Honda Asymmetrical Wheel Hole Pattern; Why?

[Arragonis]

I vote for balance too. I doubt they would worry that much about wind noise on their entry model car, but a heavy sensor is going to make it a PITB for tyre fitters and be more of a problem for most owners.

Having tapped that I would also expect a dab of paint or something similar to indicate the best position of the wheel on the hub for balance.

Back in the good old days of British Leyland Mk2 (aka Austin-Rover) they used to balance the wheel on the hub and then mark the best position.

EDIT : Entry level - FIT of course, but the same issue applies - balance is more likely to be an issue.

[Rokeby]

I'm now leaning towards the balance idea too. Here's why...

I got to thinking that every OEM rim now must have the TPMS sensors. They
have significant mass, yet my wheels on my Touring model Prius -- 7
spoke wheels -- do not have a bunch of balance weights opposite the valve
stem. The rim section of the wheel is apparently trued on a lathe, little
chance for asymmetrical thickness there.

So I looked/felt around the spokes adjacent to the valve, and the spoke
directly across from the valve.

Surprise! The webs on the back of the spoke somewhat thicker than those
adjacent to the valve. (Note: The spoke essentially has the shape of a
"C-section" beam, kinda' like this: [ with the wide flat web facing outward,
the two flanges inward.)

Maybe this is to balance the mass of the TPMS sensor.

It remains for others to do a similar check on their alloy rims to see if this
feature/construction is widely used.

Edit: I just realized the balancing material in the opposite spoke/s could
also be in the thickness of the web... harder to find/measure.

[miket]

well rokeby take the sensor out and see if the tire turns funny lol.