Spare wheels. Full size , space saver or can of foam?

CMOT

CMOT

Joined
Friday September 10, 2010
Location
County Durham UK
Thought I might benefit from the collective motoring experience. I'm about to replace my car and very few of the options come with a spare wheel at all or even a space saver. My current car has a full size spare but I have not needed it. I have needed spares with previous cars and these were always full size wheels. We often head out as a family to fairly remote places and this will be the going on holiday taking everything vehicle so I don't want to get stranded or stuck on a motorway for hours because of no decent spare.

Any comments about the relative merits of spare wheels/foam etc?

Cheers
 
My other half is the queen of punctures. She has a space saver and I'm forever putting it on.

It's not too bad to be honest, just keep the speed to what it recommends and it's just as good IMO as a full size spare.

The only down side is you have to get the puncture fixed ASAP.

I hope that helps a little!
 
My car has no place to put a spare, and is supplied with gunk and a compressor, which I've replaced with a can of tyre weld. I've heard nothing but good about the canned stuff so far (been lucky enough not to have to use it).

As you say, I think it's just a necessity of modern motoring.
 
My Lupo GTI had foam. It's useless!

If you have a puncture in the sidewall, it's no good and the foam has to be cleaned out (which isn't easy or nice) before the tyre can be reused.

It would really put me off buying another car if I didn't have at least a space saver.
 
My Civc came with a can of gunk and a compressor. There is room for a space saver, and you can buy one from Honda, but the price is stupid.

Ian
 
My current company car is a BMW 1 series so has run flats and as the boot floor is full of electrics and the battery there is no space even for a can of gunk. I have had 2 punctures in 3+ years and have found the system to work well........once you get over the rumbling noise and other drivers telling you that you have a flat.
Due to cuts in the company my next car will be a Ford C-max, no spare, no compressor just a can of gunk.........not too happy about this so I asked for a space saver tyre and was told to get stuffed........... miserable bastards.
 
I took my wife's Honda Jazz to Guildford last week where we stayed for a few days. Had a flat tyre and opened up under the boot for the first time since we got the car new in 2005. Found this tiny tyre - quite a shock. Had to observe 50mph limit, apart from that it did the emergency trips required. The new Fazz comes without a spare - my wife won't hear of it. If we do replace, I'll want a tyre and won't wish to rely on canned stuff if we get a flat.
 
A friend of ours had to pay extra last year to get a spare wheel for their new Fiesta. It wouldn't bother me to be honest, the less weight your carrying around the better. I don't even fill the tank to save on weight, we don't go far and it's only then we top it up past half way.
 
We have a big 4/4...and believe it or not that came with a space saver spare....unfortunately I'd signed up for it before I realised....I only discovered it when they proudly showed me it at the delivery inspection.....They very Kindly said they could provide me with a "proper" Full size alloy and tyre for £400+.....you gotta be kidding.....

The next car I buy..will be provided with a proper spare in with the price or I'll go somewhere else...something else to put on the (to look out for list)

I think the space savers should be banned...I hate and detest the things..they're always smaller diameter than the proper road wheels.....Bloody dangerous in my opinion.
 
We asked the Ford Dealer to sort us out with a spacesaver instead of the sealant kit, and now he's going to chuck it in for 'free'. It normally costs £75, which is not bad.
 
Tall_Paul said:
If you have a puncture in the sidewall, it's no good and the foam has to be cleaned out (which isn't easy or nice) before the tyre can be reused.
Click to expand...

Hi Paul. Just one small technical point:-

If you have a puncture in the sidewall the tyre will be scrap and won't need the old foam cleaning out!
 
Depends on the use of the car - if you are going to be doing any miles get a full size spare - its just good insurance. Even a nasty cheapo single alloy or the like from Ebay would be fine - or a full set of steel wheels with good tyres can be had for reasonable money (we got some tatty alloys for my dad's Merc which had brand new tyres very cheap so was four good tyres on "winter" wheels plus a good spare steel)

If you are just pottering abuot town, then a can might suffice. But better to carry two as one doesn't alwas seal it. And remember that the tyre is still junk after you've gunked it and the rim will be nasty when you come to have another fitted...

Space savers are great to keep the weight and size down but could still leave you in a pickle if you need to cover serious mileage
 
There has to be a physical spare - I'm agnostic whether it needs to be a full-sized one or a space-saver - just needs to be able to get me from the scene of the puncture to the tyre fitter... and having had only 2 punctures, one of them was near Sgobharaidh in Sutherland (which is a long way on the other side of the the middle of nowhere), it was pushing the limit of the spacesaver to get to the "local" tyre fitter.
 
Re: RE: Spare wheels. Full size , space saver or can of foam?

al_kaholik said:
And remember that the tyre is still junk after you've gunked it
Click to expand...

This turns out not to be the case. The tyre is still repairable, my fitter quoted me an extra tenner to clean it out (actually "under a tenner").
 
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