excited

I know that it is a little early to start thinking about snow but all this talk about the 06's wheels made me think about whether the TSX requires snow tires during the winter.

I will be buying a set of wheels to go with the tires (if required) so if for some reason I did not like the 06 wheels (I reserve judgement until I see them in person) I can use them as my winter tire wheel and buy another set of wheels for the summer tires.

(Winter is only 1.5 months away up here in God's country) (Only 30 rounds of golf left to go)

Excited

MrChad

You can likely get away with the OEM tires in the winter when new that first winter but you will want dedicated snow tires come the next season. If you see much snow at all ASR just plain suck in the snow when they wear down. And this 17" low profile doesn't help much.

925tsx

ooooooh yes.
blizzaks >*
imo those stock tires suck in the snow.

DaveWhyman

What are people using winter tires/wheels?

Can we drop down to 16's?

HoRRo

I plan to drop down to 16s for winters with steelies. Thinking othe Yokohama IceGuard IG10 (wish the Ice Guard Blacks IG20 would come out in Canada).

ryanhook

I'm going to buy winter tires (probably drop down to 16" too) but I'm searching for a set that handles and wears well on the highway. Southern Ontario winters are usually mild and I do a considerable amount of travel on the QEW, so run of the mill snow tires aren't going to cut it.

I might spring for a set of Nokian WR or something similar. Anyone have suggestions?

excited

Can you buy the 16" through Acura?

SPARKIE

IMO winter tires are a must in Ontario. Last winter I used a set of 16" OEM steelies with Michelin Pilot Alpin performance snows that handle amazing. Michelin has the new Pilot A2 as well. The size for the TSX is 215/55/16. I'm selling my set in the Black Market forum if anyone is interested.

narci

yes. can use the 16 inche rims from the RSX or accord.

tony4311

need?
no
Help?
Oh yeah

Powered by Honda

Drive slow and you can do it on F1 slicks. hehe

CCColtsicehockey

thats the way to go man. I got the 16" steelies from the honda dealer at like 35 a piece.


Really OLD pic of my car and I stress the REALLY OLD part

afax226

I used to have a set of Pirelli 210 SnowSport in my Passat and they were great. I intend to use the 210 again in my TSX. Any comments? Anyone know how the 210 behaves in the snow in comparison to Bliazzard or the Michielin Pilot.

excited

Why is a 16" wheel better than a 17" wheel. I thought that the keys were the tread and the compound that the tire is made of, rather than the height. What variable am I missing?

Not doubting your wisdom, just curious to become more enlighten!

Thanks

Gary

curls

16" snow tires are easier to find and considerably cheaper than 17" lo-pro's.

Also you can get away with a slightly skinnier tire, meaning slightly better snow traction.

925tsx

this is true however i think that the 17' do just fine imo

CCColtsicehockey

ok buts its not good for your factory rims and salt that they put on the roads

925tsx

yes it is.
ive never had a problem with any of my wheels on any of my cars..ever.
if i had chrome rims/ that would be a different story.
and thats why they have car washes.
the salt is not going to erode the paint /coating on your wheels in a day or two.
it will never happen trust me.
my car has been thru two winters already and there isnt so much as a microscopic chip/blemish/spot in my wheels.

edit:
if you dont wash ur car for two months, you might have a problem.

CCColtsicehockey

ok well i will go with my stealies cause then i dont have to have my tires mounted and balanced every winter and spring

925tsx

good plan.
whatever works for you man....thats what its all about

Namz

In Edmonton u need winter tires forsure and the stock tires are shit on snow and vsa dont help

t_in_maine

I live in FAR northern Maine, near the Canadian border. I was planning to buy my new car in Jan/Feb. 06, when I have my down payment saved, but will probably wait until better driving weather. If I buy in winter, I'll have to spend an extra grand just to buy snow tires to drive it home with! And having experienced SEVERAL very bad winters, I'd have to say that Blizzaks SUCK. Studless tire, my ass. I would never drive another winter without 4 studded snow tires. I've rolled a car once with all-season radials on... lesson learned.

sauceman

I agree. For some reason, in Maine you need studded tires. I've been there often, and the roads are poorly maintained in winter.

BTW, 925tsx, maybe you don't get enough snow in Jersey to really need steelies, but you can bet your ass we need those here. I have seen my rims deteriorate on my previous Accord to the point that I absolutely needed to get them resurfaced and re-painted because they were so corroded out. And I bought steelies.

t_in_maine

And to make matters worse, there is not an Acura dealer in the entire state of Maine. So I'll be buying my TSX out of state (Mass/CT/NH), and will have to drive nearly 500 miles home with it. Will definitely need different tires than stock, esp. in February.

Ellswrth

Sure can.

Just make sure you're using hubcentric wheels. You can machine aftermarket steelies or get a variety of Honda OEM 16" wheels that fit properly.

You can't go below 16" because of clearance to the brake calipers.

See this thread for more detail on my own setup.

fdl

Going onto my 3rd winter on my stock TSX tires. So far I havent had any problems (Just need to drive more carefully)

afax226

This is my TSX's first winter and I definitely will invest in a set of snow tires. Snow tires saved me a couple of times in the past. My regular tires will last longer if I use snow tires anyway.

How much will a set of snow tires on 16" steel rims cost in Toronto?

excited

When I went to the dealer today, I asked how much a RSX 16" wheel would cost and they would cost $569 Cdn/ $478 USD per wheel.

We don't have the salt problem here in Alberta but our winter is longer than most and I would like to have a good wheel for that time period. I'm not sure if I want to pay almost $2300 Cdn for the wheels and still have to buy the tires. I might do a little research to find a compromise wheel.

Excited

sauceman

The quote they gave you wasn't for steelies. It was for alloys.

excited

Yes I realize that. Because we don't have the salt problem and our winter's are longer, I don't want to go almost half the year with steelies. I would like to find a nice 16" wheel, maybe a 17" wheel to go with the winter tires.

The other far cheaper alternative is simply to change tires on the OEM wheels.

Excited

West6MT

Im going to get 16' steels and use those for the winter because its easier and cheaper. If you want to spend more money on alloys I think you should be able to find some without too much trouble. Simply changing the tires on the OEM wheels might become a big pain in the butt but would be cheaper. Gotta love Canadian winters,............stupid salt in Toronto,....I should move out West.

925tsx

imho, i think a coat of wax on the stock rims and a pair of snows are adequate.
i dont know why everyone is freaking out.
like i said before, a coat of wax, and an occasional carwash, and ull be fine.
i know some ppl expressed the fact that they didnt want to have to mount, balance, 2x a year..
thats cool
just my
the salt is not going to ruin your stock rims unless you dont wash ur car all winter.

m2k2

If you're worried about the looks of the steelies, just get some nice hub caps!

ianS

hub caps = ugly!

I keep the stock rims on winter tires and get 18" on performance for summer. Or check out the forsale section or ebay to get another set of OEM 17". I will never risk my life or even my family life for just to save couple hundred bucks.

crisco

i used a set of Hankook IceBear 300 (205R16). These are more for ice/sub zero temps than snow. In ottawa, the streets are plowed pretty quickly after it snows, so the majority of my driving is on slick or dry, cold pavement. These worked pretty well last year, and were priced quite reasonably ($115/tire). I also had them mounted on 16 inch steelies. The alloys may not show any pitting during the first few years, but over time, they will eventually corrode after several winters.

West6MT

Fair enough, what is the wax stuff you are talking about? Do you put that on the rims to protect them from salt and stuff in the winter? Sorry, I dont know you mean.

I will check out those tires Crisco mentioned too.

excited

My problem is solved as I will be buying a set of 05 TSX wheels from a fellow Acuraziner located near me. They are 17", but with a good set of snow tires they should do me just fine. Thank you my fellow Acuraziner.

Now I will have one set of 05 TSX wheels and one set of 06 wheels. At least I will keep half of the people happy, half of the time. LOL

Now to chose the tire. I'm kind of partial to Michelin tires. Two choices are a winter tire (Pilot Alpin PA2) or a really good all season tire like the Energy MxV4 38. Anyone have any experience with the Energy MxV4 38.

I know that you can't beat a true winter tire for dealing with winter. They beat all season tires hands down, but looking at other important factors this is how Michelin compares the two tires rated out of 10:

Tread Wear Quiet Ride Wet Traction Snow Traction
Energy 10 10 8 8
Pilot 5 4 7 10

The MxV4 is close of the snow traction but loses out on the others. I understand the wear because that is the tradeoff with having better snow and ice performance.

Excited

curls

excited:

If you are going to be running dedicated winter-time tires, YOU MUST GET WINTER TIRES.

Just because the Michelin thing says the Energy tires have "8" snow grip, it fails to address the MAIN purpose of a winter tire: Resistance to turning into hockey pucks (hard-as-fuck rubber) at cold temps. Normal "all-season" rubber formulations will start to get very hard as temps below about 5*C. Once you get into the -10 to -30*C range, the all season tires are as hard as ice, literally. This significantly diminishes their ability to grip ice or snow, as the "sipes" cannot open/close to grab onto snow.

Winter tires (the ones with the mountain-peak + snowflake symbol) meet rubber industry standards for temperature resistance and will not get anywhere near as hard as an all season rubber tire.

excited

Your right.

The one thing that it does get here is cold, sometimes very cold. I do have Alpins for my Ford Escape and they work pretty well. I will google the reviews on the Hanook's.

Thanks

Excited

TSXuck

iTrader: (1)

Is ok to put 15" wheel for winter tire? because i'm thinking to use 15" tire which is cheaper
Anyone consider it?