Hey All,

Like the title says, bought an 08 fit base model with 23K original miles. This is a first car for my twin boys and they are excited.

Seems nice and tight, drives well but has a few minor issues I was hoping you all might have suggestions or comments on.

-Had original 14" factory wheels and tires and the tires were dry rotted

Thinking of getting Drag Dr-27's in 15x7 and new tires. Would get a set of factory sport wheels if I could for the same price, but these look for under $100 wheel. Are 15x7 going to tax the power steering or make the car accelerate slower?

-Both front and rear bumper covers have scratches and the rear had a poor repair done on it. If I'm going to replace these, can I use the sport versions instead with fog lights? Looking for cheap replacements, but if fogs can be added for not much more, don't mind a little extra.

-Aftermarket alarm by KARR? It was installed years ago by first owner and we were told was done mostly for keyless entry. It seems to work ok, but the guy I bought it from set it off twice...I am worried it's at it's end of life being 9 years old. I've got a few papers on it, I may try and find a pdf and see if there is a test mode etc to make sure as best I can that it works as it should. Thoughts? Comments? I considered just removing it or replacing with something newer.


Thanks for any comments or suggestions fellas.

 

What you need to do on any wheel and tire change is keep the same outside diameter of the tires the same. You can easily compare these diameters by looking up the original tire size and the proposed tire size on Tirerack.com . Then compare the diameters and revolutions per mile. As long as they are similar then you will be OK. If you put a larger diameter wheel on the vehicle you can make up for the difference by using a tire with a lower profile. Honda did this when they specified the tires for the base and sport. The sport used a larger tire with a lower profile to achieve the same diameter as the base model.

I have a set of wheels and tires that we used for snow tires on a 2009 and 2011 Fit Sport that are either 15" or 14" (I forget at the moment). The vehicle used a 16" wheel OEM. The snow tires have the same diameter tire and revs per mile as the 16" OEM ones so there is no change in performance and speedometer readings.

 

What's the difference between original miles and regular miles?

 

accelerate slower, slightly yes, imperceptible. Tax power steering, no.
175 65 14
185 55 15
195 50 15
205 50 15
all about the identical speedo

 

Thanks guys.

Years ago on a civic I over did it with tire and rim upsize and the car was harder to accelerate and turn.

Pretty much decided on the Drag DR-27's...I guess they're a rota jmag replica which is a Mugen m7 knock replica? Either way, we like them. Just need to work out size and offset. Want to fill the wheel wells better and have wheels come out to meet the side of the car more.

The KARR alarm seems ok, played around with it today and works good. If it starts freaking out, I'll pull it or have it replaced.

Gonna talk to paint guy about aftermarket bumper cover and see what he recommends. Looking last night, looks like 200 could replace front and rear, but don't know the quality is any good.

Walked my kids through changing the air and cabin filters and the wiper blades. Think I'm gonna get the brake fluid and coolant flushed due to age. Maybe get trans done too but not sure.

Thanks again for comments. Really digging the fit and the forum here

 

I think he just meant it's the original owner's low miles. 22K means it wasn't driven a whole lot and dry rotted tires means it was put in storage for a while. He's very lucky to have gotten such a low-mileage Fit, but I would definitely have all the belts and hoses checked and replaced if necessary too. It's not good for a car to just sit without being driven.

 

Excellent point. If the tires were rotted...the belts could also be in poor condition as well.