TSX7

I have snow tires from my 1st gen TSX 205/50/17 still almost brand new. I recently bought a 2010 V6 TSX Tech which comes with 235/45/18. Will I be able to use my snow tires on my new car? Thanks.

MrOtocinclus

I believe that you can go with smaller widths (stretching), but when it comes to wheel diameter, there is no way to go with a different size. So, unfortunately, the answer is no.

5thTo2nd

A quick check over at the 1010tires calculator says this won't work--the 1st gen tires are too skinny, and apparently the overall diameter will be too large.

You definitely can't use the 17 inch tires on your 18 inch rims but I doubt you were asking that anyways.

Personally I'm downsizing to 16's for winter. You can do the same with your V6 and it'll save you cash down the line cause replacing the rubber for a 16 is much cheaper than for a 17 or even 18.

BTW, the other factor you will want to consider is the load rating of your new snow tire because the V6 is a much heavier car than your first gen. I'm pretty sure your stock load rating is a 94 but you should double-check that.

DJMcGee

The only issue, which I am unaware of the answer is if the brake system of the V6 requires a wheel diameter of 18.

Sure, if you mount 17's that aren't the exact same rolling diameter you may have speedo error. Also, if the width is not the same then you will have a smaller contact patch.

I would mount one wheel on each the front and rear to ensure good fit, clearance, etc. What, this will take an hour and give you the confidence that they will actually fit instead of asking a question that many will not know the answer to but will hypothesize all day.

Good luck.

UNEVAKNO

You can use them if the tire diameter (top/bottom) is the same. The TPMS warning light will be a issue for you.

DJMcGee

The rolling diameter of the tires don't need to be the same and that has nothing to do with TPMS. TPMS will freak out if you have different diameters on the car. Rolling diameter will only affect your speedo. The TPMS only tells tire pressure and RPM.

huludicidal

Everyone else seems to be on the right track but here's some numbers:

Your 205/15-17 tires have a circumference of 39.36in. Your 235/45-18 have a circumference of 41.33in. That's a 4.77% difference. The rule of thumb is to stick around 2% difference as to not throw off your VSA.

As other posters mentioned, different sizes will have an effect on your speedo but your speed sensors do more than just report speed to the driver. They tell the computer exactly what's going on and depending on g-forces etc. calculate nominal trajectories in case certain scenarios arise, such as loss of traction.

Like 5thto2nd said, you should really downsize your tires to 16s if the load rating is correct. If you go with 205/60-16, you're looking at a 2.4% difference over stock, which is very close to the rule of thumb. Or go with 215/60-16 which is only 0.6% different over stock, but I'm not sure if that's a common size. IMO, buying 205/50-17 winter tires was a bad decision.

TSX7

Thanks everyone for the input. Actually I made a mistake on the tire width. It is actually 215 and not 205. So it's 215/50/17 vs. 235/45/18. I did a quick calculation and the tire rolling circumference came out to 77.68 inchs for the 17" and 80.31 inches for the 18" inch. The difference is 3.27%. So I guess I need to sell these and get a new set of snow tires.

UNEVAKNO

Thank you for mentioning that but I know that. The tires do need to be the same diameter if you want the speedometer / traction control to operate correctly. I said that the TPMS warning light will be a issue because his 1st Gen wheels do not have TPMS sensors and Im sure he is not going to dismount / mount 8 tires to install those stupid sensors.

TSXV6Guy

I have the V6 and purchased 17 inch steel wheels, TPMS sensors and 215/55/17 Toyo winter tires.

The narrower you go for winter, the better you will get traction in snow.

The 215/55/17 size tire has exactly the same diameter than our stock 235 tire, so there will no issues with the speedometer. See the following tire size calculator.

http://www.1010tires.com/tiresizecalculator.asp

Note that apparently, you can also use 16 inch wheels on our V6 with 215/60/16 tires, but I decided not to.

By the way, the steel rims as sold by the Acura dealer are Honda CRV steel rims, and the TPMS in the TSX will self-learn.

huludicidal

Gahhh, sorry, just realized my "circumference" should be multiplied by 2. Either way, the % difference is the same.