vp911

I never thought about this until my service rep at the dealer went on complaining about people who change their wheels from the OEM 17"s. She told me I couldn't use my spare tire....?

A few months ago I put the ronjon 18" inspyre on - discount tire threw away my old wheel locks and nuts etc.... if I ever end up with a flat will I have problems using the spare thats in the trunk?

Slinks

You can still use the spare tire, but you shouldn't be driving at fast speeds with it and should get it replaced as quickly as possible with a real tire. Many cars come with spare tires that aren't "full size".

Tecciztecatl

Yes, I think that it is ok to drive on it for a short period of time. I also think (correct me if I am wrong) that the size difference will mess up the VSA to some degree ... it said something in the manual about it.

I also think that it depends on your tire size/profile ratio in relation to your previous set-up. I am getting the 18" on my TL and the difference from my 235/45/17 to the 245/40/18 is minimal ...from a dia. of 25.3" to 25.7"

I have the 6MT, so we get the full size spare anyway, since it has to clear the Brembos.

260 HP

iTrader: (3)

The 6MT also has donut spare, mounted on a weird looking wheel to clear the brakes. Check this post:
https://acurazine.com/forums/showthread.php?t=110023

The spare tire has much smaller diameter than the stock 17 anyway, so I don't think a little more difference than, say, 245/40/18 will matter. VSA might act up, but you can disable it when you're running on spare tire.

The spare tire is for temporary low speed use only, so you should repair the flat ASAP.

I would go back to Discount Tire and demand the OEM lugnuts back. They're yours and you might have a problem mounting the OEM wheels on.

vp911

Thanks for the responses...

As far as getting the OEM lugnuts back - that was three months ago, I highly doubt they would half kept them. Should I simply get another set and keep them in the trunk in case I need to use the spare?

260 HP

iTrader: (3)

You can do that too. The OEM lugnuts are cheap.

vp911

Where can I get them from?

260 HP

iTrader: (3)

The dealers should have them. If not, you can buy from members here who don't want to keep the OEM ones.

Check the acuraautomotiveparts.org. It's $1.23 ea.

Beware, the 04-05 TL lugnuts are different than other Honda/Acura ones. It's slightly longer.

Slinks

Please correct me if I'm wrong, but the dealer told me (and I think I read in the manual) that the spare has the same diameter,but its thinner.

260 HP

iTrader: (3)

I meant, the spare tire itself has smaller overall diameter not the spare wheel.

The 6MT has 17 inch spare wheel, the 5AT has 16 inch.