Flat Out Annoying! 28% of New Vehicles Sold Without a Spare Tire

We (our family) always buys a spare wheel if a car doesn't have one. And we keep those spares in our garage or shed, and only take them with us if we go a reasonable distance out of town.

This is something that could use some regulation.
 
do an impromptu survey with your friends. Chances are many of them won’t know how to swap a tire in the event of a flat.

Knowing how to change a tire is an important skill. If you don’t know, watch a couple YouTube videos and practice it on your car in the driveway.
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I don't have to because the future is almost here. And Demolition Man taught me that I won't need any tyre changing skills.

 
Is it true that the tyre inflator cans they give you as a substitute are a one shot thing that actually destroys the tyre?
 
Robin
Is it true that the tyre inflator cans they give you as a substitute are a one shot thing that actually destroys the tyre?
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They're certainly one shot things. Also the foam can make a mess of your actual wheel (tyre-side rim) and can make a normally repairable tyre largely unrepairable too and won't work at all on a torn tyre.

Are there any cars available today that even come with a full size spare, or are they all space savers at best?
 
Robin
Is it true that the tyre inflator cans they give you as a substitute are a one shot thing that actually destroys the tyre?
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Yes.
I worked a number of years at Goodyear. We would not touch tires that have been filled with foam sealant. They are atrocious when you remove the rubber from the wheel. The foam turns into a green liquid and actually eats away at the inside of the tire carcass.
Even if you only drive it a mile to the nearest service center, the glue used to install the patch will have a hard time sticking as it eats into the rubber, making it very hard to buff out a clean surface, forget about stitching a patch on. All you can do with a foam sealed puncture is plug it, which isn't much better. Never use it.
We also wouldn't touch run flats where the tire was driven on and the wheel damaged the sidewalls.

I just bought my wife a 2017 Dodge Charger and what's under the rug in the boot? A 16" doughnut. The car has the performance sport chassis and comes with 20" wheels.
Retarded.
 
TheCracker
Are there any cars available today that even come with a full size spare, or are they all space savers at best?
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Cars? I'm not really sure. But pick-up trucks and SUV's for the most part have full size spares. Mine is under the bed just behind the rear bumper. It's full size when compared to the stock size tires. My wife's CX-3 though doesn't have a full size spare, but it looks bigger than a mini spare.
 
Joey D
Cars? I'm not really sure. But pick-up trucks and SUV's for the most part have full size spares.
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That's what i imagined. I noticed the other day that the latest LR Discovery still has a full size spare slung under the boot/trunk.
 
Dennisch
We (our family) always buys a spare wheel if a car doesn't have one. And we keep those spares in our garage or shed, and only take them with us if we go a reasonable distance out of town.
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Where do you put it in/on the car? If you throw it in the trunk, great, job jobbed. If you have an SUV or a wagon where the trunk is shared space with the rest of the vehicle, throwing it in the back is not secure in an accident. That thing could kill you if you get hit/roll just right. Secure it to the roof rack? Seems reasonable.

Run flats have another horrible feature that I didn't see mentioned in the somewhat surprising article (that's a big percentage to not have a spare). Runflat sidewalls are usually rated for a certain mileage. If you get a fast puncture in a runflat, you'll be tempted to drive it to a shop where it can be addressed instead of pulling off and changing to the spare (which you won't have, because runflat). However, by driving it to the shop, maybe you use 30 of the ~70 miles that the tire is rated for to drive on low pressure. Now you face a new question, do you replace the tire or not? You've only got about half of the useful low/no pressure mileage remaining on those runflats. The shop won't want to repair it, because it has been drive on without pressure. And you might not be inclined to have them repair it either, since maybe you get a flat over 40 miles from service. Now you're facing replacing the entire tire because you drove on it (because you didn't have a spare). If you had a spare, you'd have a tire that could be patched and put back into service for the remainder of its tread.

I've never owned a car with runflats, but I know about this little gotcha because I have spent enough time waiting for my car to be serviced to overhear people deal with this precise dilemma. A minor puncture costs them $200 for a new tire instead of $10 for a patch. It's tough to stomach. If you do have runflats, and you see the tire pressure warning light come on, fill those suckers back up to keep them from relying on the sidewalls. You may be saving hundreds of dollars.

@Joey D
 
@Danoff unfortunately the article started to get a little long and wordy, which is why I left a few things out.

I wholeheartedly agree with you though. Runflats aren't a good solution and do have several downfalls, like the one you mentioned.
 
Didn't get a spare tyre too for my 2015 Aygo . Only the repair kit.
But there's still space made to fit a spare tyre. :/
 
My mothers Vette has runflats.
I agree with the article they are a marketing tool between the car and tire manufacturers.
She told me the dealer said I can drive on them flat for 50 miles. No mom, you can't and here's why.
Looking at the outside of the tire everything appears fine.
On the inside this is what is happening.
b1B-Shavings-on-Inside.jpg


Yes the sidewalls are strengthened using extra belts and will support the weight of the vehicle parked.
It's when you start driving down the road at 40mph with bumps and turns all that weight shifting and compressing the rubber. It just slowly grinds away where the sidewall and tread connect.
 
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. In the 100+ years we’ve been using inflatable rubber tyres, I find it incredible that the automotive - and aeronautical industries haven’t come up with something less compromised.
 
We already have. Back in 1930.
tm7k5nwzcotwnyn51a4r.jpg

Or the Michelin "Tweel" which is basically the same design.
It's functional and actually very comfortable around town, but the elastic spokes can't handle extreme lateral Gs or highway speeds very well.
 
Or you could just park the car and wait for the mechanic to come out with a tyre and fix it. Far less hassle and it's usually included (or a cheap option) on your normal breakdown insurance.
 
buickgnx88
Am I the only one that misses the days of SUVs having the spare tire mounted to the tailgate? :P
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Is Jeep the only one still doing that? I quite like it as well, plus you don't have to get your clothes messy taking the tire off like with spares mounted under the car.
 
XXI
I just bought my wife a 2017 Dodge Charger and what's under the rug in the boot? A 16" doughnut. The car has the performance sport chassis and comes with 20" wheels.
Retarded.
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Usually spare tire is smaller than set of tyres you drive with. Spare is meant to be temporary solution for replacing the original.

What comes on spare tire missing from new car, it's due ridiculous emission decisions. Though it doesn't weight much, it still count on total weight and and emission calculations are tied onto weight. As you have noticed due diesel scandal by Volkswagen and several other car manufacturers, the emission limits are so tight, there's no reasonable solution to achieve them and factories goes around them by cheating.

I had flat tyre couple years ago due 2cm screw had punctured it. Hole was clean and I had to use can of foam for it. I drove 20 km (~13 miles) at tyreshop and got it patched. Shop had no problems dealing with "foam" since with air around it was like a milk. Inside wheel, due pressure it had got more thick and sealed the hole. Shop washed the milky stuff away and patched it for about 15 euros.

PS. don't get grammar nazing on me about tyre, tire grammar. English is not my priority language.
 
TheCracker
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. In the 100+ years we’ve been using inflatable rubber tyres, I find it incredible that the automotive - and aeronautical industries haven’t come up with something less compromised.
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There are plenty around at the moment but they have their limitations and are very expensive. Plus if they suffered a substantial failure at highway speeds the outcome would be pretty bad.


 
Just to clarify.. 72% of new cars today are total rubbish (made to last maximum 5 years, and has very expensive repairs due to electronics, automatic gearboxes and other unnecessary gadgets).. most of them are not cars, they are refrigerators, ovens and other kitchen equipment, made for grandmothers! ;) - thats why they dont get a spare tire.. tires on them are just so you can get out of the shop! :D
 
Robin
There are plenty around at the moment but they have their limitations and are very expensive. Plus if they suffered a substantial failure at highway speeds the outcome would be pretty bad.
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Yeah, these are all fairly recent innovations. It's like we made do with traditional pneumatic tyres and all their short comings for 120 years before looking for a better solution. I guess, like with the oil industry and the ICE, the worlds tyre companies have had such a monopoly on their industry that there's been zero motivation to really innovate.
 
Tappajakoala
Usually spare tire is smaller than set of tyres you drive with. Spare is meant to be temporary solution for replacing the original.
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Yeah I'm an old guy, worked years at Goodyear.
My gripe with Dodge or any other manufacturers doing it is not matching up the donut/space saver wheel size.
A 16" space saver working with 3 20" wheels turns the car into a tripod and affects important things like suspension geometry.
It may be a non issue as it's for emergency use only, but what if it's 100 miles to new rubber?

Oh on a side note, Dodge has finally started putting the battery in the trunk. It must offset the weight of that massive scat pack hemi up front.
 
Northstar
Is Jeep the only one still doing that? I quite like it as well, plus you don't have to get your clothes messy taking the tire off like with spares mounted under the car.
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I believe the Wrangler and Mercedes G-class are the only 2 in the US that still offer it (and oddly enough are the only SUVS left with 2 solid axles in the US!)
 

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