But its so bad I cant even get out of my garage. When I open the door there is a three foot drift that goes on down the driveway for about 6 feet. Took a yard stick out in the middle of the yard yesterday while it was still snowing and it was at 17 1/2 inches. But it stopped nearly after that.

About the tires. Went with the 205/50/16 Continental Extreme Contact DWS that were rated number 1 by TireRack. I have drove on them for about 5 days now (pre blizzard) and LOVE them. They are much smoother ride than the Potenza OEM's. Also, I seem to get about 1.1 - 1.5 better MPG. Thats probably because I am back to normal tread rather than less than 2/32's of an inch.

There is no rubbing what so ever even at extreme turns.

I will post some pictures of the great snow here in Oklahoma later.

Hope everyone else is safe around the country dealing with this crazy snow.

 

do you feel the are 205s better in the snow as opposed to 185 or 195 snow tires?

 

do you get a burning tire smell if you pound on them a little? i seem to get that recently. same tires and size.

 

Well they are WAY better than the Potenza's that are on there after I finally braved the snow and went out today. I havnt ever used snow tires because we only have about 2 bad snows a year here in OK. But in all theory the 205's would be worse because you have more contact with the ground which means more chance to get stuck and more chances to slip. But these are the best tires I have ever used in the snow and are perfect for a place that gets all the seasons at their finest.

 

I havnt had a burning smell. But I also havnt driven them too hard yet. Although the burnin smell is not uncommon for new tires.

 

yes new tires will smell like burning rubber if you pound on them.

even old worn tires will smell like burning rubber when you pound on them.

also to the original poster, what psi are you running your tires at? i have the same set and was wondering how to increase mpg.

p.s. the stock tires are not Potenzas.

 

What were your stock tires? Dunlop? The fit came with two different stock tires in 2009. Mine were the Bridgestone Potenza. I am running 37. Was running 33 but it seems to do a bit better at a higher pressure. Especially in the Winter.

 

Hey, if possible, post some up-close pics of those tires... showing tread, front/side/etc. Make sure the tires are without snow, ice, etc., if at all possible right now.

I'm thinking of buying some of those, and I'd like to know what they actually look like before purchasing. Lots of dealers in my area have Contis, but none seem to have the Extreme Contact DWS in stock.

Just curious what they look like. Glad they're doing good in snow... the rating on those (the surveys) at Tire Rack are excellent for even bad weather. Probably the best all-seasons one can buy at this time.

Thanks for the post.

 

Here are some. There is a little bit of snow blocking the tread but not much. You can still get a good idea of what it looks like. Also you special order these tires through Walmart at their auto dept. If they tell you their not in their book then ask them to call and ask about them because they can order them even though they are not in their book. They are $112 a piece from them and they dont charge you shipping.

 

The Fit handled amazing out in the snow yesterday! I am very surprised on how it did considering I was stoping to help Lexus SUVS out of the stuck spots and F150's.
Here are some more pictures from here in Oklahoma.



RSX TYPE S '03

 

Those are some aggressive looking snow tires. I like the way the tread looks. a bit out of my price range though this time around so I went with the General Altimax Arctic for $77 each (installed).

As for the question about the OEM Tires, The OEM Bridgestones are Turanzas, not Potenzas. I'd love to have had potenzas but for an "economy" tire, the turanzas aren't too bad. (however the Turanzas on my altima were awful... not sure what the difference was)

~SB

 

ty SB for clearing the confusion for the op.

as for the conti dws, they are not winter specific tires they are a high performance all seasons. apparently they perform better in wet and snow than they do in the dry.

 

Correct. I was getting them confused. They were Turanzas.

 

Just an update on these tires - 1 year later I have now put just a tad over 17,000 MI on these tires and when I rotated them today they were at 7.5/32'nds of an inch. They started at 11/32nd's. This is very good tread wear and these tires are very quit for the size and comfortable at high speeds. I have a friend who has the 205/50/ZR16 Goodyear Eagle Authorities and although they have the closest tread to the DWS's, he has only driven 14,000 MI and is at a 5.75/32nd's. Just helping out the other fit owners who need tires! If any of you live around Tulsa and need a set of these let me know!

LMF

 

I have a set of Nokian WRG2's on my AWD CR-V, if they made them in a size that fit my Sport model, they would be my first choice for year round use, but they don't

 

OP I have the snow version of your tires, the Extreme Winter Contact and I got to use them for the first time last night. Not much snow but enough to get a feel for them, and they're pretty good! The snow didn't really stick on the roads, btu I was able to play around for 10 minutes or so in a parking lot.

 

You have allot of "Siping" on those, siping/edges are the key to compact snow/ice/wet traction, you probably already knew that

 

You bet! I've also used, in the past, on previous cars, Dunlop Winter Sport M3 and General Altimax Arctic. I've never had a snow tire I didn't enjoy in the snow, really.

 

We had a little snow last night that covered everything but the main road around here and the Generals gripped like no tomorrow. The only spinning issue I had was at an intersection where the snow was so packed, everyone was spinning their tires. Not a big issue as I never slid (steering was fine, just spinning) but I didn't have the full traction I had everywhere else. I'm on my 2nd season with the Generals and I can't complain.

~SB

 

Very nice!

I also just learned that I cannot turn off the traction control because I do not have TPMS in my winter wheel and tire package. Kind of disappointing but oh well...