Good reason for a Spare on the A64

[telecat]

I am looking at a new car and basically am quite disappointed at the lack of Spare wheels in some cars. Not that they do not have the room they all have they just seem to have put a can of foam in the Well with Styrofoam filling the wheel well gap. Well this morning there it was A Corsa with a puncture that has shredded the tyre. I don't think a can of foam or a compressor is going to sort that one out!!!!!

[eybic]

The reasons some manufacturers use for no spare are:

Reduce weight, therefore increase economy

Keep buying costs down

It is safer to fill a tyre with gunk at the push of a button than struggle taking the wheel off etc.

[toxgobbler]

eybic said:

The reasons some manufacturers use for no spare are:

Reduce weight, therefore increase economy

Keep buying costs down

It is safer to fill a tyre with gunk at the push of a button than struggle taking the wheel off etc.

Safer? No. Easier/cheaper yes.

Taking a wheel off really isn't that hard and if you have a good spare (not a space saver) you can drive properly afterwards. the gunk is only there to get you to a place of safety, not to drive about for a while.

[eybic]

toxgobbler said:

Safer? No. Easier/cheaper yes.

Taking a wheel off really isn't that hard and if you have a good spare (not a space saver) you can drive properly afterwards. the gunk is only there to get you to a place of safety, not to drive about for a while.

I agree to a certain extent, to a petrolhead taking the wheel off is easy but for a school run mum or a biddy I'd say it was akin to rebuilding an engine

[D1bram]

My wife has runflats on her Mini and I have a tub of glue in my MX-5. Only the old Astra has spare (full sized).

Fortunate then it was the Astra I was in when I had a double blow out a few months back, I was able to call for a lift and by the time it arrived I had the spare on 1 corner and the jack under the other, so within 30mins I'd managed to tget 2 new tyres fitted and was on my way. It would have been an AA call out in either of our other cars.

Further to this, the wife recently had a punture. She only drove 8miles or so home (and at less than 50mph) with the tyre in 'run flat' status but it was alarmingly warm afterwards.

Worrying is how many people just chance it and continue to drive around on something which is designed to get you home in the interest of avoiding replacing an expensive tyre?

[D1bram]

eybic said:

I agree to a certain extent, to a petrolhead taking the wheel off is easy but for a school run mum or a biddy I'd say it was akin to rebuilding an engine

You're right the problem is the sheer strength required to change a wheel these days.

Even a family hatch is likely to have something like 225/55/R17's which are heavy.

The wheel nuts are likely over torqued, at home I'd grab a 2ft breaker bar but at the roadside with the comedy wheel brace found in most car tool kits it can take a great deal of strength to loosen wheel nuts.

And then finally there's the issue of alloy wheels 'sticking' to the hub.

All of this assumes of course you even know where to begin with changing a wheel.

For most it's an AA call out, so in someways you could say fitting run flats or including a repair kit is giving customers what they want.

[surveyor]

I have only ever called the breakdown services for a flat tyre twice.

The first was in a Laguna when the wheel brace snapped. We had a row as to whether they would replace that under warranty. I won.

The second was again on the Laguna, on the M5, offside rear. Could not get far off the motorway due to barrier, and I was not going there without some protection for sure.

But modern cars are buggers to change the wheel. No way my partner could do it, and I really hate kicking the wheel when it's seized to the hub.

I know of one guy who was changing a wheel on a Panda (old one) when the jack started slipping. He thought he could hold it, and soon discovered that his hand was under the car. He was saved by a jogger who called the ambulance, and fortunately was lucky enough not to lose fingers.

[Dr Interceptor]

The first thing I did when the Fiesta arrived was buy a spacesaver off eBay.

I'd rather have one of those in the boot so if a tyre lets go I can swap it on and trundle home (or to a tyre centre) at 40mph, rather than use the gunk.