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Honda Fit Wheels and Tires

207 messages,  Last post on Apr 27, 2013 at 7:12 PM

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What is this discussion about? Honda Fit, Tires, Wheels

Messages Page 8 of 22

#64 of 207 Re: 2009 Honda Fit -- Seeking Wet Weather Tires [HMBHMB] by tiff_c

Oct 13, 2008 (4:13 am)

Replying to: HMBHMB (Oct 12, 2008 7:38 pm)
I just got a 2009 Honda Fit w/Nav. The std tires are the 188-55-R16. I live in Seattle and I need a good wet weather all-season tire. I thought of going with Nokian WRG2. Nokian does not offer a 185-55-16; they do offer a 205-50-16. Any comment on the Nokians or some other great wet weather all-season tire?
 
I run the WRG2's on my 2008 Civic Si, we were going to trade the car in at the dealer as my wife really wants a 2009 Fit but they want cash on top of my car. I told them no way. The Fit with destination is $17,560. My Si was $22,000
Anyway the Nokian tires work awesome on my Si and I'm sure they will be unbeatable on a Fit. My dealer said the tires I have for my Si would work on the Fit but I doubt it, not with the stock rims, anyway.
You can't get Nokian tires at Tire Rack so try a local dealer I have one up here and he's very good. But I would't buy aftermarket rims from him as he's a Tire guy not great for prices on Rims.
Nokian has an 800# so you can call them up and ask them. They are very helpful.

#65 of 207 Snow tires and tire pressure sensors by reidlavallee

Oct 29, 2008 (3:03 pm)

I have an 08 Fit Sport and I know that I will need snow tires (soon). Does anyone know if it is a problem to just switch over to snow tires on the current wheels. Could this hurt the tire sensors? I don't want to pay someone to remount the tires if the sensors could be damaged. They are not cheap. My other option would be to buy snow tires mounted on steel wheels. using this method, there would be no sensors on the car for the winter months. Can this hurt the tire monitoring system if it doesn't receive any information for several months. I do not mind seeing the warning light for a few months as long as I am not going to damage the system. I tried to speak to a Honda dealer and they said they would take care of the problem by selling me a new set of alloy rims with snow tires and sensors. They wanted over $1500.00 out the door, That is not going to happen.

#66 of 207 Re: Snow tires and tire pressure sensors [reidlavallee] by fitisgo

Oct 29, 2008 (8:32 pm)

Replying to: reidlavallee (Oct 29, 2008 3:03 pm)
I have 3 08 Fit Sports, so have been down this road. Yes, you can take offf the stock (summer/all-season tires, which are Dunlop SP31s, and really crappy in the winter), leave the TPMS sensors on the alloy wheels, and put on new snow tires.
The sensors should not be damaged unless the tire service person has no clue what they are doing. On one Fit Sport I did this at the local Honda dealer and they price-gouged me, $105 for the dismount, remount and tire balancing for 4 wheels.
The next time I went to Wal-Mart auto service, skipped the wheel balancing (bought lower-cost snow tires and they wear out faster than all-season tires anyway, so balancing and rotating is less important), and Wally World charged me a total of $14 ($3.50/wheel X 4).
 
I've looked into buying steel 15" wheels and putting the snow tires on (no sensors) and driving this way. Yes the TPMS light will be on all the time, but this does not hurt the TPMS system (unless the indicator light on the dash itself burns out from being on each time you drive during the winter). The catch is I can't find any steel wheels for an 08 Fit Sport, not even from tirerack.com, where I've spent thousands of dollars over the years on tires and wheels. So if you find a source for 15" steel wheels for an 08 Fit Sport, please post it here.
 
Yes, the dealer was trying to get you to spend a whole lot of money you don't need to (new set of alloys w/sensors plus snow tires).
 
The ideal solution, in my opinion, is to replace the crappy stock tires with really good all-season tires that are also highly rated for winter use. The only tire I can find that meets that criteria is the Michelin Exalto Sport A/S V-rated, but a set of 4 installed is about $600 installed/balanced (about $150 each). I've been to the local Costco discount store several times, but they keep telling me they can't get any of these from Michelin. This is suspicious, because tirerack.com does have this tire (for more money of course).

#68 of 207 Re: Snow tires and tire pressure sensors [fitisgo] by thehermit

Oct 30, 2008 (3:56 pm)

Replying to: fitisgo (Oct 29, 2008 8:32 pm)
I have a 2008 fit sport. I ordered "winter tires and wheels" from tire rack. You have to click on winter tires and wheels. They reccomended 14" wheels and tires. I ordered them and they got to me in two days. I;ll run without tpms sensors for the winter and am looking into just removing the fuse so I don't have to look at the light.

#69 of 207 2008 honda fit base by myfit

Nov 01, 2008 (12:08 am)

can anyone tell me how to turn off the tpms sensor light:? If yes would it mess anything else up with the computer? Thanks please respond.

#70 of 207 Re: 2008 honda fit base [myfit] by pf_flyer HOST

Nov 01, 2008 (5:55 am)

Replying to: myfit (Nov 01, 2008 12:08 am)
Not trying to be a wise guy here...
 
The light will go out once you properly inflate your tires. The light comes on when one of your tires is a lot lower than the others or when all of your tires have gotten a bit lower than they should have. Mine comes on each year about this time as the weather first gets cold and the tires lose pressure.
 
You cannot disable the TPMS. Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) No. 138, requires a tire pressure monitoring system to be installed in all 2008 model year passenger cars, multipurpose passenger vehicles, trucks, and buses. That means all new cars manufactured after Aug. 31, 2007, must have equipment installed capable of alerting drivers when tire pressure is 25% or more below the placard pressure for individual tires.

#71 of 207 Re: Snow tires and tire pressure sensors [reidlavallee] by harrys1

Nov 01, 2008 (9:10 pm)

Replying to: reidlavallee (Oct 29, 2008 3:03 pm)
You might want to rethink going without TPMS sensors on your snow tires. If you have an accident that results in, or is caused by low tire pressure or a blow out, your insurance company will more than likely not pay the claim. They will assert that you knowingly obviated a safety feature that your car comes standard with and that your insurance was dependent upon those working safety features. As far as the NHTSA is concerned, it is illegal for anyone to tamper with the TPMS, i.e. taking a bulb out, but letting the light stay lit is not tampering with the system, so you can use wheels without TPMS as far as they are concerned. You might fail a safety inspection in your state if the TPMS light is lit. Check with your DMV. If you do get TPMS sensors, make sure the tire place has equipment to retrain your ECU for the new sensor IDs. You will have to do this for every tire and wheel changeover, so get a price for doing this up front. Honda dealers will charge you an hour labor to do this, $115 where I live, twice every year. Asian manufacturers, in their infinite wisdom, LOL, require the use of proprietary equipment plugged into your OBDII connector to reprogram the ECU for any TPMS sensor changes. Other manufacturers such as GM or Ford use the key fob and ignition switch to do this, so you could do it in your driveway, but not Honda, Toyota, Nissan, etc. This is enough reason for me not to buy an Asian car this year until they change the way they handle TPMS training, or until someone comes out with a TPMS OBDII tool I can afford. Cheapest one now is around $2000, the Wheelrite Tech 400. Even that one is not yet programmed for 2009 Honda.

#72 of 207 2009 FIT SPORT TIRE NOISE by bobpend

Nov 09, 2008 (9:53 pm)

Have a 2009 Fit sport with Dunlop SP7000 185-55-16 tires. These tires make a lot of road noise and drum away at speeds of 35-50 mph. Has anyone else had this problem? Some of the recent Fits that have arrived at the dealer are coming with Bridgestone EL 470 Grand Touring tires. Has anyone driven on these tires to see if they are quiter than the Dunlops ?

#73 of 207 Re: 2009 FIT SPORT TIRE NOISE [bobpend] by retire36

Nov 11, 2008 (9:34 am)

Replying to: bobpend (Nov 09, 2008 9:53 pm)
My 2009 FSA came with Bridgestones and I am impressed with the quiet ride at 65-70 on the freeway. I never have ridden in a Dunlap equipped Fit so can't comment on the difference between the two.
 
Dave

Messages Page 8 of 22

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