Hi. I have an 07 fitsport that is lowered with the T1R adjustable dampners and T1R lowering springs. I need new tires and I was thinking of going with a 205 width. I was just wondering which height would work better the 50 or 55. These tires would be for the stock sport 15 inch wheels with a 55 offset. Just want to improve the handling a little more. Any advice would be great.

 

205/50s would be the tire of choice since the 205/50s have a shorter outer diameter and have a stiffer sidewall than the 205/55s having a smaller sidewall. The 50s will also shorten your gear ratio slightly which will aid in acceleration but reduces your delimited top speed; the 55s on the other hand, lengthens your gear ratio thus slowing acceleration but increasing the delimited top speed.

Another thing to consider is your wheel offset if you have aftermarket wheels and/or have spacers. The general offset recommendation for a lowered GD with 205s is +45mm.

 

Thanks for the info. My wheels are the stock 15 inch sport rims. Their offset is 55. So I guess with the 55 offset of the stock rim it would be better to stick with the 195/55/15 rather than a 205/50/15 on a lowered fit. I know the HFP wheels for the 07 fit are 16 inch wheels with a 55 offset. They use a 205/45/16. I figured a 205/50 on the stock 15 lowered would work because it's only 5mm wider on each side. My old buddy club wheels were a +45 offset 15 inch and they had 205/50's on them. I had eibach pro springs with stock shocks and I never had any prolblems rubbing with that set up. Looked real good too cause the wheel and tire sat flush with the fender. Didn't look like the wheel was sitting to far into the wheel well. But, then again those wheels were +45 offset too. I guess what I have to watch out for is rubbing on the inside part of the tire with that stock 55 offset instead of rubbing on the fenders, correct?

 

You should clear when running the GD Sport 15 inch wheel with the 205/50s. I'm assuming of course that the T1R springs you have are the S-Coil V2 Springs and those typically give a 30mm-40mm (~1.18 to ~1.57 inch) drop all around.

About a year or two back, a member on here had Tanabe GF210 springs (1.5 inch front drop, 0.9 inch in rear) was running the 16 inch HFPs with 205/45R16 tire and didn't experience any rubbing what-so-ever even with a lot of cargo in his GD. His set up had a slightly taller tire (by ~2/10ths an inch) than the your set up in mind but still had the same tire width and offset.

 

This is what an '07 Sport looks like with Mugen 5-way adjustable suspension (about 1/2" lower), 16" Honda Accessory wheels and Michelin Pilot Exalto PE2 tires in 205/50ZR16 tires on the Dragon (US129). I highly recommend this setup.

 

Looks good, but the 205/50R16 tires would be too tall for the OP's current set up; same thing if they went 205/55R15. Now if the tire's aspect ratio was dropped by 5, making it 205/45R16 or 205/50R15, then it would be a great set up in my honest opinion.

 

What's an OP?

 

OP is short for Original Poster

 

Ocean Pacific; Over Priced; etc.
DOOOH...

 

So what you are saying here is that a 205/50R15 would be better to run on my set up than a 205/55R15? Keeping in mind that the O.E tire is a 195/55R15. I believe the 205/50 would perform better than the 205/55 because of the shorter sidewall which is stiffer as well. It will also lower the car itself 10mm which give's a lower center of gravity as well. Yes I am running the T1R 12 way adjustable dampners with the T1R v2 lowering springs. Thanks for all of this useful info! Trying to order some tires real soon cause the O.E one's on there now are beat! Plus I just got the T1R suspension installed and want to get it aligned!

 

To improve handling, you will have to get more rubber to the ground...
I don't think that a 205 is designed for a 5.5-in wide wheel. When you put a wider tire on a narow rim, you get a very squirly feeling with the tire flexing from side to side.

The stock 15-inchers read about 3% high for speed and distance. The 205/45R16 read about 2.5% high. The 205/50R16 read about 1.7% low. I'd rather show lower milage...for that, you need a taller tire.

 

I want to drive that road so damn bad!!!

 

so I should probably stick with a 195/55R15 for the stock fit rims then? I know the buddy club wheels that I did have on it were 7 inches wide with a +45 offset and I had 205/50R15's on them. I didnt know the stock rim was 5.5 inches wide. I dont want any squirrelly feeling going around turns and such. I'll just get new rims that are wider before I get the 205 tires.

 

Now you're talking...it will handle much better!
I like a little side wall...therefore I think 17" is too large (tall) for the Fit.
16 seems to be the best compromise here...but 7 is as wide as you can go...
Take a look under my profile in my albums. I've got a drawing of wheels on top of each to show what offset and back space are...check it out.

 

The 15 inch GD wheel is a 15x6 if I recall correctly not a 15x5.5. Certain 205s can fit a wheel width of 5.5 inches to 7.5 inches like the Yokohama S.Drive for example.

Edit: Yep, they are indeed 15x6 and here are the parts numbers if you'd like to check. One number leads to Enkie and the other to Kosei. 42700-SLN-A82 and 42700-SLN-A83

Yes, the 205/50s are the better choice for those exact reasons plus they will aid in acceleration due to being a smaller diameter tire, thus shortening your gear ratio.

I personally have 205/55s and currently have a love/hate feeling with them. Yes, I get the additional 10mm of mechanical grip due to the tire width, raises the ride hieght a little, and they soak up bumps much better than 195/55s and 205/50s; however, during cornering they flex more than the factory Dunlop SP31s and they lengthen my gear ratio which in turn hurts my acceleration.

Plus in my case of running the taller 205/55R15 on a wheel with a +40 offset resulted in tire rub even if you have stock springs due to the offset. If they were +45 or a higher offset like the +55 offset of the HFPs on the GD above then that would be a different story.

Edit: While on the subject of tires, if you want a great summer only tire check out the Dunlop Direzza Z1 Star Spec.

 

I thought the stock 15's were 6 inche wide. Then I shouldn't have a problem with running the 205's! One question I have is how wide is the HFP 16 inch wheel for the gd3? Because I know they run a 205/45 on them from honda. Thinking Im going to go with the 205/50 after hearing what you had to say about the 205/55's.

 

I think they're 16x7 but I'm not 100% sure so I will be checking the part number and posting it in an edit.

According to College Hill Honda's site, the 2007 HFP 16 inch wheel is 16x6.5 ET+55mm. There was no mention of dimension for the 2008 HFP wheel; however, aside from the wheel color and indentation for the TPMS sensor, they should be the exact same.

2007 Part# 08W16-SLN-100
2008 Part# 08W16-SLN-100A

 

No, the HFP wheel is 6.5...
Take a look in my profile (albums), I've got a drawing of that wheel posted there...
The smaller tires will get you that lower gearing effect, but you will get all the compromises along with it...higher speedometer reading, less fuel mileage...for those reasons alone, I chose the taller tires...this is a DD after all.

 

Sorry for a late response but I just exchanged some 195/55/15's that i bought with my 15x7 +40mm wheels. I had them exchanged for 195/50/15's and the car rarely rubs now. I have an 08 fit and it is lowered on progress springs. Hope this can help you out!

 

You'll really feel the difference between the 50 and 55 series aspect ratio as far as turn-in, so I'd go with 50 series for sure. I have stock suspension and went with 205/50/16's and I can tell you the difference was immediate!