Winter Tires / VSA

[shcook]

Hello,

I find the Michelins terrible in snow. As soon as you have over 6" - forget about it. My 2000 accord with 2 year old Avid TRZ has no problem getting up and down my driveway for example but the 2008 gets stuck.

Anyways, I'm looking at winter tires and most people seemed sold out. 17" steel rims do not seem to be available.

The owner's manual states that the VSA will not work properly if you change tire size. Would it be that risky going with 16" winter tires?

Thanks

[Aviography]

16" rims might not fit over brake caliper etc. for your car.

[catbert430]

The front discs on all the EX models are 11.8" and they are 11.1 on all LX models which use 16" wheels as standard. Rear discs are 11.1 for all sedans.

Tire Rack is marketing winter packages with 16" steelies for the LX, LX-P, EX, EX-L, EX V6 and EX-L V6 so they must clear the larger front discs.

Based on Tire Rack, I think it would be Ok to go with 16" and, as long as the outside diameter of the tire is similar, VSA shouldn't complain.

Example: 215/60/16 which is standard on all LX sedans have a diameter of 26.3". 225/50/17 which is standard on all EX sedans have a diameter of 25.9.

The brakes on the coupes are the same as the sedans (LX 11.1; EX 11.8) but, the wheels are 17" for LX, EX, and EX-L and 18" for EX-L V6.

[Tato]

I have steel wheels with winter tires (215/60/16) on my EX-L. Honda dealer installed new TPMS sensors and had no problem with them or with VSA so far.

[GRdotNet]

VSA + Blizzaks on 16" steel wheels (stock size is 17") works wonders on my car.

[chanke4252]

as long as you don't throw some 22 inchers on or something then you won't have a problem, especially considering that if you get some 17" wheels that you will probably have a lower profile tire than if you had 16" wheels. those michelins are horrible tires though, especially for winter weather. they get hard as rocks, and even when they aren't their traction isn't that great. 16" wheels should work fine. I know that some people have used 16" wheels on their 7th gen 6mt's w/o complaint, though 15" wheels will not clear the front calipers. I believe the 7th gen 6mt disks are still larger than the 8th gen non-6mt disks. I'm sure you could find a set of take-offs on ebay or craigslist for pretty cheap though if you were really worried about it. I use blizzaks on my stock 17" 6mt wheels and I have absolutely no problem in the snow, unless I get hung-up.

[Aviography]

If the 16" fits, then consider some Honda stock steel wheels, I bought a set of them (16" x 6.5" width) that the Acura dealership on-line system says are for TL fittment, they are painted silver and can be fitted with TPMS, I paid CDN$64 each for them from the Acura dealership.

They look good for steel wheels and you can get them fitted with TPMS sensors as well.

Currently have 225/55-16 Michelin Alpin PA2 tires on them, works quite well, these are H rated tires too.

[Conundrum]

If the 16" fits, then consider some Honda stock steel wheels, I bought a set of them (16" x 6.5" width) that the Acura dealership on-line system says are for TL fittment, they are painted silver and can be fitted with TPMS, I paid CDN$64 each for them from the Acura dealership.

They look good for steel wheels and you can get them fitted with TPMS sensors as well.

Currently have 225/55-16 Michelin Alpin PA2 tires on them, works quite well, these are H rated tires too.

+1 for that setup as well. I have a set of 205/60R16s mounted on Honda steelies on my 2006 6MT coupe (wanted a thinner 205 so the weight is less spread out), and they work really well in the winter. Couple those tires with the VSA system (and 6MT), and I can drive pretty much normally on very snowy days when other cars are spinning out all over the place.

I don't have the specs handy either, but I'm 90% sure the 2003-2006 6MT coupes used 11.8" front brakes, and 16s cleared mine just fine (although I could never drop to a 15 without issues). The only real dif then for the 2008s is having the TPMS sensors added to the mix.

[Aviography]

Conundrum,

Check your tire size in your post vs. in your signature!

:)

[chanke4252]

aviography, those are really good looking wheels for steelies.

[Aviography]

Yup, I wouldn't have minded the black steelies that I have had for many years on my past vehicles, but to accidentally find these nicely silver painted Honda OEM steel wheels for literally only $5 more per wheel (at the Acura dealership to boot) was the greatest find for me for this car since I got the car 6 months ago.

These wheels are solidly built too, the center disc portion of the rim is quite thick compared to the regular black steelies, the downside is that it's heavier too, even the tire shop guys noticed the additional weight, I now wished I had measured them with a scale before the tires were mounted........

These look like mag wheels until you get right up close to them, which I don't mind at all! :banana:

[Conundrum]

Conundrum,

Check your tire size in your post vs. in your signature!

:)

Corrected...d'oh! (lol)