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So I had my TSX for 10 years and never used the spare tire. Of course, now that I have a RLX without a spare, I hit a pot hole last night and blew out a tire. It was nice that Acura towed it for free but it was an hour waiting @ a gas station that I was lucky enough to make it to.
They would only tow my car to the dealership so I cannot wait to see how expensive the replacement tire is ... and how much any damage may be (rim, suspension).
I may have to get the spare tire kit. I do not think that it was available in 2014 but I assume the 2016 will fit. Perhaps I will get run-flats but I understand those are not the most comfortable ride.
Sorry to hear about your tire. Same thing happened to my TSX wagon, except it took almost 3 hours for a tow truck to show up. I'll never drive without a spare tire again.
I have the spare tire kit. No changes from the 2014 - 2016. If I remember it was about $380 (my accessories were rolled into the purchase price), but definitely negotiable, especially if they are selling you a new tire as well. And with the spare tire kit you still have the tire pump kit which fits in the tire cover form (molded Styrofoam).
Just a thought, but perhaps you can order a tire from an online source if significantly cheaper and have it delivered to the dealer for installation? They will still upcharge you for the install, balancing and disposal fees. And if a front tire, expect alignment as well.
I have heard more tire blow outs with the RLX than the 10 years I had the RL. Everyone wants bigger wheels and low profile tires. But there are penalties in ride quality, more fragile to blowouts and cost. For that reason I insisted on the spare tire accessory.
Last edited by TampaRLX-SH; 01-26-2016 at 09:08 AM.
^^Someone needs to tell car makers that very few of the cars they make end up on a race track where the full benefit of the larger wheels and short sidewalls can be appreciated where as almost all of their cars will be subjected to bumps and potholes that can cause all sorts of problems for large wheel, short sidewall equipped cars.
Sadly, replacing those damaged rims is a nice source of revenue for the manufacturers and so they will cling to their, "it is what the market has demanded" mantra when it comes to their "the bigger the better" policy on wheel sizing.
So the tire costs ~$300 with another ~$50 for installation. They said that it was a competitive price & they would match others so I went to DiscountTire.com but they had 2 Michellin MXM4 tires - does anyone know which came with the RLX?
When I also blew a tire from hitting a pot hole I learned more than i wanted to know about the OEM tires. Michelin makes two very similar tires that fit the RLX Sport Hybrid. The OEM one for the Sport Hybrid contains a special rubber compound that lowers the rolling resistance. Not only to those cost more but because few cars call for them, they are hard to find. I had to wait a couple of days for a replacement tire. I believe the last letter in the tire designation denotes the lower rolling resistance. I don't know if the OEM tires for the PAWS are the same.
Like many others here, the first things I did was opt to add a spare tire. When I first bought the car I decided I did a spare since in ten years in my RL, I never damaged a side wall. I did get an occasional nail, but usually I could drive on it for a a while and the tire was easily patched. With the low profile tires on the RLX the narrow sidewalls are easily damaged not repairable.
I am thankful that Acura has the spare as at least an option on the RLX. I haven't had to use it yet, but as I say every time a thread of this type pops up: A spare turns a flat tire into a 15-minute inconvenience, rather than a two-hour (in my area) wait for a flatbed. I can't lose that amount of time in my business, and I'm sure as hell not sitting around in cold weather that long. I've done it and it doesn't feel good.
I have blown two tires and damaged two rims. Luckily I had the tire/wheel insurance I bought at closing that helped with the sting. Tire: $340 each; rim - $700 each (lists for $960 but dealer gave me a break). My insurance covers 4 instances each so I am half way there and it has paid off already.
I might be leading the pack. I have replaced three tires on the '14 PAWS - two sidewalls ripped open on curbs and one puncture. I bought a spare after the first one.
A lot of rim rash on all wheels. I bet the lease inspector will nail me on that !
My last incident was Memorial Day weekend while traveling to Dallas from Houston. 90 miles into the trip I ran over road debris, blew the tire and gouged the rim beyond repair. Took 3.5 hrs to get a flatbed to me, loaded up and headed back to Houston. That Fri. evening we left out house at 6:30p for the 4 hr trip and returned Sat. morning at 2am after dropping the car at the dealership. AcuraCare is not always efficient at getting trucks to your aid. And, I still do not have a spare, and I play the lottery, too.
My last incident was Memorial Day weekend while traveling to Dallas from Houston. 90 miles into the trip I ran over road debris, blew the tire and gouged the rim beyond repair. Took 3.5 hrs to get a flatbed to me, loaded up and headed back to Houston. That Fri. evening we left out house at 6:30p for the 4 hr trip and returned Sat. morning at 2am after dropping the car at the dealership. AcuraCare is not always efficient at getting trucks to your aid. And, I still do not have a spare, and I play the lottery, too.
After my experience with AcuraCare [took almost 2 hrs for a flat bed to arrive when it was located about 10 minutes from where I was- the tow truck driver told me got the call only 10 minutes before he showed up], I decided my time was worth more than the cost of a spare. I was also motivated by the low profile tires on the SH which are more prone to sidewall damage, which is not repairable. I looked at it as 'pay me now or pay me later (and more)'. I decided to pay now and be able to save time when the next tire problem happens. I also opted for a tire inflation kit which I could use on the road to keep the pressure at spec since my first blowout occurred when my pressure was 5 or 6 lbs. under spec. Most gas stations around me, which by law are required to provide free air, seem to have air pumps which are broken or make it a hassle to use. They just don't want to spend the money to keep them in good repair and try to discourage their use. For me, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.
Hey guys, new to this forum and found it so useful already! We just got the 2014 RLX Elite - Canadian edition. The spare tire is "missing"! LOL! This is my first experience with not having a spare...anyway, went to see the local dealer and was quoted �� $650 for the kit plus another $200 for the tire!!! Oh my God! I am looking at the parts diagram and basically what I'm paying for is a factory mould that fits in place of the existing inflator mould that contains the jack, tools and fits nicely...
So here is my question: how much did you guys pay for your tire kit?
I have a few jacks already, and thinking of may be just getting a dougnut and throwing it into the trunk....
In the States, I spent less than $400 all in. One note, the tire does not come mounted to the rim if you have the kit shipped to you. Also, the kits are slightly different for the hybrid and paws.
Hey guys, can somebody post a picture or the specs for the spare tire itself, the rubber. I am trying to find the alternative to the dealer here who is asking $200 for a rubber...
^^
These are a couple of pictures from neuronbob's post, when he installed the spare tire kit. As you can see the size of the spare is T155/70D17 110M....
So my garage door opener has a backup battery in the event that the electricity is out. It is pretty big/heavy battery that is screwed into the ceiling. See pic for reference:
Tonight as I am backing into my garage, I hear some cracking. Unfortunately, I was busy on the phone & did see something on my backup camera but just thought that it was a pair of shoes or something. Anyhow, the plastic housing around the battery (weighs @ least 10 lbs) apparently went bad and it crashed to the floor. I hope I did not get a flat rolling over it. I never got around to getting that spare and am starting to regret that procrastination now.
Just a warning in case any of you have a similar opener: check the housing for wear.
So after all the snow we got this year, I hit a pot hole & got an instant flat again -- another ~$350 for a new tire. I went ahead and ordered the spare tire kit since my RLX with low profile tires seems prone to getting flats. It would be cheaper to just keep getting an Uber to/from work but for the piece of mind and option of using a spare, I guess it is worth the high price.
01-26-2016, 08:00 AM
The Lack of a Spare Tire
Michelin Primacy MXM4
Kinda Update
