[gn842]

As my signature indicates I am abruptly a member of the 2019 Accord club. I had a nice set of Michelin snows on steel rims. I don't feel the need to impress anyone in winter conditions. I think steel rims are best for pot holes. Am I wrong? Let me know.

Anyhow I have four Michelin snows, steel rims, formerly used on my 2014 Accord. I would use them in a heart beat on my new car (come winter) but Tire Rack says this is a big no-no, the 16" rims don't leave room for the brakes. Is that true? No hope? Right now I have them listed on Craig's. As a complete digression I would note the phenomenal lack of treadwear (comparatively) on the Michelin snows they still have 7/32 of tread after five seasons which beats any other snow tire I've ever had. And they're good snow tires too, of course. (They were my first unidirectionals and I got schooled by them on how to pay attention when mounting tires.)

I haven't been able to find 17" Accord STEEL RIMS anywhere. They don't have them at Tire Rack or any other place on the net I have searched. Well, Alibaba might have some, but it seems you have to order 100 at once. The 2019 and 2018 Accords are very similar and I kinda sorta think that if after market rim makers were going to put out some steel 17" rims (17x7.5 to be precise) for Accords that they would have done so already.

Bottom line guys: Am I really looking at $500 for alloy rims for some effing snow tires? That will put me at around $1200 come this fall, on top of buying the new car in May. Car insurance is really only symbolic isn't it? My payout was $12.5k I'm out $10k for the new car and now I'm looking at $1200 more to get my seasonal needs in order. I have a vision of nifty alloy rims with snow tires hitting a pot hole and going SNAP. Greg N

 

[gn842]

(nudge)

 

[gn842]

Well three days and nary a whisper. I'm going to take a wild guess here and say that 75% of Accord owners are in California or similar climes and that of the 25% who are left, most wouldn't be caught dead with snow tires and that of those that would get snow tires 99% wouldn't be caught dead with a steel rim.

And that's why there are no steel rims out there because y'all ain't buying 'em.

 

[gn842]

Well I have looked for after market steel in 17" and I can't find it anywhere, never mind for an Accord or any other vehicle. There's no OEM steel. It is sinking in that I am going to get hammered when I buy my snows and rims...looks like $1200 or so.

So now I'm wondering whether to get the Chinese knockoffs of the Honda alloys, they have exactly the same pattern as OEM, or whether to try some of the (100% Chinese) rims on TireRack. These rims are all a very different style, spokes with a lot of space between them. To my eye the OEM alloy rims look stronger but for all I know it's just an illusion. Anyhow if they are good knockoffs then that will take care of the lug nut issue, they'll be the same.

I haven't measured the spare yet. I have heard that even 2WD vehicles with CVTs have a lot of computerized input into the transmission and that you want to keep to the same tire sizes...I've even read that you need to replace all four tires if you get one flat!!!! I thought that was a 4WD thing.

Anyhow one of the advantages of having snows is that if you do get a flat when you get home you can put the snow on and remove the donut tire. I wouldn't want to drive that way forever but it is a good substitute while waiting for a new tire to come. Or tires, as the case may be.

Greg N

 

[gn842]

I use the Tire Rack alloy wheels and they work fine. After 10 years they look a little scruffier than the OEM wheels. You could replace them four times for the price of a OEM Honda wheel, but they still look good enough to put on the new car. The hard part is that they use a plastic center ring spacer the sometimes sticks to the hub, and you need to use different lug nuts. All my Hondas had alloy wheels that used nuts with spherical seats, and every other alloy wheel I've ever seen uses conical seats. I threw away the center spacers.
I'm sure the 16 inch alloy wheels are gonna work on my EX because it came with a 16 inch steel spare, but I haven't tried it yet.

That's a good tip. I'll measure the spare. However, Tire Rack tech told me 16 inch on my 2019 LX is a no-go.

 

[gn842]

Well I just measured my spare. It's a steel donut--17 inch rim. Probably the only steel rim in the U.S. Maybe I should just get four donuts. GN