:tflamer: I was told by customer service at Acura that they will pay for rim expenses if enough customers file a complaint with Customer Service. I think they should pay for wider tires that protect the rims too.... that is the problem. CALL TODAY! :rocketwho

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Acura Client Services
1919 Torrance Blvd.
Torrance, CA 90501-2746

I have some mixed emotions on this topic. I hate to hear tales of scraped wheels, but I do feel this is one of the inherent dangers of going to 18" wheels running a 40 series tire. Running a wider tire may provide some cushion, but it also brings in other problems - contorted sidewalls, larger air volume, speedometer error, heavier tires, more expensive tires, harder to find tires. I think the customer should be the one to make the decision to accept these, but the dealer should be providing some guidance and advice.

I agree with you. If dealer sells the 18" without any advice about precautions it amounts to misrepresentation of upgrades....

Some advice,,,,,,Stop hitting the curb. What Acura should do for those people who continually scrape their wheels is send them to a Driver Training class.

Quit your whining guys, expecting Aura to pay for rims that YOU SCRATCHED is utterly ridiculus. Two words, WHEEL REPAIR.

Roadman:

Do you work for Acura? I think this is a poor combo, upgrade Dept. dropped the ball... :rocketwho

I agree to stop hitting the curb. But on the other hand, who pays for the damage, scraping the wheels in a carwash? Acura or the carwash? Most likely the car owner. Thats why I never go through a carwash, and put on wider tires. Still haven`t hit the curb either.

Nauticalx1: Did you sell your S4??? Have you experienced the wheel rash susceptibility on the TL since I guess you've bought one???

Would rather hear from folks that actually own the car and have experienced it first hand... :toothless

I scrapped my right 17" rims due to inadequate tire protection and a poorly engineered shopping center entrance. This had never happened to me before. Usually the tire absorbs the blow and just results in some tire scrubbing. I was totally shocked and angry but more so at the shopping center engineers. It was obvious that I wasn't the first to encounter this portruding curb as evidenced by the extensive rubber marks left. It would have been nice if Acura had warned of the potential damage to rims, but dealers almost never admit to any design flaws. They would not admit to the inferior tires on the Acura even though the car magazines have uniformly criticized the tires and they don't compare well to competing tires in tire evaluations for tires that cost less money. Other than that, the TL is an exemplary car so far, and well worth the money. I am going to replace the EL 42's as soon as my checking account let's me.

Do you really think a larger tire would stop your rim from scratching? Come on

I upgraded to the 18" wheels... they protrude beyond the tire about a half inch. They're beatiful but a menace to drive with. I want 255's out of ACURA!
PERIOD

Yeah I got to agree Acura should have given you a better tire. If anything for looks.
I did a little research before bying my tires for my 19's and nitto made their tire with a "protection bead" around the tire. Looks alot better then some of the others i've seen

Out of all the STUPID threads i have seen on a forum.. This one has to take the cake.. As soon as you saw the tires were to narrow you should have told someone you didnt want them. If you hit or scratch your wheel on something ITS YOUR FAULT.. I know for damn sure that I wont be paying to fix or replace anyones wheels. Learn to drive and stop all the whining! Damn!

It would be STUPID to an ACURA employee. GET A LIFE!!! THIS TIRE WHEEL COMBO IS NO GOOD. ACURA GOOFED.... THEY NEED SLIGHTLY NARROWER WHEELS OR WIDER TIRES... POOR COMBO FOR NOW!!!!!!

What do you mean when you say that a wider tire would prevent the rim from being scratched if you hit a curb ?

Are you looking for the tire to overhand the rim to form a protecting barrier ?

Even then the tire is rubber and it would move away from the rim when you hit a curb.

Suggestion,,,,, never pull up to a curb (front first), always back up to a curb, this way you can use the tilt down side mirror to guage where the curb is. As you become more experienced you will become better at not hitting anything

I was duly warned on this web site about the poor quality tires and also read similar comments in the car magazines, but the dealer of course stone-walled the problem, and I didn't want to get into a big argument about the tire issue with them. Sometimes you have to experience the problem first hand to learn your lesson. I should have made the tire change part of the negotiation process. But I still can't believe Acura would put such a ridiculous tire on such an expensive car.

Why is everyone else responsible when you drive into something?

I got a door ding on my car. Should Acura pay to repair it because they didn't put side protection moldings on the car?

I also scraped my chin spoiler when I drove up on a parking bumper curb. Should Acura pay for that?

I have a friend with an '02 CL type-S who banged up his rims because, as he said, the rims stick out past the tires. In his case, he is 83 years old and parks "by sound".

Those who think Acura should pay for this and that should understand that Acura doesn't pay for anything. It gets built in to the price of the car. If they end up paying a lot of frivolous warranty claims, they just jack the price up next year.

Thanks for your responses Roadman and Bobzmcishl. I understand what you're saying Roadman. I found out the hard way that the first line of defense with this wheel/tire setup is the wheel a painted surface instead of typical rubber. I almost feel setup with this setup because there was no warning at sales time about road rash susceptibility!
Roadman I will take your advice and use the tilt down mirror from now on but I'm not talking about hitting a curb, I will take full responsibility for that... but what about simply inconsequential grazing or mere grazing, like most people are used to doing???

Bob: And they've been doing it for three model years at least. Either they are not very co-ordinated with their suppliers vs customer needs- or there are other considerations that we don't yet know about.

Acura may be a lot of things but they're not stupid. They are also pretty good at PR. It would be interesting to see their justification for this anomoly. (wish we had a spell checker).

What it comes down to is that we all saw what the car was, including tires and wheels, and everything was fine and acceptable UNTIL the rubber didn't meet the road. THEN we scream about it and want someone else to pay.

If it happens to me, I'll probably do the same thing. It's worth a shot.

I'M NOT TALKING ABOUT HITTING A TREE FOR GODSAKES! :clown:

EVERYDAY DRIVING, PARKING, CARWASHES, DRIVE THROUGHS ARE HAZARDS FOR THESE WHEELS THAT ARE OVEREXPOSED WITH THIS 18" COMBO. (Don't have any experience with the 17's since I bought the 18's at purchase.)

I DIDN'T SIGN UP FOR THIS. IF DEALER WON'T FIX AND GIVE ME WIDER TIRES I'LL JUST DO IT MYSELF, BUT I DON'T THINK IT'S RIGHT!!!!

Originally Posted by Novice
Frankly, I don't see why Acura would pay for damages created by customers who simply made mistakes (I admit that I should've been more careful when I was backing out from the parking spot). If I call the customer service, I know what they are going to say. "I haven't heard about that particular problem, sir!"


Novice, the wheels/tires should be designed of offer a ceratain degree of protectection against a common circumstance, rubbing your tires against a curb without it costing you a few hundred dollars..How many times have you scraped a curb in other cars and only had a small brushed mark on your tire?
Hell yes, Acura should find a fix for this problem.

SPURS:

For your info I OWN BOTH, S4 and a TL. Wanna race??? LOL Get a life dude.
P.S. Gave the wifey the TL, I'm loving the S4, after driving it you just don't feel like riding in the TL. You realize how much you are missing.

Hmm, I sympathize as I have hit my right rear rim twice! But I don't blame Acura for it, I blame myself. Sure it would be nice to have a wider tire or taller tire, but if I wanted that I woudl go get a Camry with nice tall tires and marshmellow ride.

we didnt miss anything and we have extra 23k in our pocket driving our tl instead a s4

:lol1:

get a life. it's not acura's fault you scratched your tires. if you don't like them get new rims, wider tires, learn to drive properly, or stop bitching. you're not driving a maybach, rolls, or bentley so stop being prissy, bitchy owners

Spurs,

I still do not see how much wider of a tire are you taking about, one that flops over the side ?

I am trying to envision your suggestion but cannot imagine how a tire could be so wide as to protect the sides of a wheel. Do you have a picture of what you are proposing ?

The wheel (rim) width can support only a certain width tire or the tire will not seat properly on the bead.

A taller tire sounds more like the solution to your problem, not a wider one

I don't mean to step on any toes here. I know how frustrating a damaged rim can be. That kind of stuff used to really piss me off. However, a high performance, low profile tire is just that; emphasis being on "low." Enjoying the performance aspect of having an 18" rim and low profile tire combination (i.e. significantly less wheel flex), has its consequences unfortunately. When I ran lower profile tires on my previous cars, I excepted the risk of rim damage. I took procautions while driving and still ended up with some rim damage. I would think that it would be fairly obvious just by looking at the tire that rim damage is possible. That is the main reason I didn't consider the OEM 18s. I just don't want to worry about that kind of stuff anymore. A wider tire in the same profile (what are they 40 or 45 series?) would increase the side of the sidewall and push the sidewall out a bit more but unless you go significantly wider, it isn't going to protect the rim noticeably better. And going wider has its own set of problems as well.

Perhaps it is just me, but it seemed fairly obvious. I guess coming from a background of modding every car I have ever owned does have its advantages .

Roadman:

I spoke with the district rep about this and he is considering it. After calling Acura's customer service they recommended my calling Yokohama as they felt it as a tire issue and he could not tell me what wider tires would fit on the 18" rims. Yokohama's rep said they would never have put nor recommended the 235's Acura puts on, they recommend 255,40,18's. Problem is I don't want to pay for them... Hell the upgrade in tires and wheels cost $2,100. a month ago. I think Acura should at least pay for the tires Yokohama recommends for this wheel ... don' you?

Also please read Jazzpicker's comment's to Novice, I think he is right on...

Novice, the wheels/tires should be designed of offer a ceratain degree of protectection against a common circumstance, rubbing your tires against a curb without it costing you a few hundred dollars..How many times have you scraped a curb in other cars and only had a small brushed mark on your tire?
Hell yes, Acura should find a fix for this problem.

The 18" wheel and tire package was clearly designed with performance in mind, and I appreciate the fact that Acura did this. They could have copied the model of many other manufacturers and simply offered a chrome appearance upgrade. They didn't. They stepped up to plate with an aggressive 18X8.5 wheel. This size wheel was no doubt selected to optimize the tire's contact patch. I like they way they are thinking. GO ACURA! Yes, this setup gives up some of the forgiveness found in the stock setup - which is already pretty aggressive. Welcome to the world of mods. If a customer is looking for an appearance upgrade, the aftermarket wheel manufacturers have many, many choices available to serve. The wheels and tires are separate parts. If you want slightly wider tires, you're free to get them. If you want really fat tires that squish out past the rim, and the squishy handling that comes with it, then get different tires or a narrower rim.

Don't tell us you didn't look at those 18's on your car, with the rims sitting dead even with the sidewall, and realize "I better not hit any curbs."

That's just wrong copter...funny, but wrong.

you people need to get real!!!!

you scratched the rims..if you were better drivers, this wouldn't happen...why on earth should Acura pay for your mistakes??

get a grip!
good grief.

When I compare my MDX to my TL I can see where some people have a legit beef. On my MDX the tire is about 1 inch wider than the rim, in other words if I just graze a curb then I would only see a minor scuff on the tire itself.

My TL on the other the rim is much wider than the tire tread. It looks as if the wheel can accomodate at least a 2 size wider tire. Even a small pothole will cause the rim to come into contact with the ground, definately just grazing a curb slightly would sctatch the rim much more than it normally would.

Glad to those who pointed this out, my EL-42's are getting swapped in a couple of weeks, now I will make sure that I get a wider size.

Listen...if they gave me a wider tire stock, I might have been concerned about the diminished handling. IMO, you bought it, your loss. I too have posted complaining I scratched my rim, but I take responsibility. I too am experienced in the world of aftermarket, and with low profile comes increased risk of tire rash, its a given. You may have less of an incidence, but in the long run, you will get them.

For what its worth, my salesmen told me many times, be careful, those suckers will rub if you get to close too a curb. My internal reply, been there done that.

Should they upgrade the tire to a bigger profile, only and only if it doesn't diminish the performance in any way. Yokohoma, IMO, will say to get a bigger tire, of course, they are also in it for money, who is right, who knows. Everyone is in it for the money.

Jazzpicker's comment's to Novice, I think he is right on...

Novice, the wheels/tires should be designed of offer a ceratain degree of protectection against a common circumstance, rubbing your tires against a curb without it costing you a few hundred dollars..How many times have you scraped a curb in other cars and only had a small brushed mark on your tire?
Hell yes, Acura should find a fix for this problem.

spurs, you need to accept responsibility for your actions...Acura is not driving the car when you hit curbs...you are...therefore the problem is your own, so deal with it.

geesh!

This thread gets my vote for the dumbest thread ever....well, this one and million polls we have each day....I digress....

Why would anyone run their car through a mechanical car wash anyways? Those things are just waiting to scratch or damage your cars.

I find it almost idiotic to think that Acura should pay for someone scratching their own rim/wheel package by driving it through a carwash or hitting a curb. This idea gets two thumbs down from me.

GEESH right back at ya! You guys seem like you glorify ACURA or something. Are you economically associated with them??
They are a well respected company that puts out a great product. They're not GOD. Respected companies don't get it perfect everytime. This is an issue for me and many others and as a first time buyer a newbie if you will of larger wheels I would have appreciated a heads up from dealer or Acura about these tires and wheels being fragile compared to normal driving situations... $2,300. for a combo that Yoko now says is not ideal doesn't cut it for me. If 255's were put on there and a caution from the dealer had been given, I wouldn't be on this site...

Better yet I have an idea for a new product.

Introducing the RimProtect.
This product would be made of heavy duty plastic and be shaped in the form of a large donut about 3" wide. It will snap on to the outside of Acura rims to prevent wheel scratching for the beginner driver. Available in both 17" and 18" models.

There will be additional models offered in decreasing widths for intermediate (2") and advanced (1") drivers. As your driving skills increase you can reduce the size of the protector.

Anyone want to put together a group purchase. I would estimate they will cost about $95 ea. You may be able to get by with only front rim protectors depending on your individual driving skills.

This defintely gets the STUPIDEST THREAD OF THE MONTH award. Learn how to drive you freaking idiots. If you hit a curb IT IS YOUR FAULT plain and simple. It's not the salesman responsibility to warn you that, if your idiot you're gonna scratch your wheels.

:thefinger :thefinger :thefinger :thefinger :thefinger :thefinger