It snows so rarely in Atlanta that snow tires are oveerkill, but I got my chance to try out the Fit this morning. It started snowing yesterday afternoon at 36 degrees, and the temperature kept dropping to 19 this morning. The streets in my neighborhood are sheets of ice, which the county hasn't yet done anything to mitigate -- neither salt nor sand on the roads. Perfect conditions to test anti-lock brakes and FWD traction! This is the 3rd generation of anti-lock brakes that I have experienced, and they are the best to date, with a fast cycle rate, and you can feel individual wheels scrabbling for traction in mixed conditions. No matter what I did, the brakes behaved very predictably, the car stayed straight, and I was pleasantly surprised at the deceleration rates in difficult conditions.

Unfortunately, my previous car was a Subaru Forester with AWD, and there is simply no comparison with the Fit's FWD. It snowed only once during the 6 years we owned the Forester, but when I took it out to an empty parking lot, nothing I could do would destabilize it. The Fit drives like a normal FWD car, which is to say much better than RWD, but you can't do stupid stuff without consequences. More aptly, the stupid threshold is much lower than it is with an AWD car. All in all, I'm pleased with the Fit's snow/ice handling, but it's not a rally car.

 

The Canadian Geese are grumbling outside my window.



Schools closed. office closed. I have no excuse to play in the Fit.

Doesn't take a lot of snow to shut down Atlanta.

 

In a way I wish that were true of AWD vehicles too, not because I want to deny people traction in snow, but because that will reduce the number of people zipping around me in SUVs doing 40mph on slick, unplowed roads while it's actively snowing and I'm doing a steady but safe 25. I'm going to get to test my Fit out in snowy/icy conditions right away, it seems like. It's supposed to flurry all today and it's going to be too cold to melt away completely, so there should still be some stuff on the ground when I pick it up tomorrow!

Lucky me! We'll have to see how it goes.

 

It's pretty awesome for snow drifting haha.

 

AWD offers better traction to accelerate but does nothing to help when trying to stop. The result is overconfidence and more chance of collision because of higher speeds and the inability to stop any faster.

 

I can see grass! You're not kidding- it DOESN'T take a lot to shut down Atlanta!

Dan

 

OK, got the Blizzak W60's *on*! Been snowing here in Cincinnati for days, and managed to test things out on an empty parking lot, with about 2-3 inches of packed snow, ice, and some melt in the mix. A bit of everything really!

Conclusion: *BIG* difference! A+++ The Fit feels now like it has much better grip, and turning definitely feels more assuring. My final test was to donut around the lot , and it was very well controlled.

These are no miraculous cure, must still use good judgement, and drive with extreme caution, but it sure as heck gives you more control and piece of mind.

Spend the $$$ you cheap $#@@!!!

 

I don't mind driving the Fit in the snow at all. It's nothing special, but plows along mighty fine.....

*As long as you don't get too much snow/ice stuck up inside the wheels.*

We have had a few inches of snow and sub-zero temperatures this week and I drove it one night when the roads were pretty bad. The next day above 30MPH the car shook quite violently (felt like it was coming from one of the font tires, possibly a bad belt or bent rim).

I placed an electric heater at each front wheel for a couple hours, which got rid of all the ice/snow build up and drove it again: still virtually un-drivable above 30MPH...passenger seat visibly shaking and the whole car vibrating really bad.

Somehow I missed a very large chunk of ice inside one of the rear wheels. Local shop removed all 4 wheels, cleaned very well, and re-installed: Problem solved ($18). I know this is a quite common issue with all types of vehicles if driven in relatively harsh snow/ice/extremely low temperature conditions, but just FYI if you experience anything like this, check really well for ice buildup inside your wheels.

 

I have both the 08 and 09 Fit Sport MT with standard Dunlop tires and rims. The Dunlops, however, are not the same on both cars... much different tread. The 08 really stinks in rain, and can't begin to roll in any snow. The 09 does much better in rain and better in snow, but not really great. I eventually opted to get some new rims and snow tires at Town Fair Tire for $619 for the 09, ( I stay off the roads until they're plowed before using the 08). It was worth every penny for the snow tires on the 09. It, now, can handle the snow, and is much safer in the bad winters in CT, in the hills where I live. The Sport Fits with the Dunlop tires were disappointments in the winter. My 95 Neon has no problem moving thru snow with all-season tires. My best car in the snow was a 1970 Gremlin, that felt like a jeep with 4 wheel drive. My absolute worst car in snow was a 1966 Rambler. The same one used in commercials, at that time, to advertise the need for snow tires. I think the problem with the Fit moving thru snow is not in the car, but in the tires. Based on what I've read here, Honda must have supplied numerous and varied Dunlop tires as standard equipment on the Fits... some good and some bad.

 

Hahaha. Sorry but had to laugh at that.

If us Canadians would use heaters on each wheel or paid $18 for when there's ice/snow buildup we would go broke!

It's really funny to see how things are done so differently in different places.

 

Guess I need to get a can of deicer or something, not sure if it's ok to spray that stuff all up in my wheels though. You have a heated garage?

 

I have a garage but it's NOT heated.

Don't waste your time with deicer or anything like that. Just get yourself a brush or broom and clear out the wheels when there's any accumulation. Driving around and braking creates heat which will clear away what's left over.

 

I had that same thing one night. It wasn't as bad as you experienced, but it was noticable and freaked me out. Disappeared the next day. I also kicked some hefty ice chuncks out of the front wheel wells. The shimmy thing though- that is a first for me with any car. Not surpised though- the Fits wheels are kinda just stuck on there and pretty open to the elements. Have broom, will travel.

Dan

 

Getting out of deer camp with the Jeep, I managed to get snow packed in the wheels. Yeah, it's interesting when you get up to higher speeds.
If you DON'T have a heated garage, and the slop freezes hard in there, it can be a real PITA.
I've posted before that the Fit does okay on Blizzaks, but my bride's panzer is amazing (AWD & Blizzaks...). Yeah, you can be fooled about how much traction is really out there, but it makes hard weather driving mighty easy.
Moon

 

FWIW -- I'm on my second winter with the WS60 Blizzaks on a second set of wheels (2009 Honda Fit Sport) with our '09 Sport AT here in Michigan. The winter tires make a huge difference.... but the Fit is still pretty poor handling in the snow, IMO. Not slamming it, but just being honest. Not nearly enough weight up front to lay down some good traction in the snow / ice compared to a larger vehicle with snow tires. Be sure to choose a narrower footprint tire than stock (i chose the 175/65-15) to maximize the traction. I would encourage anyone driving in wintry areas to seriously consider a winter tire package for the Fit (or any of their cars). Though not perfect, it provides a much wider margin of error that I feel is worth the investment.

I chose to go for new wheels at $79/ea and built a mounted package from Tirerack.com which saved me swapping on/off the stock rims. I did not to add TPMS to the winter wheels.
YMMV,
Denny

 

I considered getting steelies so I could pick a narrower Blizzak tire than the OEM sizing, but in the end decided to go with stock sizing. I agree, narrower would have been better, but the need to buy new wheels, plus swap (or buy!) TPMS sensors for the new rims, in addition to the wheel swap effort/cost was too much to bear... I went with the much cheaper option of only buying tires, and $40 per 'swap' at my local Costco, twice a year... Just adding that for those considering the two options.

 

Or turn.
Hear, hear.

If I lived in Atlanta I might not bother; but for folks in the vicinity of the Mason-Dixon line or further north winter tires should be seriously considered by anyone who occasionally *must* drive, no matter the conditions. They work better in ALL winter conditions, not just snow. They transform cars like Subarus into absolutely unstoppable (depth-permitting of course) snow beasties, and I now know that they also turn even FWD cars like the Fit into very competent, trust-inspiring vehicles in ice/snow conditions. If you're going to buy at least two sets of tires for the car anyway, make one of them winter tires.

 

I bought my fit sport wiht winter tires installed on the rims mid december. Since then I drove it in between Montreal and Quebec several times during blizzard storms. I did roughly 1.5k km in bad conditions visiting family and friends across the county during holidays.

My winter tires are Yokohama ice guard. They felt very good on icy rains, pretty average on heavy snow.
The Fit is Not a 4x4 but the heavy nose helps a bit for the traction. Being low mean you cant just ram the snow in front of your drive way or on small road. The fit is light, you have to be careful on red light and stop and take your distances as much as possible to do not slowly skid and hit the car in front of you. Not sure a SUV would be much better at this though since they are heavier and takes much more friction forces to stop them. They are obviously much better at startup or to get out of deep snows but I dont really believe they are much easier to handle than regular cars for stopping and turning.

At high speed on the highway, even a 4x4 wont save you, because of speed, thier height and the 2 rear weels pushing you outward the curve your better with a forward traction to keep your line on the curve.

What i feel dangerous tough with small cars on a mix of snow/water road is the big busses or tailers passing you. They dont have any problem with traction, they seem to just fly through this bad weather. Generously spraying all the water/mud on the road directly only your windshield when passing you. Up to the point you don't see anything while having to cope the wind pressure change they pushes on you. Make sure your wipers are on and you have enough cleaning liquids before taking the road.

I sometimes wish I could disable the ABS since it could stop faster without it on snow. When I just want to stop in a strait line, its more an annoyance than anything else.

Just my 2 cents.

 

I find my Fit mediocre at best with the all seasons, and just pretty good with new Continental snow tires. Not nearly as good as my Accord with Blizzaks, but very usable. The Fit's small clearance and length keep it from being a great snow car.

Snow tires are a huge safety advantage, and I agree with the poster who said you can easily make your money back by avoiding one fender bender.

 

Buying a second set of tires is NOT more expensive than having one... Im oversimplifying it, but you'll get the idea:

You can either use 2 sets of summer tires, 3 yrs each, for the next 6 years, OR...
...you can use 1 set of summer+ 1 set of snow, for the next 6 years.