Today a full size spare tyre is a rarity.
Most manufacturers provide only space-saver or speed limited tyres, and sometimes no tyre at all, with an inflator kit or run-flat tyre considered enough for the job.
The car companies can argue that with modern technology and better roads a flat is now a rare event, but we’re still having punctures. And there’s no denying the practicality of a full size spare tyre if you’re a long way from the nearest town.
We’d like to hear your thoughts and experiences on the subject.
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Of course car manufacturers are trying to reduce costs by not providing a full spare tyre, and that may be appropriate. However, I suggest that cars should always have space available for a full spare (perhaps have full-spare as an option).
Tyres are very vital as far as safety aspect of driving a car is concerned. Again like in everything else where the customer has to cough up the money, manufacturers want to pass the buck. They should consider the consumer’s plight and provide a full spare tyre
Its well and good for car manufactureres to put skinny tyres in boots but do not try and drive these tyres on outback roads as you will be walking pretty soon.
I will not buy a car that does not come with a full size spare under any circumstances. Also all wheels must be a matched set ie 5 steel or 5 alloy
I would not consider any replacement car not having a full sized spare. Space savers have a limited road and speed life. If you have to change a tyre, then once repaired, you have to either do it yourself or arrange for the Space Saver to be changed. Maybe I am of the old school. Fortunately I have a car with alloys and my spare is an alloy so I do not need to change over the repaired wheel so the car will always look “normal”.
I have had the experience with the APEC long weekend last week where my brand new car (144km on the clock!) got a large screw/bolt in the tyre on the Thursday night with a planned trip from Sydney to Bowral and back on the Friday (public holiday in Sydney). Luckily, my car came with a full size spare (Subaru), and I was still able to make my planned trip, albeit with a spare tyre (still inflated) with a large bolt in it. I was able to get it repaired on the Saturday on my return to Sydney. If you had a flat on a Saturday afternoon with a nice Sunday drive planned, a space saver would be a real downer to your trip!
When the tyre was repaired, they asked if I’d like it put back on the car, I indicated that the repaired tyre was now newer than that on the car, so I was happy to leave it as a spare!
There are some areas where car manufacturers can reduce costs like reduce the number of speakers to 4 instead of 7 or 9! In such a small space, they are overkill. However, a full spare tyre is not!
I would not consider cars without a full spare tyre and that is one of the important reason why I bought the Holden Astra instead of Mazda3! As I am going to buy a new small car next year, I will be pitting the Mazda3 against the Honda Civic and no need to guess which car will probably get my nod.
I was in the process of buying a new toyota aurion prodigy but in my reasearch found toyota only supply a steel wheel for the spare & the car runs on alloy wheels. I decided not to buy i think this is very cheap on there part .
Returning home from Brisbane in my Kia Carnival I had a blow out left front about 40Km north of Kempsey just at the end of a passing section at about 4:15 p.m on a rainy day. Imagine my horror not only to find an 80 K/mh rated “space saver” under the car but to access it you have to wind it down on the drivers side ! Jeez those trucks push a bit of wind in front of them !! After that scare luckily the Beaurepaire gent in Kempsey found (and fitted) a comparable tyre which enabled me to continue my trip home at a safe speed i.e 100 k/mh or the appropriate posted speed. The drive into Kempsey with the “s.s” was a nightmare as I continually pulled to the left to allow traffic (read BIG TRUCKS ) to pass. Ban all “space savers”, they are dangerous !!!!!!
While on holidays I borrowed a friends car to drive to the Sunshine Coast to visit another friend of mine. Upon leaving, I discovered I had a flat tyre. The spare was a speed limited tyre. My options were to either spend the night with my friend (with no spare clothing or anything for my toddler or myself) or get another tyre. It was 4.50 in the afternoon and it was only luck that I managed to get onto a tyre place in Noosaville that stayed open for me to get there. (Bless them!) The new tyre cost more than $250.00 and that was the basic model (for a WRX) and I ended up driving home 3 hours later in the dark than I would have if the manufacturer had put a full-sized spare in the car. I feel that, like standard safety features, so too should a full-sized spare be included in all cars. This is another example of what you’re paying for diminishing in size. Like biscuits going from 250g to 200g in size and increasing the price, just because the packaging has changed. Come on Australia! This type of stuff is product erosion and should not be tolerated!
I believe that car’s that rely on 4 wheels to drive, and hence if only one wheel gets a puncture then this render’s the car unusable if a slow leaking hole or a blowout occur. This means that a driver could be stranded in any number of places. At least with a spare wheel a driver can usually replace and keep going to the nearest stop or to their destination and get it repaired or replaced.
I know that this year alone I have experienced two slow leaking punctures. One due to road works and the other building works that have occurred. One I noticed and the other I did not. Chances of blowout occurring with slow leaking that has not occurred is more probable.
For my safety and my families. I would prefer peace of mind that I had a spare tyre built into my vehicle structure as I never know when I will need it. Whether due to a busy lifestyle in town or on the open road. I would prefer to keep the spare tyre than live without it…
I understand car manufacturers strive to make their cars smaller without compromising efficiency, improving weight distruction, cost-cutting etc. But they either need to invent a puncture-proof tyre or find somewhere to put a full size spare. These are the only two realistic options.
As someone has already pointed out, having a tyre punctured, as small as it may seem, basically renders your car useless. You are not always in walking distance of a mechanic, so a full size spare tyre MUST be included.
Not equipping a car with a full size spare severely compromises personal safety. It is unfortunate this cannot be addressed.
Better roads? Manufacturers need to try country Australia. A staked tire and no full size spare when you are a few 100km from a town which may have tyre repairer or retailer, if they are open, is no joke. There is no way I will buy a vehicle which does not have a full size spare.
It is surely a price cutting thig this space saver. The argument that new tyre technology doesn’t warrant a spare full size tyre doesn’t wash because agreed that the tyres are of superior quality and under normal circumstances probably won’t have a puncture on the open road – but this is in theory and there is nothing to stop a nail, glass, sharp gravel and like in my case razor sharp edge caused by bitumen breaking off the main road, to slice through your tyre or do a big hole. Plus what guarantee is there that the puncture/damage can be repaired?Clearly spae saver is a cost saver for the manufacturer and only suitable to people who drive no within the 50km radius of their home.
We don’t see many of the 24/7 tyre repair shops every 100 metres out here in the sticks! I just had a tyre punctured beyond repair (sharp stone?) out in the boonies on a Saturday night. Pussyfooting around on a full size spare with no backup until Monday didn’t inspire a feeling of wellbeing! I’d really love to do that on a space saver.
I need a full size spare so i can put on my boat trailer if needed. I would think that the space saver tyre is not capable of carrying 800kg of weight, as my boat and trailer has a GVM of 1500kg. The stud patten are the same, this is not by mistake.
I need a full sized spare tyre.
There is only one way to stop manufacturers using run flat or space saver spares, don’t but their products.
Unfortunately the average Joe does not think to ask “does it have run flats” and only finds out the hard way.
It would be great if someone (like the NRMA) published a list of manufacturers using these tyres with a description of the problems of using them so that Joe or Josephine could be better informed with their next purchase.
I suspect that the move to lower rated spare tyres came out of Europe and America. Obviously roads are far better in those places. I don’t call them space saver because my current car has one and it doesn’t look any smaller than a normal rimmed tyre. I had to use it and I can tell you that keeping under 80 was almost impossible all the time and I was driving in Sydney traffic going to work. Car manufacturers will fill your car with so called safety devices such as traction control, air bags, cruise, ABS, etc. but when it comes to the most important safety feature on a car, ie. tyres, they seem to scrimp. When I get a new car I make sure it is properly shod.
Space savers are extemely limiting. And where do you put the full size tyre that came off the car? Finding a good people mover with a ful size spare is getting very difficult. Space savers are standard, with no option for a full size spare, on the Honda Odyssey, and the Toyota Tarago. I think we should stop the sales of these cars by changing the Australian Design Regulations. Even Holden fits a space saver to the Commodore, although a full size spare fits and is an option. Apparently Holden used a space saver to save a little weight so their published fuel consumption figures would be slightly better.
I recently bought a new Mazda 3 Neo. I insisted on a full size wheel in the overall negotiated price. The only issue now is that because of the increased tyre size, the plastic tray that came with the space saver tyre won’t fit in the tyre well. Unfortunately the carpet covered well cover is very thin and flexes without the plastic tray. The sales people said they had not had anyone else request a full size tyre.
This is something that definitely should be covered in car standards.
i think these tyres if you wont to call them that are dangerous as far as i am concren. they are only for emergency only but i see alot of motorist driving around every day and in some or even most cases i have seen cars with these tyres on freeways doing the speed limit 90 to 110km/hr which to my understanding have a max. speed sticker of 80km on them.
People are also fitting them up to the front which cant be any good for steering and road handling
I will never buy a vehicle without a proper spare, and I suggest nobody else does either. Once manufacturers realise they are not selling any cars, they will soon abandon this rubbish. And the ADRs should DEMAND full size spares. My 2c worth…
I refuse to buy a car, business or pleasure, that has not got a full size spare! Alternatives at present are simply too dangerous, inconvenient and in some cases impossible to use, even as backup.
Looking around for a suitable fleet car for my company recently came to several possibles. The final decision was easy… chose the model with a full size spare, irrespective of all the other gimmics and add ons the opposition threw in. Manufacturers take note!!! Toy spares are simply not suitable in Australia where no garage is open at night or long week end, so punctures cannot be repaired.
Seriously, some of these arguments don’t make sense. It’s not always a case of needing a full sized spare wheel. People who live in the city or urban areas most of the time probably don’t require a full sized spare.
Space Saver spares are applicable in some areas, and then full size spares are applicable in others. Think of those poor people who buy small cars that have no spare tyre at all!
And if you’ve got a space saver spare and you break down in the country and its 100km’s to the nearest workshop.. I guess you call NRMA.
The question of over or incorrect use of space saver spares is a different matter though.
I have a full size spare in my car right now…but i am gonna get rid of it becoz i only have room for a space saver in the groove as i wanna put things in the boot. a space saver is after all a very temporary tyre, one that will let u get the car home or to a mechanic.
i have a device that u can use to pump up and repair punctured tyres in the car that i will use instead of the space saver, which will be there in the most extreme emergencies. so for some people (like me) a space saver is the way to go.
Be thankful that you even have a space saver spare tyre. My Lotus Elise doesn’t have a spare all, just a can of air. There’s just no room for a spare, and if it did have one, would it be the 16 inch for the front or the 17 inch for the rear?
I regrettably just bought a new Volvo XC-90.
It came with a Space Saver.
Any car company that prides itself in safety and or Luxury has absolutely no right involving itself with space savers.
Also, I love the thought of the car being full of family and loaded to the roof. The we get a puncture on the front wheel.
Whoooo!!!!!! Then we need to change one of the rears over to the front, then put the space saver on the rear…………….Best of all, where do you put the full sized flat???????????? Oh tie it to the bonnet????? No how about the roof???? Oh, silly me you leave the luggage by the roadside, put the flat in your beautiful clean boot space if it’s all wet and perhaps muddy and then get it repaired and then come back for your wet luggage.
The people at Volvo didn’t think of possibly needing to carry the flat to anywhere really did they????
The spare does not fit in the space saver space of course!!!!!
Mad!!!
Why am I really mad??? Because I knew all this before hand!
Volvo claims by 2020 no one will ever get injured in an accident in their cars. Big claim, wonder if they will sort out a tyre that never gets a puncture. Maybe its time to rethink the wheel.