Spare wheels

[jb747]

Does anyone else find the whole concept of 'get you home' spares to be abhorrent. The idea might be ok if you live in the suburbs and never drive anywhere else, but Australia is a big place, and it's easy to be a long way from both home, and a quick replacement tyre (even in the big cities tyres for GTIs and R32s don't grow on trees). Having a tyre that has an 80 km/hr max speed, and a probable life of only a couple of hundred kms, not to mention poor grip anyway, when you should have a real spare strikes me as both short sighted and penny pinching.

I've just purchased a second set of R32 wheels, partially as a quick way of fixing a wheel that got kerbed, but also to allow me to have a full sized spare. I won't be carrying it around all of the time, but I sure will next time I head beyond the city limits.

[mikinoz]

These are space saver spares, and are designed to reduce the intrusion into the rear compartment.

By all means get a proper wheel/tyre for your out of town jaunts, but remember it may not fit in the rear compartment properly.

This is worse on the R32 as there is a need for a higher floor to deal with the 4Motion driveline.

These cars designed in Europe, would be never too far away from services. In Australia it is another matter.

[neil]

You should have bought the Jetta.

See we do have somethings better than the GTI/R32. hehe/haha

[jb747]

Yes, I know they are space savers, and also that the spare tyre cavity size is an issue. But, not only do they save the maker 'space', but also money in that he doesn't have to design the car to provide space for the spare. Of course, what you're supposed to do with your very expensive wheel and tyre when you do have a flat isn't addressed.

The only car I've ever had that had justification for a space saver was an MR2. In that car the front and rear wheels were different sizes (as were the tyres), but there was sufficient space for any removed wheel to fit into the spot where the spare was carried (just).

[wokwn]

This is exactly why my 'must have' criteria for a car is a full size spare. No full size, me no buy. Even better would be an alloy spare but that is not a must-have.

What is annoying is that some manufacturers have room for a full size spare (for example my sister has an impreza rx wagon - 2005 I think) but only include a space saver. I suppose in that case you could get a full size included at negotiation time.

[mikinoz]

FWIW, MKIV R32 don't have a spare at all.

[DaveMack]

FWIW, MKIV R32 don't have a spare at all.

What do they have, Mik? Tyre Pando kit?

Dave

[GTI_future]

FWIW, MKIV R32 don't have a spare at all.

use nonflat tyres?

[datracer99]

MkIV R32 has a bottle of goo and a compressor (i almost bought one before I got the GTI)

Since my previous car had only 2 flat tyres in the last 7 years, covering about 100,000km, including a moderate amount of highway driving, i'm not really all that worried by the space saver.

But, just to be on the safe side, when I got the GTI I put a can of tyre sealant in with the space saver. If I get a puncture i'll try the sealant on the standard tyre before I fit the spare.

[jb747]

Just having a chat to a police friend, and he tells me that they consider the space savers to be unsafe. Apparently involved in a recent multiple fatality. And yes, I know they probably weren't driving to the conditions and their equipment's limits, but very few people who drive cars are actually drivers.

[Jester_Fu]

^Yeah... but they should be able to *READ*. The runflat in my R has big letters the size of the sidewall saying "do not exceed 50km/h". The same thing on my mums Nissan Exa back in the '90s. Rocket science...

My last car had no spare - just 2 cans of "inflatey foam". Left the tyres rated to 80km/h and 200km. No good with sidewall damage, but great for punctures. I've added a can of inflatey foam to my R under the spare - $13 from supercheap. Packed it in 2 big chunks of foam so it doesn't rattle and i get a spare spare

I did end up buying a spare for the last car. It served 2 purposes; a real spare on very long trip at the cost of boot space and a rotate tyre to get buckled rims fixed. Plenty of buckled rims - 4 over 4 years Soft lightweight French alloys + 40 series tyres + Aussie country roads = bent rims

[DEEJ]

My last car, a 330ci came with a full size 17" alloy wrapped in a michelin pilot sport. At one point throughout my ownership, the spare wheel had better rubber than the other 4 wheels! I appreciated this BMW quality and wished they'd kept doing this.

Now though they have gone all crazy with runfluts, the worst value tyres in history. It would be cheaper to pay a limo driver to pick up a mechanic and spare tyre and deliver them to you anywhere in Australia than to keep replacing runflats at $3200/set...so maybe you should all be happy with your space saver and hope they don't make all cars with runflats

[The_Hawk]

It would be cheaper to pay a limo driver to pick up a mechanic and spare tyre and deliver them to you anywhere in Australia than to keep replacing runflats at $3200/set...so maybe you should all be happy with your space saver and hope they don't make all cars with runflats

QUOTE OF THE WEEK!

[jb747]

You don't have to keep replacing the runflats with more of the same.... Real tyres may not be an option at purchase time, but I'm sure you can put them on once you leave the dealers...

[DEEJ]

yeah i know but try telling that to a BMW driver. Even my friends wouldn't buy normal tyres (for half the price and better performance) in case they ever got a flat and had no spare...

FWIW, alot of ppl are cottoning on to the runflat scam and swapping them as soon as they pick up their new beemer. Runflats have really stiff sidewalls which I liked on high speed sweepers. If you can find a near new set for sale, they usually are almost giving them away and they are worth grabbing.