I’ll soon need a third set of tires on my 09 Sport, which has about 85k on it.

In the stock 185/55-16 size the only thing that’s tempting me are the Yokohama AVID Ascends. At $105 on Tire Rack the price is reasonable, and the reviews appear good. Has anyone installed these on the Fit who could comment on their experiences? I’m primarily interested in good wet and snow traction, and a quiet ride.

Also, the installer will want to sell me TPMS "rebuild kits." Apparently there’s a washer that should be replaced on the TPMS sensor when the tire is changed. Does anyone know how important it is to have this done, and exactly what parts should be replaced? On the Bernardi site there’s a washer, part #42755-SHJ-A51. If this is all that needs to be replaced I might buy a handful of them and simply hand them to the installer, hopefully saving the $11 per wheel that they seem to want to charge for the “kits”.

Finally, has anyone had the TPMS sensor batteries fail on their Fit yet? If so, after how many years and miles?

Thanks.

 

Conti DWS in 205/50 r 16 is stock diameter and fits well. The performance profile wet and dry is the same.

The Tpms maintenece parts I thought were for if you moved them from one rim to another. Poke around the tire rack site.

 

Consumer Reports' last magazine had tire ratings and rated the Avid Ascends pretty highly. It was a more common size they rated, and they were something like maybe #6 out of 20 or 25 tires. I don't have the magazine now because I share a subscription with people at work, but I remember that they were at least good in just about all categories (noise, grip, snow, etc.).

I'll be due for my first set of tires next year (low miles '09), and these are what I would choose in stock size.

Note that you can get a good deal after a $100 rebate and free shipping at Discount Tire's ebay store:

Tire tires rebate, Wheels Rims Wheel Rim items in Discount Tire Direct Auctions store on eBay!

As far as the TPMS thing, I don't know but it just sounds like an attempt by the installer to get a little more $ out of you. As far as I know, if the installer is careful and doesn't damage the TPMS units, you don't have to do any servicing on them.

 

Thanks. As it turns out, the Conti DWS in 205/50/16 is my second choice. But I’m intrigued by the apparently new technology on the Yokohamas. Also, they’re less expensive than the Contis, and I’m wondering whether I’ll get slightly better gas mileage and traction in snow with the narrower, stock-width tires. I’m running Sumitomo 205/50/16s right now, and my snow traction is poor, and I think that my mileage dropped off a bit in comparison with the narrower stock Bridgestones.

As far as the TPMS sensors are concerned, yes, perhaps the installers are simply trying to get money out of me. If they insist on this charge, I'll press them on why they feel they have to remove the sensors when replacing the tires.

 

Very helpful, especially the tip on Discount Tire's pricing--thanks. And, yes, I'm now thinking that the whole TPMS "rebuild kit" thing was a crock. I'm new to the TPMS thing, and didn't realize that they were different from the old valves we had before TPMS, which were always replaced when the tires were.

I'm leaning in the direction of giving the Avid Ascends a try, unless someone here has had bad experiences with them.

 

Just to be annoying.

Tire Test Results : Winter Testing at the Arctic Circle: Ultra High Performance All-Season

 

Thanks. Not annoying at all; indeed, quite helpful. It looks like the Contis offer equal-or-better traction all around in exchange for a slightly higher price and substantially inferior wear rating. Interestingly, the noise rating is much better for the Contis on Tire Rack, but very much the reverse on Consumer Reports. Hard to know what to do when the ratings conflict like this—lean in the direction of CR, as they don’t have sponsors?

 

Was cr looking at the dws?

This survey is by customers.

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/survey...jsp?type=UHPAS

 

Interesting chart!^^^^^

Once my tires are due for replacing my choice will be the Michelin Pilot Sports. I always had very good results with Michelin. They put out quality stuff. I was surprised that the treadwear reported in the survey scored a bit low. Every Michelin tire I've ever owned lasted for ever and I drive them hard. I also think that if a person decides to go with any of the top 5 or 10 in the list it would be hard to go wrong. It becomes a price thing IMO.

Funny how Dunlop (OEM) doesn't even have one model in the top ten....but it might be the worst kept secret on Fit Freak that our OEM tires are complete.....stuff that comes out of my dogs arse...

It`s a crying shame that whenever I buy a new vehicle I have to ride on garbage tires for 35-50k km until they wear out and I can put something quality on my cars....I've never been able to just swap them out early...just seems wrong.

 

Yes, CR is reviewing the Conti DWSs. The only difference they find between the Contis and the Yokohama Avid Ascend is in terms of ‘ice braking’ — the Contis are rated ‘good’ but the Yokohamas only ‘fair’ (and the Yokohamas, as mentioned before, are rated as much quieter and with much longer tread life). It's unfortunate that the Yokohamas haven't been out long enough for there to be survey results about them.

 

I had some s.drives on a 2007 fit. Loved them.

The dws has an open tread pattern that is 2 lbs lighter in the size I use.

That is good because it is light and great in rain, but bad in transitions as you need to account for it.

My decision was based on aging and muscle memory. As you age you count on muscle memory more as reflex and accommodation deteriorate. Most likely death scenario is not correctly accommodating changing road conditions. Sacrificing dry to get better wet is driving both numbers in the direction I wanted to go. The dws does that.

I loved the Yokohama s.drives more. But had to make a choice based on safety. With the driver being the weak link.

 

2009 Fit Sport with Eibach Pro Kit, K&N CAI, ETC, Tanabe Touring, Ichibi 15mm spacers in rear (shoulda gone for 20mm!)...

The OEM Dunlops were awful!
Got my Avid Ascends about 6 months ago (TireRack)...was seriously considering the Conti DWS 205/50r16s. The Yokos are quiet! Tame at first though...was a little disappointed...guess I shouldn't have expected "performance" out of them. HOWEVER...
now I'm blowing around curves...the grip is great, sidewalls feel stiffer...?? And I'm getting feedback from them about their limits as I push 'em harder. I'm surprised and happy! Love 'em. First rotation last weekend and the tread looked like new.

They're pretty, but don't look badass...happily they're starting to feel so when behind the wheel.

My 2 cents...

 

In the stock size your choices are indeed limited. Ive got a Base, so there are a lot more. I went with High Performance (not Touring) Yokohamas on my Fit and the BMW I had before. I dont know about snow traction without chains, since they are mandatory here, but in the rain they are excellent and reasonably quiet as well. If all-season traction is more important than noise, look at the older Bridgestone G-019 design. I see that in Tirerack's review, the Ascend did not do particularly well in the wet. Here is the engineering tradeoff as I see it and have experienced on other vehicles, wet/snow traction and noise go together, quiet and mileage go together. There are exceptions, such as OE tires that seem to do nothing well.

 

go with continental DWS. avids are only mediocre at best.

when you do get the DWS, wipe the sidewalls clean with GoofOff before applying your tire dressing. just use a rag and scrub the sidewall down real well to remove release lube and mounting lube.

 

Nice information here. I am going with the Conti's soon. Now about those summer tires?

 

Do the 205/50/16 tires hurt mileage?

 

i think thats the consensus... i switched to 205/50 Yokohamas from the OEM Dunlops about 20k mi ago, and I've seen about a 2mpg+/- reduction on average

 

I'll confirm that mileage reduction.

 

Do they handle better? Why go to a different size then?

 

The 205's take away a bit of the nervous feeling in a straight line. Most Americans are to busy fussing with things while they drive and complain about wandering issues with the 185 size tires. We went with 205's because we auto x monthly and are to cheap to purchase another set of wheels.