I checked my 2013 base Fit tires today and found out they only have 4/32" tread left. These are the stock tires, and they only had 30k miles on them! I didn't expect them to wear out so fast, but it sounds like that happens to a lot of people. I don't really put a lot of wear and tear on them AFAIK - I accelerate slowly and coast a lot to save on fuel, and pull about a 37 MPG average.

So I'm looking to get some new tires ASAP, and wanted to see if anyone has had luck with a particular brand or model lasting a long time. My order of preference is probably tire life > mileage > price > handling.

I drive mostly highways/paved country roads in Ohio where it snows from November to April. All-weather should be fine, I hadn't had any problems with my stock tires in the snow even with their low tread.

 

I think your driving style has a lot to do with tire life.
I have 52,000 miles on 2010 Fit sport and the tires still have 45-50% tread left. (The tire is the stock Dunlop 7000)

 

I dunno, I drive to conserve fuel (not hypermile) and the stock dunlops were toast after 30K Atlanta freeway miles.

The Michelin Energy tires I replaced them with now have 35,000 miles and look like new. No measurement but here's a picture I just took. No vibration, good grip, handling. Better MPG than the OE tires. No drama at all. All I've done is rotate every 7,500 miles and keep them at 33psi.

 

I agree with above. Michelins, although expensive, last a loooong time. 90k isn't unheard of. That means price per mile isn't far off, or may be even better than the cheaper options. If long-life is what you want, and price isn't a concern, I would definitely go Michelin.

 

Two suggestions, assuming these two manufacturers make a tire in the size you want on your Fit:


1. Pirelli Cinturato P7 All Season Plus: I just put these on my Vibe based on tirerack reviews. They are even more cushiony than the Michelin MXV4s I took off. I think they are great, and I hope the early reviews pan out as the years go by.
2. Kumho Ecsta PA31: again, tirerack loves these tires, and the extremely aggressive siping pattern should make it an excellent tire for light snow as well. This one is a directional tire however, which mandates you keep your alignment in proper order.


As for Michelins in general, yes, they are expensive and yes, they are a quality tire (the MXV4 anyway). However, as mine were around the 3-4 32nds in tread depth, they developed cracking throughout the entire outer tread block on all of the tires, not just one. Not something I wanted to chance on a long highway trip. The MXV4 is being replaced this spring, but the tread pattern of the new model looks exactly the same as the outgoing MXV4. I hopefully have found a better alternative to the high priced Michelins in the two tires I mentioned above.

 

You're not alone with the shitty stock Dunlop tire. I hit 26,000, and needed a new set bad. Keeping mine rotated and at 33Psi did nothing to stop wear.

Not every Michelin is great however. The set that's installed on accords from the factory are total garbage, those didn't last 17000 before a replacement set was needed.

 

stock dunlops lasted me until 48k.
dealership had hankcook h724 tires .. 4 for 330 with alignment. cheap but i believe they are 65k rated.
quieter ride, seem like good tires, but too early to tell how these will hold up.
i had hankcooks in my civic and they served me well.


if you want michelins sears has some great coupons for them .. or at least they did while i was looking. problem was no alignment was included and they werent a dealership.

 

Not sure if they come on the stock size for the base but, if they do, try the Yokohama Avid Ascends. Good all around tires, reasonably priced, and very long lasting. There are some reviews of them in other threads scattered about.

 

I am pretty gentle on it, I accelerate slowly and coast into stops. Might be the roads I drive on though - I'm in the country so the roads get freshly asphalted with rough stones every other summer.

 

Getting rid of those stock Dunlops was the best thing I ever did. I have Yokohama's which made a world of difference in how the car handles.

 

My 2008 Fit came with Dunlops. I got 31K on them before replacing them with Kelly Springfield tires from Just Tires. I have over 40K on the Kelly tires now. The original tires had a 30k warranty, which was what to be expected. When you go beyond 30k on most tires, the ride becomes harsh in most cases, so I usually buy tires with warranties around 40k. I've bought tires with longer warranties such as 80k, not lasting nearly as long as they claimed it would last. Kelly is the bargain basement tire for Goodyear and Dunlop is the medium grade. My Fit handles well with Kelly Springfield tires: 175 65R 14. I've used Kelly Springfields on my Toyota Pickup as well, and gotten 13K over the warranty on my previous set. I've always had no problems with tires made by Goodyear, Dunlop or Kelly Springfield.

 

Michelin is part of Uniroyal and General Tire; many Accords are assembled here in the USA. All Honda Fits are built in Japan and shipped here. The US assembled Accords come with Michelin tires and Delco batteries, while the Japan built Hondas come with Dunlops.

 

Michelin's quality has gone down after they merged with Uniroyal and General tires back in the late 80s. Uniroyal and General had plenty of tread separation & cracking problems with their tires back in the 70s & 80s.

 

Michelin owns BF Goodrich and Uniroyal. General is owned by Continental. Not that it makes any difference. (But I was curious enough to google it).

I have had problems with tires made by Dunlop and Goodyear on Hondas. The aforementioned tread life of Dunlops, and miserable ride comfort on Goodyears (this was in 1997 on an Odyssey so has little bearing today, other than the bad taste they left on my butt).

I also have purchased a set of Yokohoma Avids for the same 97 Odyssey (in 2006) that were terrible in terms of vibration. The tire dealer didn't couldn't help, but did refund the purchase price (that's a long story).

In every case where I've had tire problems I switched back to Michelins and have been happy. Not just for the first half of the tires' tread life, but over the entire useful life of the tires.

Could be a case of good brand loyalty, but everytime I've experimented with other brands I've been sorry. The other two cars in my stable, a 98 Camry and an 03 Accord also ride on Michelins. Set after set I've not experienced any drama, both in ride comfort and integrity of the tires over the entire usable tread life. And they do last longer. The upfront premium price does pay dividends down the line.

And they're not really more expensive, shopping around tire size and speed/traction rating equivalents.

When it's time to replace the tires on the Fit, I'll absolutely be shopping for another set of Michelins...

 

Well I think I've narrowed it down to either the General Altimax RT43 or the Michelin Defender. The Altimax RT43 is quite a bit cheaper so I am leaning towards that.

I'm going to see if how much a local discount tire shop can get them for, and if it's not comparable to tirerack.com, I'll just get them from there.

 

The treadwear rating, UTOG, isindicative of the treadwearon a tire. If long tread life is your goal choose a tire with a 700 UTOG rating but don't expect high conering or snow performance. If you want some of both check tireracks rating system on a variety of tires

 

You might consider running a larger diameter to get the revs down. http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires....UREC&tab=Specs

In the rt43.

 

I live in England where we don't really have many straight roads, so loads of cornering for us and my original fitment Dunlops have only lasted 16,500 miles, bad I think.

I am replacing them with Continental tomorrow. I never rotate tyres, I can't see the point as it's going to cost the same in the long run.

 

I think anything around will last longer than the OEM Dunlops. I just got the Yoko Avids and I expect when they wear it it'll be someone else's car.


FWIW the tire life rating is somewhat helpful but it's not a scientific calculation, the manufacturers can do a lot of fudging on how they come up with the number.

 

Hmm, I was thinking about getting 185 60 R15... how much bigger would you go?