How can you make such an absolutest statement?
I have snow tires on the wifes Fit, I forget who makes them, and they worked well. Snow tires add traction, nothing is going to make you a better driver. Overall, in mild snow (up to 5"), the Fit should be fine on stock tires. If you have the coin snow tires are definitely worth it, imo, but are not a must in most snow climes.

 

You need to see what the WRC troops wear if you want the best.

 

In the head to head testing that I have seen the Bridgestone Blizzak's have always been rated the best. Just putting winter tires on the car will make a huge improvement.
If I can help let me know.

 

A really good way to evaluate winter tires is to go to tirerack's site and use the reviews and tire tests. The comparative ratings are a good place to start and then go to the salom lap times in the wet.
Then check consumer reports tests on winter tires (Falken 512's best on ice).
The cost is also there so you can decide what's best for your money.

 

I ordered Blizzak's from tirerack last fall for my 16" wheels. They worked great, even in 9inches of snow

 

Someone was checking for which winter tire offered the best fuel economy. Are you really concerned about rolling resistance in a winter tire? Economy is getting through and arriving safely. Damn the fuel issue and buy the best traction you can afford for your road conditions. Get tall narrow open tread design with studs if you are on unplowed back roads or get subzero winter compounds/treads if you are mostly on the highway.

 

Geo Storm wheels are 14x6, 56mm center, +45mm offset and fit perfect over calipers etc. Saturn S are 14x5 57mm center, +52 offset, 1mm clearance to calipers and OK for winter tires. If you have access to a salvage yard or alternate supplys, these are an option. I paid $5 each for mine.

 

Not all of those cars wheels are going to be hub centric for the Fit. They also may not have enough load capactiy. You can end up with a vibration taking wheels from one car to another.

 

I agree about the rolling resistance. I would just get the best traction tire I can for the winter. You could save some money on gas and pay more to get your car repaired after sliding through the intersection and hitting something.
If I can help with the tires let me know.

 

IIRC Geo Storm hubs are actually 56.5mm. As Jim pointed out, neither they nor the 57mm Saturn rims will provide a hub-centric fit.

 

I agree that the wheel load specification must be observed but hub centric has no meaning. The pressure of the lugnuts will always 'center' the wheel on the lugnuts. No centering device of plastic or aluminum can resist the lugnut forces. Those devices merely make installation easy, thank goodness.

 

In my experience, I've seen many after-market aluminum wheels sold and installed without exact center bore fit and when was the last time a wheel dealer showed you the maximum load of a wheel he was selling you? Tire dealers I have spoken to all said steelies often have a millimeter or two excess in the center bore to fit fewer wheels to a wider selection of cars. All dealers said the lugs carry the load. I have owned some cars (including an older accord) where the front and rear hub centers were at least 3 mm different. Truth is , I trust myself when I put on wheels and I Cringe at taking them to a shop where I am afraid some ape will blast the wheels on with 4 or 5 shots from an impact wrench. If your centers are not within 1mm, ensure they are installed CAREFULLY If you have your wheels installed at Wal-Mart, Check nut centering and retorque the nuts the next day. I check them no matter who installs them. There might be cars that rely on the center hub to take the vertical loads, but I have always trusted the lugs and nuts. Some wheels such as the ultra light alloys that came with a few civics in the past, probably don't belong on anything 300lb heavier. IF the donor car is of similar or heavier weight, steel wheels are engineered by the engineers to be rugged and tolerant of anything but sliding into curbs or deep potholes. Check any salvage wheel for out of round or damage; it did come from a wreck. Some rims have conical vs spherical lug nut seats, and check caliper clearance. I am sure most people on this site use their heads. [note: in 1975 I had a steel wheel installed off-center, leading to vibration, loosening and lug failure on a mountain road in the dark. I do not discount the concern]

 

Very good. Well put.
Let me add that hub lugbolts are specified to the centerline of the drive axle mounting and have only relative relation to the raised hub center. In fact the hub bore can be pretty wide over the raised hub. We've used hundreds of wheels that have hub bores greater than the raised hub center with no problem even when raced.. In fact many wheels with same BC are made to fit numerous cars, all of whom have different raised hub centers. Wheels likewise have lugbolt holes specified to the wheel circumference, not the hub bore. Just because that's the specification of course does not mean they are made that way.
We, too, have seen more than one wheel that was off center when installed; as inspection showed the lug holes BC wasn't to spec.
One of the things good installers do is watch the tire/wheel when spun for balancing. Even a 1mm (.040") offcenter or lateral wobble is clearly seen.
The spec is generally less than 0.010".
PS the wheel problems we have seen in racing have been due to under or overtorqued wheels, especially overtorqued ! We have a rule here: no wheels shall be tightened fully by air wrench; only torque wrenches are allowed for final tightening. (yeah, thats not held for racing).

 

Blizzaks are great. Have them on two of my cars. The WS-60 on my Subaru and the DM-Z3 on my Pilot. But it depends on what your tire size is. I prefer a re badged Gislaved for my Fit. The General Altimax Arctic.
Both these companies are owned by Continental. Blizzaks are great but their drawback is short life. Once they are worn half way they are all season tires. I am hoping these Generals will last... Did I mention the Generals are way cheaper than most anything else. 75-130% cheaper than other "brand name" rubber. In Canadian and Finnish winter tire comparisons these tires came in tops. Best in ice, deep snow, slush, light snow. Everything you are looking for in a winter tire. You could spend twice the amount on Michelin's or Nokians. But are you getting twice the tire/performance? Again, these are re badged Gislaved's. Argueably the best winter tires in the world!

 

Anyone have any thoughts on the new Michelin X-Ice Xi2 vs. the Nokian Hakkapeliitta R's?

I will likely be putting one of these on the Fit this year, just not sure which yet. The conditions will be the full gamut of winter driving with temps ranging from slightly above freezing to VERY cold, slush, ice, deep snow and everything in-between. If I had to pick a bias, it would be a tire that is better in ice, slush and moderate snow, as opposed to a tire that excels in really deep snow but not so much in the other areas.

I think both of these tires may be newer models so I'm not sure how much info there will be out there on them.

Thanks in advance!

 

We had some guys here that were involved in the testing last year on the new Michelin tire and they were better than the Hak's. I drive the Bliazzak's on my own car.
If I can help with the tires let me know.

 

Thanks for the info Jim. I decided to order some Nokian WRG2's for the Fit. My wife had the older WR's on her Jetta and she really liked them. They worked quite well in our climate and it also saves me having to buy new wheels. If it gets really goofy with the winter conditions, I can still break out my F-150 I'll be sure to post a review once I get them on, etc.

We also decided on the X-Ice Xi2's for her Passat so I'll try and pass along some info on those for everyone once the winter hits. Hopefully we have at least a month or two before I need to worry about it!

 

When I got my Fit, it came with the accessory 16” wheels and tires. I got to keep the 15” wheels and tires. I drove the car off the lot with the 15-inchers and came back after 113 miles to get the 16-inchers installed. After much research, I got a set of 195/55R15 89R XL Nokian Hakkapeliitta RSi tires that I put on the stock aluminum 15” rims. Even though Consumer Reports did not like them, Consumer Reports gave them the best stopping rating on ice! Consumer reports liked the X-Ices. A friend of mine said the Nokians were a much better tire in the snow and ice conditions than the X-Ices. He listened to Consumer Reports and was sorry he did. Consumer reports values universality over winter performance. They figure that the average driver will spend more time on non-snow and ice conditions with the winter tires than actually on snow and ice. The X-Ices have better dry performance and worse snow and ice performance than the Hakkapeliittas. Last winter I was passing the Highway Patrol Cars at 75 when they were doing 35-45 with the rest of the cars. That on its own is worth the price of admission. The posted limit in Indiana is 75…I was not speeding. I would not recommend going to 14 inch wheels. The speedometer shows 1.5% high for my 16-inch wheels and a whole 2.0% for 15-inch wheels. The 14-inchers must make it even worse. That is, I only travel 100 miles, when the odometer shows 102 for the 15-inchers and 101.5 for the 16-inchers. Car manufacturers are driven to do that because, your gas mileage is 2% better, their warranty is 2% shorter and you think that you are going 2% faster than you actually are. I went to Honda to get my speedometer re-calibrated, and they told me to go pound sand, because they claim that they are allowed plus or minus 5% and mine was within limits…that sucks…

Oh, I love the Hakkapeliittas…

I also hated the Dunlap shoes they (Honda) had installed on the 16-inche rims…throw them away. They are noisy, they get shitty gas mileage, they ware out real quickly and they don’t handle all that great. I put on a set of Michelin Pilot Exalto PE2 in 205/45ZR16 83 W that are just great. I’ve already got as much mileage on them as the original Dunlaps and they aren’t even half warn out!

 

I was looking at some snow tires on Tire Rack's site and noticed an alternate size to the 195/55 is 185/60/15. Would this size worked with a lowered drop of 1.5" or do you think there would be any clearance issues?

Thanks!

 

there should not be size issue...it's only a 1/4" on the diameter or 1/8" on the radius.
My 16" Michelin tires have a diameter or 23.2"...times the 1.5% is 23.5" to correct the error.
Michelin also lists that this tire makes 897 revolutions per mile...you are looking for a tire that would make 883 to get accurate milage.