Nipped into a couple of showrooms today as I was passing...........
Hyundai ix35, under its boot floor, has a full size alloy spare wheel
Nissan Qashqai, under its boot floor, has a full size lump of polystyrene with a can of foam to put in a tyre. The polystyrene is literally the size of a wheel to fit in the wheel shaped well of the boot.
Now I realise this is cost cutting to the extreme but couldn't help but think if I bought a QQ I would either
a. find a spare wheel from a scrappy and put in the well
b. remove the polystyrene thingy and adapt the boot somehow to make use of the vast expanse of space that it would leave. Am sure a sheet of ply and some sound proofing would work quite well and leave loads of storage space!
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>>.... under its boot floor, has a full size lump of polystyrene
>>.... remove the polystyrene thingy and adapt the boot somehow to make use of the vast expanse of space that it would leave.
>> Am sure a sheet of ply and some sound proofing would work quite well and leave loads of storage space!
>>
A missed marketing chance? £50 for
" A. The can goes in a plastic box which is retained by an elastic strap"
" B. Your false floor markrted as a boot expander"
My X Type has a couple of elastic straps in the boot behind the rear lights.
First aid kit in one and torch in the other ( but I have a full sized spare )
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The C5 Tourer has a divided well with the polystyrene clad pump etc taking up a small part and the rest a nice carpet trimmed space with divider which takes all the normal stuff that might usually slide about a loadspace.
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The 3 Series has a deep covered well - properly shaped and lidded in the boot, naturally it doesn't have a spare as it runs on run-flats.
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I had to choose between a full size spare and a sub for the posh sound system. Naturally, I chose the most sensible option.
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Buy the Nissan Qashqai and tell them to fit a new wheel with tyre in the boot or you walk away.
Fitted a full size wheel in mine got shut of the space saver.
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>> I had to choose between a full size spare and a sub for the posh
>> sound system. Naturally, I chose the most sensible option.
>>
"Sensible" could mean either option, depending on whether you wear your baseball cap back to front or not.
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Give me a sub and sealant pump any day... music matters regardless of headwear.
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I've nver been bothered about a spare, even though I have one I have not used one in recent history.
Full sized spares are for older folk who grew up with the comfort blanket they provide.
A sealer can and compressor will be fine for an average puncture from a nail, screw or bit of twisted metal. If you really do get marooned, you can call AA/RAC/Green Flag or local recovery firm. There are even many mobile tyre firms now and you can arrange it all from you're smartphone or findthe nearest tyre shop to limp to with the aerosol sealer in place.
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My job takes me to some back of beyond rural villages late evening. Walking two miles along an unlit country lane in the pouring rain trying to pick up a phone signal and trying to explain to someone in a call centre in Bristol where I am would make any space saving a big price to pay for the limited convenience.
Give me a full sized spare any day.
Last edited by: Robin Regal on Sat 1 Dec 12 at 16:19
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>> If you really do get marooned, you can call AA/RAC/Green Flag or local recovery firm.
Read the small print! I think you'll find they all quote call-out for a puncture requires a suitable spare to be available.
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>> I've nver been bothered about a spare, even though I have one I have not
>> used one in recent history.
>> Full sized spares are for older folk who grew up with the comfort blanket they
>> provide.
>> A sealer can and compressor will be fine for an average puncture from a nail,
>> screw or bit of twisted metal. If you really do get marooned, you can call
>> AA/RAC/Green Flag or local recovery firm. There are even many mobile tyre firms now and
>> you can arrange it all from you're smartphone or findthe nearest tyre shop to limp
>> to with the aerosol sealer in place.
>>
Comfort blanket. lol...
Your going to feel a right plonker stuck out in the rain with a flat that won't seal and the kids carrying on in the back all for the sake of a spare thats if you know how to fit one that is.
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Agree Bigtee,or stuck somewhere in France with no spare tyre.Maybe older folk have more sense.
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>> Your going to feel a right plonker stuck out in the rain with a flat
>> that won't seal and the kids carrying on in the back all for the sake
>> of a spare thats if you know how to fit one that is.
Not really you sit there in the car with the heater on playing I spy with the kids.
I spy with my little eye, something beginning with AA
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" Your going to feel a right plonker stuck out in the rain with a flat that won't seal and the kids carrying on in the back all for the sake of a spare thats if you know how to fit one that is."
No moreso than not carrying a run/start relay, full battery, spare alternator or high pressure diesel injection pump. I have been stuck with these problems more often over the years than flat tyres. The probability of getting a flat tyre seems so remote and is no big deal compared to other failures. At least you can still move the car and even drive 10 miles at a very slow speed. Recovery would be £55 ish and a new tyre cost is pretty fixed depending on your car.
Last edited by: sooty tailpipes on Sun 2 Dec 12 at 10:41
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That's the luck of the draw though isn't it? I've gone years between punctures before now and then had two in a week. First was a nail which might have been gunkable but the second was as a result of a pothole shredding a sidewall. Definitely not gunkable. Happened at after midnight when I was a long way from home. Lobbed the spacesaver on and drove slowly back so I'm convinced I want something other than gunk.
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About 10 years ago I bought 2 x tyres and punctured both within a fortnight, both repairable so no real issue other than the mess I got into... 1 x business suit ruined as it was wet and really dirty road.
Bought 2 x set of waterproof trousers and jackets.
Never used them, still in their packets, in beside the spare tyres.
2 x punctures since - noticed what was a slow puncture on the driveway, put in some air and drove to Kwik-fit. New car 5 years ago and within 2 weeks had a nail, noticed it as the polished head of the nail caught the light, again off to tyre centre.
I would prefer a full size spare but a skinny spare will suffice.
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After a period of mumbling that only a full size spare will do (still my preferred option) I have settled for a pram wheel, which I think is good enough. It would get me rolling. Towing isn't really a problem, the load rating and diameter of the spacesaver is the same as the others, though there's always the option of putting it on the front.
The boss is indomitable and has changed a few wheels, but when all's said and done is 5'2", 63 with arthritic hands, so she's under strict instructions now to call the RAC in the event of a puncture (as would I if I was on the hard shoulder of a mororway, or at the side of a fast A road). Having a spare still helps though - IIRC they used to say that they expected you to have a serviceable spare.
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It takes about 5 minutes to change a wheel.
With a decent-sized car the space a spare takes up is minimal. I can't see any point in not having one.
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>> It takes about 5 minutes to change a wheel.
>> With a decent-sized car the space a spare takes up is minimal. I can't see any point in not having one.
>>
Missed the :-) ?
It might take 5 mins with your vehicle but not mine.
My older Ford had a jack that easily slotted into little tubes on the car body so that was quite a quick job..
On both my current Ford & X Type the jack has to be positioned under specific points on the seams of the body. The U shaped jack pads have to fit correctly under the seams. On the X which has extra cills hiding these points, it is a case of going by feel or lying down to see the correct locations.
Of course with bigger/ heavier wheels they are more difficult to locate them on the studs.
I am comfortable in the process of changing my wheels but doing it on the road is a much higher risk these days.
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Honda want 400gbp for an alloy to put intheboot. Mr Dunlop wants 180 for a tyre.
So little change out of 600 notes to replace a steel skinny spare!!!
That is the reason for no real sale in most modern cars.
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I was called out to our little Aygo last week, in it's parking bay with a flat rear tyre. I was surprised to see it had a spacesaver in the boot...nice one, Toyota.
In the event, I tried my compressor first and managed to get about 20psi in, enough to make the mad dash to National before it went down again. I draw the line at wheelchanges on a muddy, uneven car park even though I do carry a small trolley jack. Needed a new tyre in the end, woodscrew in the shoulder.
The Note has a thinny, fine by me. The Vitara's is a normal one, about the size of an Aygo hung on the back door.
Ted
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>> >> I had to choose between a full size spare and a sub for the
>> posh
>> >> sound system. Naturally, I chose the most sensible option.
>> >>
>> "Sensible" could mean either option, depending on whether you wear your baseball cap back to
>> front or not.
>>
Well, at least I'll be able to enjoy the music while the dinky compressor refills the tyre. :-)
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>> Now I realise this is cost cutting to the extreme
Isn't it more to do with saving weight by not carting a wheel, tyre, jack, & brace around in the boot?
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>> >> Now I realise this is cost cutting to the extreme
>>
>> Isn't it more to do with saving weight by not carting a wheel, tyre, jack, & brace around in the boot?
>>
and hence fuel saving/ CO2 emissions ?
Plus with wider wheels it is becoming more difficult to fit em in hence a slab of polystyrene around the spare in IIRC the Focus.
To date I have not had a really inconvenient puncture for over eight years.
I live in an urban area so tyre shops are a plenty. My space saver has never been used on my 1998 car and I assuime it is the original.
If I need a tyre replaced I want to choose the brand etc, not just accept what ever is available.
My tyres are not the bog standard common size low speed rated ditchfinders.
I am happier with my full sizes spare.
Last edited by: henry k on Sat 1 Dec 12 at 17:41
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"Isn't it more to do with saving weight by not carting a wheel, tyre, jack, & brace around in the boot?"
It might be, although probably a minimal amount compared with the weight of the car: every little helps I suppose.
What is indefensible is designing a car without room for a spare wheel if the customer wants one. Saving space on its own is not much of an argument - if you have a puncture when your boot is full of luggage, what are you supposed to do with the punctured full-size wheel when you've fitted the space-saver?
The answer is surely - unless like Sooty Tailpipes you are happy to take the risk - not to buy a car unless a spare wheel is either standard or an optional extra.
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What on earth was offensive about Sooty T's 'comfort blanket' post earlier? You don't have to agree with it, but how does red-facing a harmless comment like that contribute to peace, love and understanding?
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12 months ago we were in a very dark and rainy Scotland, country road middle of nowhere, when I hit a brick or a pothole. Tyre went bang. No sealant on earth would have solved the problem, but my proper spare wheel did.
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... very dark and rainy Scotland...
Tautology warning.
All this anecdotage proves nothing except that a small, unrepresentative group of car enthusiasts prefers to have a spare wheel and still knows what to do with one. I strongly suspect we are in the minority.
I don't know whether 911s come with a spare. Even if they do, the driver of the one that peeled off a huge rear tyre in the middle lane of the M4 this week seemed in no hurry to get out and use his. Would he even have been able to lift the dud wheel?
I think we're in danger of judging modern cars by 1950s norms. I don't carry - and never have, back to my first car in 1989 - jump leads, fan belt, radiator screen or any of the paraphernalia some still consider normal but most have long since dispensed with. I have always had a spare wheel, and used it on three occasions in 23 years. An umbrella I used that little would long ago have been consigned to the great elephant's foot in the sky; winding two tons of car off the ground by a busy road with a scissor jack is understandably something most of today's drivers would prefer not to do.
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If my wife has a puncture in her Polo she has no chance of changing the wheel. She wouldn't even be able to get the spare out of the boot, let alone jack up the car or undo the wheel nuts.
Not be cause she doesn't know how, because she doesn't have the physical strength.
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"If my wife has a puncture in her Polo she has no chance of changing the wheel."
Likewise, my wife - but when she has had a puncture (on 2 occasions that I can think of) 3 miles away from home on a winter's evening, she can phone me and I'll drive out and replace the duff wheel with the space-saver. Within the hour, she can be back home drinking coffee. I would insist that any car that I owned had, at least, a space-saver.
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I don't have especially strong views re spacesavers versus full size spares but I do want some form of spare on board. I'm often a long way from home and can find myself driving at funny times of the night. For example it's not unusual to be leaving at 1.00 AM to drive the 3 hours or so to a London airport or the 4 hours or thereabouts to Stranraer to catch an early ferry. In those circumstances a spare is very handy. My current car has different sized tyres front to back so a full size would only "fit" one axle anyway.
As for the weight issue, I'm not convinced. I drive with my car stuffed full or empty and can't say it makes any noticeable difference to mpg on a run. Pressing on does, or having kit on the roof does but a few extra lbs / kilos difference inside ( take your pick ) in what is already a big heavy car doesn't seem to matter much.
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Spare wheels - opposite extremes - henry k
