Any rubbing or issues?

 

How well do they handle rain and light snow?

 

It wont handle as well as the other tire options for the Honda Fit. This tire will "do the job" of getting from Point A to Point B, it is the most comfortable tire out of the other tires Ive had on the Fit (bumps seem more muted, little road noise) and offers acceptable performance. This is the longest lasting tire sold for the fit.

However, it will not perform as well as the other tire options in either wet or dry weather. I would not expect to take the same turns or make the same maneuvers as the other tire options. It wont perform well in the snow or ice as the other tire options.

In general longer lasting, more comfortable tires usually mean less performance all the way around.

 

I bought a set of the Yokoama's last year for it's published and user reviewed qualities of wear, Low Rolling Resistance, and ride. They went on my adult daughter's Honda Fit. She lives in an area of high lake effect snow and works in an adjoining state. I was worried about their snow performance. We can report that she had absolutely no problems in any of the frequent snow storms of December, January, and February. She travels about 20 miles one way on secondary roads every day to work. She is use to driving a 4wd Blazer but these tires were fine all winter using her FIT.

Let's face it. The FIT is not an off road heavy snow vehicle. So I'm not saying it plowed through 2 feet of snow. I am saying that these tires were acceptable in fresh 6 inch snow. I was considering a second set of winter tires for her Fit. At this point we have decided not to go with that idea.
You might want to look here at Tire Rack's survey on these tires and make up you own mind:

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires....ar=&tab=Survey

 

Did you get the Avid Ascend or the EnVigor? Thanks!

 

What other tires do you recommend? Thanks!

 

Tires will vary based upon requirements of the driver. I'm running the Hankook Ventus Concept V2 (205/50/16) and they have been great so far. Great Grip, good Wear, low cost, and no real noticeable difference in economy from stock. I do however have a set of Snow tires mounted on Integra alloys for the winter as it makes sense here in VT.

~SB

 

How do you like the concept v2s?

 

another agree on 205/50/16.

 

They were good for the price. gripped well, not overly noisy, and all around a good performance oriented All Seasons. I replaced them with the Khumo Ecsta 4X II about a month ago. The V2's had lasted me about 30-35K miles but I'm not overly easy on tires as nothing I've ever owned has lasted to the manufacturer's mileage. The first thing I noticed about the Ecsta 4x II is how much quieter they were than the Hankook but that was a tire at the end of it's life VS another at the beginning. I did feel like the V2's were a little more responsive on wheel turn but again, that could be solely due to the fact of new vs old tires.

In my search, I had narrowed it down to the newest Concept V2 vs the Ecsta 4x. The 4x had the best rating on TR and with a $75 rebate mastercard + TR's price guarantee on mounting/balancing of $12/tire With all that, I was going to be ahead by about $50 of the Concept V2. My total cost for Tires(shipped), Mounting, balancing with 2 years of Road "Debris" hazzard covereage from TR.com was $349.

As a Side note, I went through an "Ordeal" with Discount Tire Direct to see if they would pricematch and the Guy, "Matt" was a used car salesman who responded with... "I can get you a deal on this xxxx tire for $xx.xx" - Tire wasn't even in the same class/grade/size as what I had requested. End result on that was I ended up cheaper anyway after the rebate with TireRack and didn't have the hassle of trying to "bargain" for a discount.

~SB

 

Thanks for the good info, I'm getting close to my stock size basic tires that came with the car when i bought it used going bad so I'm starting to look at options.

 

I liked the V2's but I think I like the Khumo Ecsta 4X II a little better. It didn't hurt that the price was a little less after all was said and done either. I originally looked at a different Khumo (about $3 less/tire) but the reviews were nowhere near as good. Tirerack also did video comparisons which were kind of nice to see and rated the 4X II one of the top ones.

That said, my opinion on these tires is based upon my experience and how I use them. I don't do winters on these (They might see 1/2" per year) as I have a set of General Altimax Snows that I run. I pay less attention to the winter performance because of this and while I think both would do decently in the snow their first winter, I'm not sure how they'd do successive winters. (or if that's even a concern of yours - you may run snows... or live where there is no snow - except that 1 day out of the year where you get an inch and there are a bajillion accidents because of it )

Something to remember in your hunt - keep an eye on the discounts and rebates available - that can get you a better tire for equal or less. Also, (for me) part of the savings was that the local shop charges $25/tire for mounting/balancing but Tirerack guaranteed pricing was only $12 or $13 - I got that just because I shipped to the shop directly. Also, as an fyi, MANY local places will match Tirerack but you have to ask the manager or District manager. (Store manager said when he mentioned it to his District manger, they should have price matched - and he was surprised) - This is the 2nd shop that has told me that. One place, I bought tires (for the Ridgeline) matched them right off, just because I asked.

Good luck in the hunt.
~SB

 

Trying to "deal" with a local shop or manager at a chain is too much of an ordeal. That is why on-line merchants like TireRack are winning. I have used them four times now. Just had a set of General snow tires for the pickup shipped. Yes, they favor certain brands over others, but everyone does. Traditional local distributors usually set the price and it is typically higher, due to too many layers in the distribution chain taking a cut.

My local Honda dealer even uses TireRack.