The Honda West dealer here is sold out and cannot get more steel rims for the 2007 Fit, they have tires though. I got everything installed a few days ago with a local tire shop, all Honda rims ($60 each). The car actually is quieter than with the factory all season BridgeStones. Tossing those noise makers in the fall and getting something better.

 

Yeah they are stock Fit wheels but the parts guy told me that they are for all Fit models. He showed me the graphic diagram in the order computer. It had a layout of all the "Honda" wheels and parts that are associated with Fit wheels.

He did'nt even have them in stock. Had to order them and it took 2 weeks.

 

Yeah, I was shopping back in late September so my Honda dealership didn't even have the specs on wheels for the '09 Fits. That's why I went with Kal Tire. Seems that the $60/rim is pretty much standard! I heard that demand for winter tires is up by 30% due to the new law in Quebec. Hope my fellow Fitfreakers have purchased theirs by now! May be a tough search this "late" in the game...

 

Same here and I ordered mine back in late September! Actually my set has been purchased, sitting at the tire place waiting for installation since then. Glad I got a jump on it due to the current shortages in winter tires. That's another thing...since alot of places are running out, apparently theft of these is on the rise! I wasn't going to install my alloy wheel locks on my steel wheels but am now having second thoughts....

 

Better to have the locks on and be safe about it all. Otherwise you might be preoccupied thinking about it all.

 

You're right. After gas was stolen out of my car a few weeks ago, I'd better kiss goodbye to wheels on my car that are NOT secured with wheel locks. Yeah and I live in a small town of less than 4000....sad!

 

Two questions:
1. what is the offset stamped in back of the Honda rims?
2. Out of curiosity how come you wanted stock 5.5"rims instead of 6" ?
Not a criticism; just want to know for future customers.

 

1. No stampings on the back whatsoever. Topside shows DOT 8 08 /55CK19. Hope that's of any help.
2. I want to keep to the narrowest tire for winter. The 175s will "cut" down through the snow easier. Wide tires tend to float on top of the snow. Especially on lightweight cars. 6" wide rims is "borderline" for 175 width tires. I also think the small price difference is worth it to me to have the exact stock size.

 

Holy .... lots of repeated info here .
A bit of paranoia about driving in the snow ??

Here in Ontario , I found a good deal on a package
using 14'' rims and 185x65x14 Hankook iPikes .
This set up will actually raise the car up a bit higher
then the stock tire set up to help protect the side
body moldings on my 09 Sport .

Price ??

$600 with taxes .

 

185/65x14's are same diameter as 195/55x15 and half-inch" smaller than 185/55x16's.

 

I believe the 55 is the offset and the wheels were manufactured in Aug of this year. That fits the 08 wheel specs.

The tire section of 175 mm is 6.88" so a 175 fits very well on a 6" rim but so does the 175. Whichever is cheaper works best.
The secret to not overdoing the wheel width is not letting the rim width equal or exceed the section width less 1/2". That lets the tire sidewall flex easily. Getting the rim width same or wider than the section width takes the design flex out and counteracts the tire contact area ability to conform to the road. Likewise, you can underdo the rim by going less than 1.5 " less than the section width. Those are nominals, some tires, especially Dunlops, are designed for less range in rim widths.

 

Once enough Base Fits get wrecked, there will likely be a ready supply of excellent used steel wheels at

www.car-part.com

Actually, just looked, there are already some cropping up. Most of these folks are pretty negotiable, too, in my experience.

 

We too have an '09 Fit Sport that we (obviously) just bought to replace a '92 Toyota Corolla that owed us nothing. We'd been running Nokian Hakkapeliitta RSis on the Corolla and on our other car, an '07 Accord EX.

When we discovered that the Nokians weren't available in the exact size for the Fit, we had a bit of a quandary just like FitGirl did.

We ended up choosing Yokohama Ice Guards. They come in both standard sizes of tire that come with the Fit, but to keep expense down we decided to run the 15" size (the Sport of course comes with 16" wheels from the factory). We spent an extra $40 a wheel and got some winter-appropriate Core Racing alloy rims to preserve the look of the car.

It's way too early to tell you if the Yokos are better than the Nokians or not, but I'll report when we know more. We've had them on the car since last week, but we haven't had enough iffy weather yet to have a real opinion.

Incidentally I found the Hakka RSis to be a real step down from the Hakka Qs that I had on my Mazda Protege. They are still excellent, but the Qs had better traction. Nokia now has the Rs and I am curious how they compare to the Qs and RSis, but I'll have to wear out my Accord's RSis first.

 

My local Kal Tire didn't even have any Nokian Hakka RSi in stock since the Hakka R is the direct replacement tire. Apparently it resolves some of the dry pavement handling issues people had with the RSi.

Since I ran Yokohama IceGuards through 4 Sudbury winters on my Mazda3 Sport GT, I can tell you that I was looking for something "more" with this set. Typically we get alot of snow but the last winter or two saw quite a bit of ice/slush. Although the Iceguards I found to be adequate on ice, not so good with just a light dusting of snow or any amount of ice. ABS pulsations on normal stops became routine (and yes, I'm a VERY careful winter driver so no hard stops/starts). Definitely needed something will all around better winter performance, which is why I chose the Nokians. In all the reviews I read (that actually had the Nokian Hakka in the mix), that tire won hands down. As I said, apparently the R is a big improvement over the RSi though I've never driven either so won't be able to provide an accurate comparison...

My set will be installed this Saturday so I'll provide some reviews as the winter progresses...

 

We can meet in Thunder Bay for the first ever FitFreak Traction Challenge!

Our winters are different from yours (it's a lot drier and the temperatures tend to be much, much colder) so it's well possible that the ideal tire for our winters is not the same as the ideal one for yours.

I liked what I read in the reviews of the Yokohamas, but I haven't exactly been disappointed with the Nokians. In fact, it would have been my first choice.

Kal Tire here in Regina didn't suggest getting a slightly different size. (A different dealer that sold Toyos did, though.)

 

The stock tire size on the Sport is 185/55/R16. I downsized to 15" steel wheels and winter tires for economic reasons.

From Nokian website for available tire sizes in 15":
185/65R15 92R XL
185/60R15 88R XL
185/55R15 86R XL
195/65R15 95R XL
195/60R15 92R XL
195/55R15 89R XL
205/70R15 100R XL
205/65R15 99R XL

I ended up getting the 185/60R15s in the Nokian Hakka R since it is recommended to run slightly narrower tires through snow. The tire was NOT available in a 175/65R15 size, which I THINK would have been even better/optimal. Is that the size you got in the Yokohamas?

I'd also recommend the Yokohama Iceguard overall, but didn't think it was THE best winter tire for my area. You're right in that winter conditions vary widely throughout Canada, or even from just North to South Ontario! Studded tires are now legal for my area though I thought that was TOO much for my routine travel.

I have high hopes for the Nokians though if I would have stuck to the Yokohamas they did have a coupon for so much off the purchase. No such luck with the Hakkas!

 

Welcome - Bienvenue

Until November 30 in Canada, you can get $40 rebate on a set of 4 15" Yokohamas, $60 on a set of 4 16". Not much but hey, it's money back!

 

Indeed, we got the P175/65R15 size. Since the Nokians are the same width as your 16" stock tires, you should be fine although in theory, we will get better snow traction with our slightly narrower tires (ignoring any difference in traction from the tread itself).

We chose 15" for the same reasons you did, although I've never been a big fan of the appearance of bare steel wheels so we got alloy rims. By the time I bought wheel covers for the steel wheels, I wouldn't have saved that much and I tend to lose the wheel covers once in awhile anyway.

The Nokians are good tires. I'm really curious how the Rs will perform versus the RSi tires.

 

Well, I can report on the Nokian Rs and you can report on your Yokohama Iceguards! Too bad you couldn't compare to your RSis, but apparently they're an improvement on dry pavement....


quote=PhotoJim;488254]Indeed, we got the P175/65R15 size. Since the Nokians are the same width as your 16" stock tires, you should be fine although in theory, we will get better snow traction with our slightly narrower tires (ignoring any difference in traction from the tread itself).

We chose 15" for the same reasons you did, although I've never been a big fan of the appearance of bare steel wheels so we got alloy rims. By the time I bought wheel covers for the steel wheels, I wouldn't have saved that much and I tend to lose the wheel covers once in awhile anyway.

The Nokians are good tires. I'm really curious how the Rs will perform versus the RSi tires.[/quote]

 

If you can wait i believe Discount Tire is having a $100 off sale of sets of tires/wheels Nov 23-24.