Was that $833 tax included or extra?

 

It's more convenient to have them at home to switch after the first snow. Plus the wheels pay for themselves after a couple of years of not remounting and balancing.

&

MSantos, these rims have a protective finish with a warranty. I am not worried at all about them corroding any time soon.

 

Tax is extra.

 

OK, fair enough.

I had my weels changed yesterday and here are some pictures. Please note that the snow tires the dealership installed are Michelin X-Ice mounted on a set of four 06 Civic DX steel rims with wheel covers.

Front left weel:



The broader look:


Anyhow, I figured this setup dresses the steel winter rims better than the customary black wheels. The wheel covers and the chrome lug nuts cost ~$20 per wheel.
I am ready for the -40C (-40F) weather !!!

Cheers;

MSantos

 

Any idea how much those steelies weigh?

 

Yes, just for giggles, I did put the original aluminum wheel with the tire (excluding cap and lug nuts) on the scale and it read 34lbs.
Then, I also weighted one of the replacement winter wheels and it read a little over 37lbs.

So... there is a little more than a few extra pounds per wheel - but I am not sure if the greather weight is not attributable to the extra rubber (compound) on the Michelin X-Ice tire or not. All in all, not too bad, not too different.

By the way, I just noticed that unlike the Dunlops our hybrids come with, the Michelin are rated at a max sidewall pressure of 51lbs (the Dunlops are rated at 44). So, for winter driving I may raise the front tire pressure from 42 to 48 and the rear from 40 to 46.


Cheers;

MSantos

 

MSantos - That close-up photo appears to be the RIGHT front wheel and not the LEFT front wheel as you wrote. Also, do you mean that you weighed the OE wheel+tire and it was 34# and the winter wheel+tire was 35# - you wrote it as just the winter wheel so I wanted to make sure. I would assume that the steel wheel and tire would weigh more than the lightweight aluminum wheel and tire though - this is not correct?

 

My apologies for the error - It is the right front wheel. I never weighed the wheels only.

The steel wheel + Michelin tire weighs more than the OE Aluminum wheel + Dunlop tire - as I had reported: 35lbs versus 34lbs.

Cheers;

MSantos

 

Wow, that's suprisingly lightweight! Congrats on that!

 

msantos,
What did the dealer charge for the honda steel wheels? I just ordered some Sport Edition D5 wheels ($75 ea.) from Tire Rack. They are aluminum with a 2 yr. warranty on the finish and weigh 15.5 lbs. I have some Matercraft Glacier-Grip M & S tires to put on them. I'm going to try them just on the fronts. In the past, I did this with my Subarus with no real problems. If I don't like the "feel" on the road, I'll bite the bullet and get rims and tires to match. Let us know how your snows work.
Regards,