Winter Tire Strategy - Insight in Snow

80147 Views 156 Replies 39 Participants Last post by andrew28, 6 mo ago

ronnie

Discussion Starter · Aug 19, 2018

Would my 2015 Honda Fit snow tires and wheels fit my new 2019 Insight EX? Here's the link on Craigslist of those tires for the Fit.

https://spokane.craigslist.org/wto/d/four-michelin-studless-snow/6643361686.html

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Mr. Natural

· #2 · Aug 19, 2018

ronnie said:
Would my 2015 Honda Fit snow tires and wheels fit my new 2019 Insight EX? Here's the link on Craigslist of those tires for the Fit.

https://spokane.craigslist.org/wto/d/four-michelin-studless-snow/6643361686.html

At a minimum you would want to have the speedometer recalibrated. Not sure if thats all it would take to get all the mpg calcs etc. working correctly. Look at this for the actual size difference:
https://www.tacomaworld.com/tirecalc?tires=215-55r16-185-55r16

Misterb

· #3 · Aug 28, 2018

Wheel Hub size

Does anyone know what the wheel hub size is for the Honda Insight. It is not in their specs concerning tires. I have the touring with the 17 inch wheels. I kept 17 inch snow tires from my previous car that were mounted on mag wheels. The size of the tire is suitable for the Insight. My previous car (Kia Optima SX) had a hub size of 67.1mm and the mags were 72.5mm so to ensure a perfect fit I used wheel adaptor rings. I know I can jack my Insight up and remove a wheel to measure the hub but I am hoping someone here already has the answer. Then, I can order the proper wheel adaptor rings.

Mr. Natural

· #4 · Aug 28, 2018

The Civics appear to be 64.1. So that would be a good guess for the Insight.

Misterb

· #5 · Aug 28, 2018

Goldy said:
The Civics appear to be 64.1. So that would be a good guess for the Insight.

That's what I thought as well but I will need to confirm before ordering adaptor rings.

ronnie

Discussion Starter · #6 · Nov 3, 2018

Question about winter tire strategy

We live in eastern Washington where there's a fair amount of snow in the winter. The roads are sanded and salted and perhaps treated with other chemicals. This does cause some corrosion on the aluminum alloy wheels over time, but it takes a few years, according to a knowledge friend of mine, to really notice much wear. We also travel east a lot into Montana over mountain passes that are treated.

For my last two cars, both purchased new (2010 and 2015 Hond Fits), I had the wheels and tires removed in mid November every year and put on metal wheels and good snow tires. I did this to get better traction in the snow and to perserve my good aluminum alloy wheels. The downside of this was having to do this every November and March, very heavy for a 61-year old to take to the tire shop and store the old ones in the shed. Plus there was the cost of the tires and wheels.

My friend who also drives a lot in the snow said that for his new Chevy Silveradom the all-season radials that came with from the factory are fine in the snow and there really isn't that much corrosion involved on the wheels, plus the wheels can be treated after a few years with some treatment solution to restore them to close to original.

So here are my questions. Does the 2019 EX Insight come with good all-season radial tires that would be sufficient for my winter driving situation? My second questions is about preserving the aluminum alloy wheels. If after a few years the corrosion is noticeable, is there a solution for restoring those wheels?

The quote I am getting from my local tire shop for good quality studless snow tires plus metal wheels and hub caps is around $880. I'm wondering now if this is necessary.

Your thoughts?

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Mr. Natural

· #7 · Nov 3, 2018

The EX tires are marketed as all-season, but that doesn’t mean much. I’d check Consumer Reports. That said, I live in Minnesota and have never run snow tires on any of my cars. I do ‘wax’ my rims with the same stuff I use on the car and always make sure I’ve had applied a good coat to both before winter.

ronnie

Discussion Starter · #8 · Nov 3, 2018

Mr. Natural said:
The EX tires are marketed as all-season, but that doesn’t mean much. I’d check Consumer Reports. That said, I live in Minnesota and have never run snow tires on any of my cars. I do ‘wax’ my rims with the same stuff I use on the car and always make sure I’ve had applied a good coat to both before winter.

What kind of wax do you use for your wheels?

Mr. Natural

· #9 · Nov 3, 2018

Whatever I use on the body. Lately I’ve been using Meguires Ultimate Liquid. It’s a synthetic polymer and is really slick.

sleewa

· #10 · Nov 4, 2018

Well, over here in Western Washington, we're not as cold as you on the East side of the state, but we've gotten into the habit of putting studless snow tires on the cars in November and off maybe in March. While it's not as cold over here, we're pretty hilly, and if it snows, melts and refreezes, then the ice can be bad. All season tires just don't cut it on the hills with ice, or with thick wet snow. We've had Blizzak's (WS60, WS70, WS80) on mostly alloy wheels (one set is on steel rims), and I just put them on/off myself. I've gotten really good jacking up the cars. I've purchased all of these from Tire Rack - the only problem is finding enough room in the garage to store the tires!

ddemetra

· #11 · Nov 6, 2018 (Edited)

Living in Northern Ontario, I swear by winter tires.
Benefits include:
- mandatory insurance discounts of at least 5%
- Never worry about tire rotations, you do them every 6 months
- Minimal extra costs, if you expect to keep your car > 6 years, you just buy the 2nd set up front.
- Much better performance in the winter

I like new winter alloy rims, lighter then steel and they last. The heavy steel rims rust in the salt, and look awful after a few winters.

Last advice is to minus-size
https://info.kaltire.com/what-is-minus-sizing/

By minus sizing, you can get a narrower tire, that performs better, while saving you hundreds on the set as both the tire and rim are cheaper.
https://www.tirerack.com/snow/preferredpackages.jsp
205/65R15

And a winter tire like the Michelin X-Ice is low rolling resistance. As it's narrower, can get almost as good of mpg as my summer tires.

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LennyR

· #12 · Nov 7, 2018

Snow Tires are Worth It

When I moved to central Maine 30 years ago, I tried keeping the all-season Michelins on my '84 Accord coupe year-round. Big mistake! At one point, I touched the brakes just after cresting a small hill at a slick spot and found the car going backwards down the road before I knew it. Turns out that snow tires are not only for straight-ahead traction, they are also for stopping and for turning. You will miss that a lot if you go through a winter of snowy roads without them. My winter tire of choice is the Michelin X-Ice series.

Reactions: 1

ddemetra

· #13 · Nov 7, 2018

LennyR said:
Turns out that snow tires are not only for straight-ahead traction, they are also for stopping and for turning. You will miss that a lot if you go through a winter of snowy roads without them. My winter tire of choice is the Michelin X-Ice series.

I know so many people that buy 4WD cars, and think its great, they don't need to worry about winter tires.

4WD only helps you move forward better then 2WD
Winter tires help start, stop, and turning.
Reminds me of a great video

LennyR

· #14 · Nov 10, 2018

Excellent video. One question, however, is whether the Brits' summer tires are basically the same as our all-season tires, which are what most everyone drives on in North America.

I would say that Consumer Reports Magazine did testing and came to similar -- if not so dramatic -- conclusions.

Reactions: 1

Ccapegirl

· #15 · Nov 23, 2018

Insight in snow

I am thinking of purchasing an EX insight. How is this car driving in snow?

Jdcell100

· #16 · Nov 24, 2018

Bought a new ex 3 weeks ago last week I bought 4 snow tires I live in PA. Next day we got 10 inches of snow the Insight handled unreal like an all wheel drive. Could not believe how great this car handled with the 4 snow tires

Verdier

· #17 · Nov 25, 2018

Emphasis on SNOW tires guys. I had a Subaru and it was okay in snow but once I put on winter tires it was phenomenal. If you need to drive in snow make sure you pony up for the snow tires and just change them when winter is over. No comparison with "all season".

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mgldan

· #18 · Nov 25, 2018

I really wish I owned a garage, so I had somewhere to put the all-season tires when I'm not using them... I'd buy snow tires in a heartbeat.

hasarad

· #19 · Nov 25, 2018

I'd go the snow tire route except for two things:

1. I can work from home whenever I need to.

2. I'd either need to pony up for a new set of beater rims for winter, or remount tires twice a year.

What would everyone else do with respect to #2?

Moviemike

· #20 · Nov 26, 2018

hasarad said:
I'd go the snow tire route except for two things:

1. I can work from home whenever I need to.

2. I'd either need to pony up for a new set of beater rims for winter, or remount tires twice a year.

What would everyone else do with respect to #2?

I'm not familiar with the term " 'beater' rims", but if that refers to new rims which are dedicated to the new snow tires, that is an option worth considering. The advantage that I see, is that one could mount / use the snow tires only as conditions warrant. This way, most of your annual commuting miles will be on the higher mileage all season tires, while the more rarely used snow tires may last for many more winter seasons.

Another factor; reducing the all season tire's pressure down to recommended psi or below, may give better grip of the road during snowy - slushy days.

Money-wise; the cost of remounting twice a year could be considered in association with the cost of new rims minus the cost / pleasure of your labor in mounting / remounting snow / all season tires as needed.

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