andysinnh

As many of you know, my wife moved from a '12 TL SH-AWD Tech to her '18 RLX SH-AWD a few months ago. Remaining from her TL was a set of TL 17" wheels with almost-new 225-55r17 Nokian Hakka R3 snow tires. On paper, the wheels indicated they'd fit, and through rough calculations the diameter of the wheel/tire setup was within 1/4" if the OEM RLX setup. The only question was the TPMS sensors and would they somehow work (wasn't holding my breath on that one).

So, today I took one of those snow tires and mounted it to the front of her RLX. The pics of what that looks like is attached below. The good news is the 17" TL wheels fit correctly and clear the calipers and seem to have a compatible offset. The overall diameter of the snow tire vs the OEM tire (when you stand them next to each other) is about 1/4" taller on the OEM one - definitely within a tolerable range for the winter. In a perfect world, I'd probably go with a 235-55R17 if I was buying new, but given these are virtually new and in stock, I thought I couldn't lose anything. So I drove a few miles with this one winter tire on the front, and found the handling very close to the OEM setup and no real issues seen. Bottom line is I think that (for her country-road driving for the winter) they will workout well and save me a few bucks.

Which brings me to the sensors. The interesting thing about the RLX is it seems to detect sensors differently than the other Acuras I've owned. With others, if it doesn't detect a sensor at a wheel, after driving about a mile it gives you the 2-dash pressure on the display and sends an error message. With the RLX it takes nearly 4 miles before that happens, and when the error is thrown, it literally blanks out all other pressures and tells you the end of the world is coming (or something like that :-) ). So that's a good indicator of what will happen if she gets a flat. Anyway, the TL sensor is not liked by the RLX, which I wasn't surprised about. I actually had ordered 4 new sensors and have them here at my desk, but was hoping I wouldn't need them. Looks like a trip to the tire shop sometime soon to switch over the sensors is in order. But cheaper than a whole new setup, that's for sure!

Anyway, in case anyone ever wants to try this, it works. And it might not be an overly attractive setup, but given where we live and the fact the car/wheels are covered in salt a lot of the time, it's function over form every time for me.

andy

hondamore

I went through a similar situation trying to use the snow tires from my '05 RL mounted on 17 inch rims on my RLX-SH...they fit but I had issues with the sensors. Unlike you, my snow tires were a bit more worn and the rims were about what you'd expect rims to look like after 10 winters, so I sold them to the gentleman who bought my RL (the dealership was nice enough to contact him for me) and ended up buying a new set of rims and snow tires for my RLX.

The good news is that the 17's should offer your wife a softer ride on those bumpy/rutted winter roads and, more importantly, offer significantly greater protection against pothole damage.

I have heard nothing but good things about the Hakka's - good choice.

Thanks for sharing the information.

andysinnh

And here she is in her full glory. Car drives really well and the snow tire noise is virtually discernible from inside the car. They're a little less planted give the softer/deeper tread, but that's to be expected. Now ready for winter. Also a picture of the carpeted Maxpider 3D winter floor mats - they work really well!