For 2015 LX CVT I am replacing the donut with a full size spare. I understand many cars can't handle a 5th TPMS sensor. Perhaps Honda's can't either.

 

You do realize the car does not use in wheel tpms sensors......

 

OH. I didn't know there was a system like that. So I guess all I need is a regular valve stem installed and the tire & wheel balanced?

 

all new car uses abs sensor for TPMS you don't need a sensor in the valve stem

 

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiretech/techpage.jsp?techid=44

 

Beats expensive sensors that have to be replaced every 2-3 years.

 

And this is little different from the problems with systems featuring in-wheel sensors! They are hardly accurate or reliable either, the only difference is that fixing glitches with them requires buying new sensors which may or may not fix the problem. Remember that Tire Rack (and the entire tire industry) also makes money by selling sensors, so they will naturally bad-mouth any alternative.

Considering that the tire industry brought TPMS upon us (via the Firestone/Ford Bronco lawsuit and the do-gooder legislation that followed) it really galls me to see them profiting from it. At least sensorless systems let us reset things ourselves.

 

dunno about that. When I have a tire get low on air pressure, nice to know exactly which tire, and exactly how low it is. Also nice to be able to check all four tire pressures. There are also very rarely any false positives, and the batteries last much longer than a set of tires (or two, or three, or four). I've never had a faulty tire sensor before, and it's not like it's that hard to replace. Most systems I've used allow you to recalibrate the sensors very easily (I tried on a coworkers Honda Odyssey... apparently you have to take it in to Honda to do it?)

Compare that to my now-ignored TPMS light in the fit that comes on two or three times a week, and its a much better system. More expensive too. I would say the statement that "most new cars come with this system" is false, most economy cars come with the system because they are too cheap to implement a system that actually works. When the feds mandated all new cars have to have it, well a lot of companies took the cheap and ineffective way out (rather than focus on the whole point, consumer safety and fuel mileage).

 

There is and has been a system that lets you do just this for decades. It's called a tire pressure gauge and should STILL be used by motorists on a regular basis to ensure proper tire inflation.

I personally despise the nanny-state mentality that assumes we are all too useless, stupid, and/or ignorant to execute such a simple element of vehicular maintenance without legally-mandated monitoring.

Honda have blessed us with a system that satisfies the nannies without adding needless complexity, weight, and systems to the car. In my mind this is by far the lesser of two evils. Thank you Honda.

 

While I agree a tire gauge should still be used, and I do use one on a regular basis (I have to, because I check tire pressure 2-3 times a week when the light comes on in my Fit. Wouldn't want it to ACTUALLY be low when the light turns on!), newer technology like in-wheel TPMS is progress. I'm of the opinion that even if it works, it should still be improved. This is the natural progression of improvement, from physical resistance gauges, to digital tire gauges, to rotational-delta systems, to in-wheel systems, to who knows what's next. What I don't appreciate is intrusive technology that doesn't work correctly. Examples would be the TPMS system in the Fit. It serves absolutely no purpose for a light to turn on when none of the tires are low, 2-3 times a week. Another would be a missing volume knob on the radio. While I am all for change, it should be functional, tested change that doesn't force a user to accommodate it.

In my case, I wish they made the car self-calibrating when you turn the vehicle on, like every other car I've had with TPMS. But then again, that only works because its actually measuring tire pressure. As far complexity and weight, a TPMS system is not going to add much to this already overly complex car (and if it wasn't an overly complex car, I wouldn't have bought it. The tech stuff was pretty much the only appealing thing to me when I bought it).

 

Most of the vehicles I drive, due to their age, have no TPMS at all. Am I nervous when driving them? Of course not! I check the pressures every month or so and any problem that would cause pressures to decrease in the interim will cause the tire to look noticeably different. Most sensor-based systems only go off if pressure drops markedly which is no better than simply looking at the tire.

Would it be nice to have a system that shows exact pressures for each tire? Sure, but that isn't a very common level of accuracy. The systems now in use simply warn if pressure drops a significant percentage below the requirement. If your pressure is specified to be 35PSI, the system, direct or indirect, won't warn you until a tire is in the mid-20s.

Even Tire Rack, a huge proponent of profitable direct sensors, admits:

Given that these systems are simply a result of a bureaucratic need to "Do Something" I prefer the simplest and least invasive system possible, one that allows people to have winter and summer wheels without additional expense, and one that allows drivers to use non-conventional tires and pressures if desired.

 

I don't know how commonly it's done, but it's certainly not unknown for vehicles to indeed show the actual pressure in each of the tires by tire location, or at the least indicate which tire is low when one is low. (Nissan, at least, also has a nifty feature on some cars where the car can let you know when you've reached the proper pressure as you air up the low tires by flashing the flashers and beeping the horn.)

 

Good to know next time when I buy new tires I will opt out the TPMS rebuild kit. Had to do that with my previous cars (2012 Civic Hybrid and 2009 CRV).

 

My 2012 Impala would give me the tire pressure for each wheel. Just used system check for this. My 2012 Ford Mustang would not give individual tire pressure readings.
I just filled Honda tires to 36 PSI per tire gauge and never had tpms light come on.

 

Many cars have in-tire TPMS that do not provide individual readings. Those are the worst since you pay a lot of $ when changing tires and yet get no benefit at all.