Leaving the spare wheel behind.

[brian GT6.]

My main car doesn't have a spare wheel , just has one of those tins of squirty stuff. 

 

With the GT6, leaving the spare wheel and Jack behind would loose a fair chunk of weight from the car. 

 

What are other people's thoughts on leaving the spare wheel behind and going modern with a tin of squirty stuff?

 

Would I notice the weight saving?

[Clive]

You really won't notice the weight saving, unless you strip everything out he car and go on track.

And just wait until you get a bolt through the tread and out the sidewall. And it is 10 o'clock at night. And you have to wait an hour for the AA, who can't help as you have no spare. No, keep the spare. And a toolkit.

Modern cars have no spare for cost reasons, plus most drivers need help wiping their own posteriors let alone changing a wheel. We are way better than that!

[brian GT6.]

That's true. Mind you just looked at the spare and I think it's the original. Will replace it with a new one.

[Clive]

Good move. For a spare, either cheapish 155 80, or get one to math the other wheels/tyres and rotate. But 90% of classics the tyres go out of date before getting worn out..... 

[Ian Faulds]

First thing I do with my modern is get a spare. The new way sucks

[Pete Lewis]

The lack of spare wheel /weight does have an effect on the emission results as well as costing less

If you look at the sales brochures the with and withouts have different  results for  the same base spec car

Whilst we dont have  to change wheels very often i wouldnt be without one

Pete

[Ben Caswell]

The spare wheel which should be bolted down will help to form part of the crush zone in the case of a rear end impact.

[poppyman]

1 hour ago, Ian Faulds said:

First thing I do with my modern is get a spare. The new way sucks

No place to put one in my VW    Not even a jack or wheel brace, just the blow and stop where you are kit..............

Tony. 

[brian GT6.]

32 minutes ago, Ben Caswell said:

The spare wheel which should be bolted down will help to form part of the crush zone in the case of a rear end impact.

I can see that.  The wheel itself and tyre would absorb a fair amount of kinetic energy. Mind you the seat without a headrest would be a bigger problem.

[rogerguzzi]

Hello All

               I would not buy a car without one! it will do next to Bugger all for economy and there is not enough room in the boot !

Take less clothes etc

Roger

[Bordfunker]

Having had Mrs B have a puncture in the Peak District in her new Citroen C3 sans spare tyre, with just squirty stuff and a compressor absolutely useless!

By the time that most people have sussed they’ve got a flat on a modern it’s too late, too much damage had been done for the repair foam to work.

All our cars now have a spare fitted, even if I have to go out and by one.

Karl

[Clive]

On the plus side, all modern cars now seem to have tyre pressure monitors. That is good news. Our Toyota has a slow puncture, but it is getting a tad low on tread (I have a pair of crossclimates waiting to be fitted when I get the chance!) and the TPM lights up when pressure drops by about 3-4psi. At which point it gets pumped up and it lasts a couple of weeks. Prior to TPM it would have dropped a bit more before I really noticed.

My daugters are of the generation who NEED this tech as cars are becoming more autonomous by the backdoor. They need less and less thought on the part of the driver. (But my kids do know how to drive well, and observation levels are way better than most. Youngest is a bit of a speed demon, older one a really good navigator. A ladies Triumph rally team in the making?)

Anyway, back on point. I am not sure the wheel bolts down in the GT6 as it does the Spitfire? But the wheel should be useful for transmitting the energy from a hefty rear end into the spring tunnel. We got hit up the rear in the summer, slowish speed, but I think the car took it pretty well. Needs a bootlid, rear panel and valance. Bumper is unmarked, but the lamp was ripped off. I think the car that hit us took the brunt in the foam filled front bumper? 

[68vitesse]

I was told that you can have an alloy wheel and a steel wheel on the same axle aslong as the tyre dimensions are the same without any restrictions.

A skinny which my modern car has will restrict you for speed and distance.

Last puncture was a thorn near the side wall, told can not repaire that you need a new tyre, in the old days would just put a tube in.

"Progress?" always seems to cost me.

Regards

Paul

[Mjit]

Not carried a spare, just a can and foot pump in my Spitfire for over 10 years - though more for reasons of boot space than weight as I take my Spitfire to Le Mans every year.

[JohnD]

There are other uses for a wheel well:

The upstand studs that secure the tank support a cover to prevent luggage fouling any of this while touring, Le Mans, etc.

John

[dave.vitesse]

My MX5 has no spare or room to take one. To me a back-would step. The bottle of repair stuff has a limited life. When the one in the car went solid I tried to get a replacement from the Mazda dealer. What came was a much larger bottle. - "Sorry we don't sell that type any more, we can sell you a larger bottle that's for the larger cars"  I said no thanks, and bought the Holts version as it was cheaper and fitted in the boot.

Keep your Spare wheel.

Dave

[daverclasper]

Hi. My Vitesse has Minilite replicas, though the spare is original. Does anyone know if my Minilite wheel nuts will be suitable for the spare please (have been meaning to check this when the car jacked up, but keep forgetting).

Thanks, Dave  

[dave.vitesse]

Dave, I would use the standard wheel nuts. Just keep them in a small bag with the spare.

Dave

[Pete Lewis]

blow up bottles in Aldi this week  for peanuts 

pete

[Chris A]

2 hours ago, JohnD said:

There are other uses for a wheel well:

The upstand studs that secure the tank support a cover to prevent luggage fouling any of this while touring, Le Mans, etc.

John

Mobile whiskey maker? Great idea!

[Colin Lindsay]

3 hours ago, JohnD said:

There are other uses for a wheel well:

The upstand studs that secure the tank support a cover to prevent luggage fouling any of this while touring, Le Mans, etc.

John

WOW!! A HOME BREWERY!!

(Aw Hell.. just read Chris' post after I posted this... he beat me to it!)

[Colin Lindsay]

...but... re the original post... try repairing something like THIS with a bottle of gunk or whatever. Potholes are back in the news so keep at least one spare handy. Anyway it makes a great storage space for tools, gloves, cloths, and all sorts of assorted service parts for Club runs.

 

[Nick Jones]

For me it beggars belief that the law allows manufacturers to sell cars without even a space-saver wheel. Anything less is clearly inadequate and presents significant risk to the vehicle occupants in the event of a puncture.

Punctures are not that rare and becoming more common due to the unhappy combination of more/bigger potholes and low profile tyres. This event can also break the wheel meaning not just a new tyre but wheel as well. A colleague was recently without his company car for 5 weeks whilst waiting for Skoda to come up with new 20” alloy wheel  for his Octavia.

Another gripe is that you find people who, having driven miles on the remains of a punctured tyre then refuse to even consider the idea that the car could actually manage a few more yards to a safer place than the roundabout or set of traffic lights where they actually realised what the odd noises were......

[Pete Lewis]

the amount oblivians there are thee days makes you worry about just what the future generation  will  ever manage 

if it doesnt come out of the daft phone theyre all snookered   common sense  or experience  does not have an App.

Pete

[Bordfunker]

I do about 500 miles a week for my commute, mainly M40/M25 and every day see people stranded on the hard shoulder with a flat waiting for the RAC/AA/Greenflag, and while I appreciate that it is not always safe to change a tire on the hard shoulder, there have been goodly number of occasions where it was but they were either lacking a spare or the knowledge to change a wheel.

It does feel like a retrograde step, and just cheapness on the part of the manufactures, however bizarrely my cheap as chips Citroen C1 comes with a full size spare! Go figure!

Karl