Given the choice between AWD or studded snow tires, I’ll take the studded snow tires. The best way to do snow tires is with a second set of wheels. Which is great until you find yourself dealing with the government-mandated TPMS (Tire Pressure Monitoring System). And, it’s even worse if you find yourself driving a Honda with their implementation of the TPMS.
TPMS Idiot Light Could Leave You Stuck
When the TPMS light is on (error mode) Honda will not let you disable the VSA (Vehicle Stability Assist). VSA helps bail out the great unwashed when they are about to fail a vehicular physics experiment, but sometimes you NEED to disable it. Honda even provides a handy button for you to do this.
Why, you ask? VSA prevents slides, spin-outs, or other unwanted vehicle behavior when traction is lost (within the realm of physics–if you really brick it you might still need to change your underwear or worse). VSA also prevents your drive wheels from spinning if they break traction. All this electronic nannying is great until you WANT wheel spin. Like when you’re stuck in snow or mud and need to rock your vehicle out. Or if you’re trying to pull a snowy hill. Or, your daughter wants to impress her friends with an awesome burnout on your new set of tires. Etc. You get the idea.
But, if your TPMS light is on, none of this is possible. The VSA button goes inert and will not turn off VSA. But, if you’re stuck in snow and a wheel spins with any throttle, the VSA cuts the throttle and you get nothing but the gnashing of the ABS. You’re stuck because you can’t turn off the nanny and let things get a little wild. Or are you?
Tell the VSA Off
You will not find this in your manual, but you can pull the fuse to disable VSA system. On my 2016 Honda Odyssey LX it is a little 7.5A fuse in position #23 in the fuse block. I pulled that little sucker and could spin the wheels with the TPMS light on. The minivan was liberated from the chains of government and Honda suppression. But, the nanny was not happy and angrily flashed all sorts of idiot lights at me, including a particularly interesting show of the flashing “D” light while in “P.” Cool.
Pull the Fuse
Obviously, you should only use this hack when you need wheel spin to get unstuck or for a track day. Only a bozo would drive with this fuse out and the VSA disabled.
Honda: Your TPMS Sucks
Now that we’ve liberated your Honda, let’s look at why Honda’s implementation of TPMS is particularly bad.
I wanted to be a good kid so I bought my second set of wheels with Honda TPMS installed. Guess what? Honda only allows a SINGLE SET of wheels (x4 TPMS sensors) to be linked to the vehicle at any one time (at least on my lowly LX model). And, it gets better: Only the Honda stealership can connect sensors to your car. So, in this scenario, each time you swap your summer wheels/tires for your winter wheels/tires, the dealer would have to reconnect each set’s TPMS. That’s at least an hour of shop labor. Seriously, Honda? Your dealers are busy enough with all of the Takata recalls (you mean the first recall airbag has been recalled? What’s that? A re-recall?)