I found a compact spare for my Honda Accord 2002 in a junk yard the other day. They said it came from another 2002 4 cylinder engine Honda Accord. It’s a 4-lug rim like my car, and it appeared to fit when I tried it on my car. However, my owners manual shows that the size of the compact spare that is supposed to go with 4 cylinder models like mine is a T125/70D15, and the one I got at the junkyard is what the manual says is supposed to go with 6 cylinder models: T135/90D15. Am I okay using this other compact spare that is supposedly for a 6 cylinder since it is the same radius and lugs as my 4 cylinder car and appears to fit, or is there something with the size that is going to make it not do well for emergency use for my car? I’m hoping it will work, but I just don’t want to rely upon a spare tire that either won’t work properly when I need it or mess up something with the car if I drive on it…?
You might try contacting the Honda folks themselves. Call regional headquarters, Customer Service. They will transfer you to their Technical department. Or try email.
I don’t know what kind of response you will get. Sometimes these desk technicians can do no better than repeat what’s in the owner’s manual or other low-powered literature.
If I had to guess, I’d say it should be perfectly OK to move a 6-cyl tire down to a 4-banger model, while it may not be prudent to use the smaller tire upward to the 6-cyl car. So you should be all right. Try a driveway test to ensure thre is no wheel rubbing on lock-to-lock turns.
Off hand I can think of two issues. The tyre for the 6 cylinder model may be larger than yours to support the additional weight/performance and it may not fit in the space allotted in your trunk. Of course there may well be problems I did not think of.
… Oh here is another possible issue You tried it on your car, maybe the back, but there may be a problem on the front (or the other way around) Maybe you could ask the dealer.
The OEM size of your tire was either 195/70R14 or 195/65R15, depending on your trim level. V6’s got a 205/65R15 tire. These tires have diameters ranging from 24.7" to 25.5". Your “junkyard” spare has a diameter of 24.6", so it is slightly smaller than the smallest tire size available on 2002 Accords. [If anything, the outlier is your “owner’s manual” spare, which has a diameter of only 21.9".] Both tires are far narrower than any of the OEM choices. So I can’t see how the junkyard tire would have any clearance issues. If it fits in the spare tire well, put it in and stop worrying.