meh my car is lowered and I have very little problems getting in and out of my drive way, if I do scrap the bumper...well who cares? As for the debre about the best you can do is try to avoid it, im sure any normal family car would not have cleared it.

This is how I drove my car all winter long, I never lifted it up and other then plowing snow I had no issues getting around.



for fun here is the under side of my bumper...like I said I dont really care

 

YouTube - ‪Sparkys ' How to Drive Dumped Cars' Multi Part Series pt.1‬‏

Learn.

 

Since there seems to be a large audience of Fit owners who enjoy lowering their Fits, even more than they are already stock...you're going to get some flak when saying the Fit is way too low.

Being in my Mid-Forties...I tend to agree with you. But you take the good with the bad. There are advantages to having a vehicle with a lower ground clearance as well as disadvantages.

This sounds like no fun...but part of the reason I purchased The Fit was the fact that it is low to the ground. I have a mother who is unfortunately "pretty much" wheelchair bound. She can stand and pivot and take a few steps. The Fit, being low is a great vehicle for transporting her. She can get into it..because she can lower herself into it. Any other vehicle? I don't think she could get UP into it...

Anyway...sucks about the damage, and I agree that The Fit is a low ground clearance vehicle. BUT you just have to know the strengths and weaknesses of the vehicle you are driving. What happened to you is more or less just an accident. Unfortunate and a peripheral symptom of the reality of the vehicle you are driving but nothing more or less.

Just like those that choose to lower their Fits...I suppose you could choose to Lift yours...however this is a task, I wouldn't personally take on.

 

ha ha the fit is the tallest vehicle I have ever owned.

 

just imagine if your livin here in cali we have the worst roads out here so if you ever come to cali make sure you rent a vehicle cuz obviously you not now how to drive

 

You're insane if you think California has the worst roads. Go somewhere with four seasons and see what we deal with every day. Your mind will be blown.

Follow that up with a trip to a third world country, your mind will be further blown.

 

today i was on my way to wekfest there where a matress in the middle of the highway, and not just that you would have to be livin here in cali to experience the roads

 

I have lived in Cali. YOU need to experience roads OTHER than Cali.

The only thing wrong about California roads are the idiot drivers that don't understand they need to slow down when coming to a curve... or if it's just started raining. It boggles my mind, the moment it starts raining, I see BMWs and Mercedes in ditches (and a Civic that sent itself ass up a hill).

 

I was born and raised in socal and thought the roads were bad. Then I moved to Colorado and realized just what bad roads were.

 

Don't know where you live in Colorado, but the roads here are great compared to Pennsylvania & parts of Washington DC--there are almost no pot holes on any of the roads here. Winter does its number on some of the roads, but there are really not many holes in the road

 

sell the fit and buy a hummer if ride height if your issue

 

Fits are a tad low by default, and that is why it has better handling than most of competitors in the price range. if you can't even handle a Fit, you're definitely can't handle anything that goes faster than it. And seriously, stock Fits aren't 'THAT' fast? Learn how to adapt your drving style to the car you're driving. You can't expect to drive a small hatchback such as the Fit the same way you would a BMW X5?

 

Let me make my post clear: you can put the 16" HFPs or Fit Sports wheels but you must keep the overall diameter the same, and decrease the aspect ratio to compensate the 16" wheels. Hence the plus size rule. And the general recommendation with changing wheel size/tire size is not to exceed +/- 3% tire size differential.

The speedometer is not 100% accurate to the OE wheels that it is calibrated too. Really doesn't make a difference if you put on th 16" wheels unless you care about that 1-2mph or mpg.

I calculated the gear ratio (automatic) of a 195-/55-15 to 195/50-16 and it came out to 1.1% difference. You tell me if that is a drastic change.

 

So... if you keep the overall diameter the same... or even within +/- 3%... how are you getting more clearance?

 

Are you telling me that upping one inch is not enough clearance or no clearance at all? The OP has a GD3 with 15" wheels.

Utilizing the same tire factory specification of the 15" OE wheels for 16" and changing the aspect ratio was my edit for my previous post to maintain close to factory specs. of speedometer and odometer.

 

Let's see... you want the OP to use 16" wheels... with 195/55/16 tires? Basically, new wheels AND new tires. Not caring about the change in the odo/speedo/ratio.

Why not just go with 195/60/15 tires and save the cost of new wheels?

 

If anything the front bumper is what sits lower.

 

I recommend running 195/50-16. It is closer to factory specification than 195/60-15. Running 195/60-15 would run you 3.2% slower on the speedometer compared to 195/50-16 .98% (slow).

People run 195/60-15 on this site, not sure if they notice the difference? Really depends if one inch of clearance is worth the cost.

 

Mike,

Have you driven on California roads? They're terrible! I'm from Wisconsin and now living in northern California. I can personally assure you that Wisconsin roads are in wayyyy better condition than California. I think it's because Wisconsin (and presumably other cold weather states) actually budget for road repairs. Whereas California apparently doesn't.

 

If you are recommending 195/50/16 to the OP... then you're NOT giving the car any USEFUL amount of clearance. The diameter only changes about 1/4" from stock, which means, the car raises up half that, 1/8".

You can get more than 1/8" change just by increasing the pressure in the tires.

This implies to me, you've been mistaken about "upping" the wheel diameter to get clearance.