ier) than slide around.

Let's face it here, folks: the Fit is not a sexy vehicle. No quantity of mods or money will make it look sexy except to other weirdos like us who worship Fits. Even slammed and pimped out, the Fit is so far away from the "Hot Hatch" category, it might as well be an Odyssey. Other folks (and by this I mean "average drivers") don't look at our Fits and think, "That's a pretty sharp car." At best, it's "cute." That's the comment I get most from older women and teenage girls. People have asked me, "How much did you pay for your Smart car?" Last month I got, "What kind of Prius is that--it looks better than the other ones." I don't care if you've blown or boosted your Fit to the point where it's ripping off 13 second quarters--nobody sees the Fit as a bad-ass vehicle. Except other Fit Freaks, of course.

I was considering putting some 17" OZ Waves on my Fit when it's due for new rubber this spring. But I've decided to settle for the stock rims with summer rubber. Why? Seeing other Fits out on the road. Despite my bias, whenever I see another 2nd gen Fit Sport out there, I can't help thinking, "Damn, that's a dinky little car." Even the most kick-ass rims aren't going to change anyone's appraisal of our beloved Fits.

Without a doubt, I love my Fit more than anything I've ever owned. (My previous vehicle was a Subaru SVX, and I loved that car an awful lot.) I feel like I'm in a secret world when I'm driving my Fit. Great handling, amazing shifter, incredible utility, fantastic gas mileage, awesome seats--I could go on and on. I've become completely content to enjoy my Fit without giving a rip what anyone else thinks about it. Now, if we could get a little more power and a sixth gear, I would never utter another complaint. . .

 

Thanks Huskerfit, it's true, mine is a '09 sport M/T as well and I love it. My wife, a little less so. I have had no issues except stuck brake calipers that ruined my pads and rotors at 40,000 miles.... anybody ever heard of that? Honda corporate thought it had to do with that fact that we live on dirt roads and had no interest in a warranty fix for the calipers or rotors/pads.

I think I'm going to go ahead with the 14"ers, and deal with the ridiculous look. I am a little concerned about the inch or so loss of ground clearance as our mountain road is one of the last to get plowed, but I don't really want to get my car to town twice a season to get the tires swapped (and pay for it too). Plus it'll be fun to see my car with a new look, albiet a tiny steel rimmed look

 

No issues with brake calipers. No issues with anything, really. I had a defective battery that was replaced after a couple months of ownership, but that's it. That's why I buy Honda.

My wife hates my Fit, too. Well, she liked it when it was new and we were still dating, especially since her ride at the time was a 2001 Chevy Metro (my well-used '81 Civic was ten times better than that car). She grew to dislike the Fit, especially for longer trips, since the seat is firm and the ride is stiff. She never could learn to roll with my shifts, even though I dialed my driving WAY down when she was in the car.

The capper was when I took the Fit in for the recall service on the valve springs. The dealership said they'd have to keep it over the weekend and handed me the keys to an '09 CR-V. "Surely you have something else I can take. What about an Odyssey?" When the service manager asked what the problem was, I replied, "I can't take that thing home. My wife will fall in love with it!" My prophecy was fulfilled, and we bought an '08 CR-V a year later. Great vehicle, but it drives like a Buick compared to the Fit.

In terms of clearance, your concerns are valid. However, switching to 14s won't lower it much at all if you get tires with a considerably higher aspect ratio. The difference in clearance is probably under half an inch. My speedo reads fast by about 3 mph at 60, so it's not much. The first winter I had the Fit, we had a lot of snow in Omaha, and I was cursing myself for trusting those crappy Turanzas. The only problem I had, though, wasn't directly related to the rubber. I got the car high centered in our cul-de-sac. Fortunately it was right outside my house. Keep a shovel in your Fit.