Domn:

I found the stock "all seasons" quite scary. I grew up in Northern Ontario (longgg time ago) and am quite used to driving icy conditions. We recently had just an inch or so of snow and temp right around the freezing point - may have been black ice but in any event, just touching the brakes kicked in the ABSand I missed a turn doing less than 20 km/h. Any kind of throttle spun the drive wheels. I wasn't going very far so wasn't a big deal, however, I don't intend to go into real winter without winter tires.

Having done a little more research, I've decide to go with Michelin Pilot Alpines 215/55/16's as recommended by the dealer - they aren't cheap but then neither was the car and neither am I!

 

Guys, another factor to look when buying a tire is the load index. The tsx has a load index of 93 which means that a Toyo Garrith HT for example (91 load index) will not be suitable for the TSX even if the correct size is available.

REgards

 

Good tip Igregoir, I hav'nt seen anyome make mention of that yet, I'll keep that in mind when buying the tires.

So has it been decided that 16" Accord Steelies will fit the TSX? The local Honda dealership has 4 in stock for $50 each, I'm pickin em up after work.

 

$50.00 sounds like a great deal if these are OE. My dealer had quoted a snow tire package with knockoff wheels as he said the OE's would cost too much. Even if knockoff, $50.00 is a good price.

 

You will find the load index on tirerack.com... lot's of good information there. So be sure to get as close to the diameter and revs per mile (diameter isn't always correct because the tire deforms) of the OEM sized tire.

 

The 215/50/17 have a load index of 91. If you are going with 16 inch steel wheels the 215/55/16 have a load index of 97.

http://www.toyocanada.com/products/...mit800=Get+Data

 

Hi,
you're right, the 16 inch (215/55) will be suitable for the TSX. The 17 inch will not be.

Each tire size can have a different load index (even within the same tire model).

Thanks for clarifying Iron Chef.

 

As you may have read I just purchased the 17" CL-S mags and 215/50/17 Toyo Garit HT's. This was purcahsed from my Acura dealer. Does the load index mean that the car can't carry as much weight? I do notice that the side walls are a liitle less stiff, car has a liitle more bounce in the tire. I'm assuming that with a lower load index I have a greater chance of bending my wheels, are there any other repurcutions? What does this all mean? Please educate me as if this tire is indeed inappropriate than I will return them. Thanks!

 

I finally have the winter tires and rims install today at the dealership. I was looking at the tires and making sure they are the right one that I want. One thing I find out is that..on outside of each tires...two tiress said "Inner" and the other two tires said "Outer" on the surface.
Does that mean the two which said Inner suppose to be facing towards inside not outside??? I don't know much about tires..so I am not sure are they do that on purpose or they mistaken putting them wrong. I've been driving the car for the whole day, in this case will the rubber got damange??

 

You may have purchased directional tires, if so you can tell by the tread design as to which tire fits on which side. Usually they have arrows pointing in direction of forward travel.

Your tires may not be fully directional but require them to be installed inner/outer as the tires design channels water, slush and snow away from the car; in which case if they're new tires they should all read outward. I know some of by friends that have 4 wheel drive trucks have had their their mud tires rotated with the white lettering in rather than out so they have a more even tread wear, maximizing the life of the tire.

If someone told me it didn't make a difference with your specific tire I would still prefer that they all me mounted 'outside' and than after rotating them at required interval if need be I'd have them mounted 'inside' Normally by moving moving tire/wheel from left to right and front to back (non-directional) you'll be able to maximise tire life without having to remove tire from wheel to do so.

What tires did you buy?

 

Those are the Pirelli W210. 205/60 R16TL 92HMO
So I shouldn't be too worry about that. On the safe side..maybe I will call them up to clarify. The way they setup is like that...

Front driver side (whitewall) O O Front passanger (blackwall)

Rear drive (blackwall) O O Rear passanger (whitewall)

By the way, what's the tire pressure reading suppose to be for these tires? 36-40 psi?

 

usually if their is a yellow dot on the tire, that indicates 2 things to me. (1), it's the heaviest portion of the tire and (2), it's the side that i mount on the inner side of the rim (this is without the tire being labeled which side is inner or outter)

 

I went back to the dealer and have them to check the tires out. What they said is since these tires are not directional tires...they can be mount either way. Blackwall doesn't have to be facing outward. I was looking at the Pirelli official web site, under the tire description. They quote these tires have an asymmetrical tread design, so I guess these tires are not directional right?

One thing that I don't understand is that if they are not directional how come they don't mount the blackwall facing outwards. Please advised.

 

If you are concerned about the guy BSing you, just call Pirelli Canada or another tire shop that sells Pirelli.

I'm no geometry whiz but doesn't asymetridcal imply that the tire would be directional? If the tread was symetrical it wouldn't matter since the tread pattern is the same throughout (symetry)?

 

I set mine up initially at 32 front and 30 rear. I was going to stop by the Honda dealer and see what pressures are called for in the ex v6 accord ( overall nearly the same weight as the TSX, although I suppose heavier in the front...uses the 205 60 16 tire size). 36 psi sounds too high; I have never run tires over 32 psi.

 

OK I took a look at the 2003 Accord Tire pressures. EXV6 and EX 4cyl both have Michelin 205 60 16 ( I forgot to look for the model...probably MX4?). Both cars call for 32 pounds front, 30 pounds rear...I say we could safely run the same in snow tires either 205 60 16 or 215 55 16