Put in a full sized mag almost the same as my car wheels, my car has 16" by 6.5" with 55 offset. My spare is now a different pattern (look) but are 16" by 6.5" with 50 offset.
I have fitted it and it passed on my car, bloody close to the brake on front but spins freely and no problems.
WHAT I FOUND Is with full sized wheel in the boot well, the car handles much nicer and is more settled then ever before, WHY do they only fit space savers?
Personally where I live there is alot of rocks and slips, I have seen many people hit a rock rip the tire to bits. I also live miles from tyre shops.
Has anyone else done this and found the same effect?
dublo,
Jul 19, 7:46am
I don't see the point of "space saver" spare wheels! There is either wasted space around them or not enough room for the normal wheel if you have to change it if on the road. Great if you have a full boot load of luggage! Maybe they save a few hundred grams of weight.
mr_lovebug,
Jul 19, 7:51am
There is a 5 Kg weight difference from normal wheel to space saver.
Also the full sized wheel allows ALL tools to stay in the wheel and NO movement at all for the tools that normally float about slightly.
jmma,
Jul 19, 8:15am
Uumm one less Mag wheel x 100,000 cars = money saved :oP
budgel,
Jul 19, 9:13am
I now have my second car that has no spare at all. BMW 120D that I think originally came with run flat tyres. The previous one was an Evo X that left it out for performance reasons( sort of the opposite to what you are experiencing!), but came with a compressor tyre inflator and some slime type gunk for inflating a flat tyre. I must remember to buy a can of that crap for the little BMW!
mr_lovebug,
Jul 20, 6:08am
Glad I could help remind you.
Interesting how you have no spare, I would not happy with that when you can hit a rock down here and wreck your rim and tyre and be 100kms to the nearest tyre shop.
mr_lovebug,
Jul 20, 6:11am
Might be money saved BUT it can be lost of lives IF stuck in middle of NO where NO passing traffic and no spare.
A lady died only a year ago cos she went off the road the car was NOT found for 3 days. This is the area I live in and the risks we have to deal with.
topseycat,
Jul 20, 6:29am
My car came with a tyre inflater. I reckon that is sooo stupid in NZ conditions. I have bought a full size spare but it only fits on the back so if I get a puncture in the front I have to swap a rear tyre. Also I have absolutely no space in the back now but I feel a lot more safer.
s_nz,
Jul 20, 7:42am
Like it or not, more and more cars are going to have space-saver spares, or no spares at all (run-flats / repair kits).
Three reasons. Packaging, weight and cost. Modern cars have bigger wheels & tires that older cars for styling reasons. It is harder to fit a full size spare somewhere, without compromising cargo space etc. Weight directly influences performance, and fuel economy (the latter is particually important in markets that tax new cars based on emissions). With regards to cost, a full size spare (especially if it is a matching alloy) costs more than a space-saver, which costs more than run flats or a fix a flat kit (tools can be omitted with the latter options).
BMW backs run flats for safety reasons. (changing a tire on the side of a busy road is dangerous, Likewise if you are passing through a rough neighborhood in the USA).
Research (usa based) has shown a decent portion of the new car buyers would call roadside assistance rather than change their own flat tire (either because they don't know how, or they don't want to (say for safety or comfort reasons).
Another thing to note is that modern tires get less flats than old tires. Tire pressure monitoring is becoming more common. This tech allows the driver to see that a tire pressure is out of spec, and (if the leak is slow) rectify the issue (pump tire back up again, fix next day). Historically an un-noticed slow leak could lead to tire sidewall failure due to being driven well under-inflated.
The trucking industry has already (largely) ditched carrying spare tires. They cost money, plus their weight (multiple sizes per truck, plus the weight of tools) comes straight off the payload of the truck that you could be selling to customer. Mobile tire service is the norm in that industry.
Personally I have been driving for 15 years, and have heaps of km's (incl some private forestry roads for work) have never changed a tire at the roadside.
That said, when I had the opportunity to go for a drive on chatham island, I made sure the Hilux had a spare.
Regarding off roading, this is one place where you really want a full size spare, as a space saver may not have enough grip to get you back to the tarmac. No Utes or off road style SUV's have ditched their spare tires yet. Of course, consider that tires are not the only part that can fail on a vehicle. Travel in a group of vehicles, or at minimum carry an Epirb if you are going somewhere really remote.
marte,
Jul 20, 9:54am
I find some spacesaver spares are different dia than the tyre they are supposed to replace. My old car had a normal tyre in place of the spacesaver. After getting a flat tyre & using it, the tyre guy mentioned "Its the wrong sort of rim, see, its sitting off from the disc & pulling against the hub, by the wheel nuts. (Part?) Ie, I think the rims centre hole was a bit too small.
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