[swarnava.m]

I searched the forum for a thread on this, but found only a small mention of this in a post and no comprehensive discussion about it. So here goes.

I've had a Chevrolet Captiva for the last 9 months. Absolutely brilliant vehicle, no issues, no complaints, runs like a bliss.

A few days back, on the highway I had a punctured tyre. As usual, I jacked up the car, and went to retrieve the spare. I had checked it while taking the delivery (and noticed that it wasn't the alloy rims put on the 4 wheels, but normal steel rim), however, hadn't noticed it properly. Now when I took it out, to my horror, I discovered that it is a different size altogether. The normal alloys are R17, while the wheel on the spare is R16. Furthermore, the regular tyres are 235/60, while the spare is a 215/70. I was visible shocked.

Having no option at that point, we fixed the spare tyre and continued. The car was riding very awkwardly, and had a pretty noticeable tilt towards one side. Also, I do not know whether its in my mind, but I feel the handling characteristics were very much different, like one side was being dragged along.

I drove very slowly the rest of the way, and thankfully nothing went wrong.

I visited the dealer at the very next opportunity, and pointed this out to him. What he told me was, this was the way the car came from the company. And since the Captiva is imported CBU, there is really nothing he can do about it. He said this was the case in some other cars as well.

I found his words very unconvincing, and told him so. Then he took me to the stock yard and showed me a few other cars, some awaiting delivery and some that were not even registered, and they all had this differently sized spare tyre.

I asked him the reason for it, and he told me something like "the original design of the car had no provision for a spare wheel, and this has been included later, hence there is not enough space to fit the regular tyre, so a smaller one has been put". I couldn't very well comprehend what he meant to say. To cut a long story short, I then asked him what I am supposed to do with a wheel that has a punctured tyre (i carried it in the boot in the previous instance), and he told me the same, to carry it in the boot, since it would fit in place of the spare wheel. I asked him what when there is a lot of luggage, or 7 people in the car. He had no answers.

I was extremely disappointed to find an irregularity of this sort in a car that cost over 20 lacs. I really don't know how to solve this issue, and any opinions and suggestions in this regard would be really helpful.

[akshay4587]

Thats, space saver norm,across the globe and manufacturers.
i am surprised you didnt know about it.

[Nitrous Power]

Looks like a space saver. The only question that I have is, usually Space Savers are much smaller in size where as in your case, it's just a size down from 17 to 16. You should contact a.s.s and make sure that other Captiva's also carry same size.

[Ricky_63]

If the outer diameter is the same in both tyres it should not be a problem. Though I have checked - in this case the outer dia is 10 mm more in case of the spare tyre - that is surely weird. That could result in weird road manners !!

Any other owners noticed the same ?

[suman]

The entire concept of Space Saver tyres is that you are not encouraged to keep the spare one on for an indefinite period. You are expected to get the puncture fixed at the earliest opportunity & put the original tyre back on. It can definitely be a pain if you don't have a puncture repair shop in the vicinity & are driving with the full complement of 7 passengers though!

Originally Posted by Nitrous Power

You should contact a.s.s and make sure that other Captiva's also carry same size.

He has, you probably didn't read the entire post -

Originally Posted by swarnava.m

I found his words very unconvincing, and told him so. Then he took me to the stock yard and showed me a few other cars, some awaiting delivery and some that were not even registered, and they all had this differently sized spare tyre.

[swarnava.m]

Originally Posted by Ricky_63

If the outer diameter is the same in both tyres it should not be a problem. Though I have checked - in this case the outer dia is 10 mm more in case of the spare tyre - that is surely weird. That could result in weird road manners !!

Any other owners noticed the same ?

Correct. The outer diameter is more by about 10mm, but the inner diameter is short by 2 inches. That causes a prominent irregularity. The riding characteristics felt extremely awkward.

[Ricky_63]

Originally Posted by swarnava.m

Correct. The outer diameter is more by about 10mm, but the inner diameter is short by 2 inches. That causes a prominent irregularity. The riding characteristics felt extremely awkward.

By inner diameter you mean the rim size ? That should not effect ride as much as the OD

[swarnava.m]

Originally Posted by Ricky_63

By inner diameter you mean the rim size ? That should not effect ride as much as the OD

Why not? My regular wheel is R17, which means its has a 34" diameter, or approx 860mm. The tyre is 235/60, which means the sidewall is approx 141mm. This adds up to a total of 1142 mm.

In contrast, the spare wheel is R16, which means 812mm. The tyre is 215/70, i.e. sidewall is 150mm. This adds up to a total of 1112mm.

Hence a total difference of 3cm height on one wheel. How does the difference between rim size and OD come in to the picture?

[maheshramaling]

This souds ridiculous and it is a major safety issue having a wrong size tyre beyond the issue of where to keep the orginal tyre if the compartment is full.

Can't all the captiva owners raise this issue with Chevrolet management in India to alter this in the newer vehicles & come up with a remedy for all the older vehicles which are on-road?

If not - I guess you should lodge a complaint (or at-least state that while escalating this matter to Chevrolet Management) with SIAM India or any other competent authoritizes who deal with safety norms.

[bala80]

This is fairly common across all manufacturers to provide space saver tyres and nothing specific to only chevy or captiva. For example VW also provides only 14 inch steel rims as spare on their vento's/polo's where as the OEM is 15 inch alloys. Tyre profile will also be different to compensate for this reduction in overall diameter.

Your owner manual will usually carry a warning message not to travel over 80 kmph when running on the spare. These are meant to enable you to reach the nearest workshop to fix the puncturered tyre, nothing more.

[GTO]

The difference in diameter is <1% and hence, well within permissible limits. I don't see any issue in using this size of spare well. Yes, the handling will be different, as one tyre doesn't have the sheer grip of the others. It is best to maintain an extremely sedate driving style (60 - 80 kph) when on a space-saver spare tyre.

I can't understand why your Captiva was tilting to one side though. Unless the spare had no air in it...



Comparison prepared using the awesome tool on 1010tyres

[swarnava.m]

Originally Posted by GTO

I can't understand why your Captiva was tilting to one side though. Unless the spare had no air in it...

Yes, that could very well be the case actually, since it was the first time the tyre was ever used. Well, this sorts it out, though I still haven't been able to figure out what to do with the punctured wheel if the vehicle is full.

[Dolphin]

Also, did your Captiva come with 235/60/R-17 tyres? Isn't 235/65/R-17 the standard OE tyre size on the Captiva?

[Ricky_63]

Originally Posted by swarnava.m

Why not? My regular wheel is R17, which means its has a 34" diameter, or approx 860mm. The tyre is 235/60, which means the sidewall is approx 141mm. This adds up to a total of 1142 mm.

In contrast, the spare wheel is R16, which means 812mm. The tyre is 215/70, i.e. sidewall is 150mm. This adds up to a total of 1112mm.

Hence a total difference of 3cm height on one wheel. How does the difference between rim size and OD come in to the picture?

Your querry has been addressed by GTO - hope that makes it simpler to understand, with the chart & all the numbers on it.

Originally Posted by GTO

The difference in diameter is <1% and hence, well within permissible limits. I don't see any issue in using this size of spare well. Yes, the handling will be different, as one tyre doesn't have the sheer grip of the others. It is best to maintain an extremely sedate driving style (60 - 80 kph) when on a space-saver spare tyre.

I can't understand why your Captiva was tilting to one side though. Unless the spare had no air in it...

Attachment 843825

Comparison prepared using the awesome tool on 1010tyres

This is self - explanatory - trust your doubt is put to rest

Originally Posted by swarnava.m

Yes, that could very well be the case actually, since it was the first time the tyre was ever used. Well, this sorts it out, though I still haven't been able to figure out what to do with the punctured wheel if the vehicle is full.

Your concern is truly understandable. It is common practice to use a metal rim with an inch less dia in many vehicles, where the 4 wheels on the car are alloys




Cheers

[swarnava.m]

Originally Posted by Dolphin

Also, did your Captiva come with 235/60/R-17 tyres? Isn't 235/65/R-17 the standard OE tyre size on the Captiva?

I have no idea about that. :(

Here is a pic of what I have.



Also, they are of a brand called Kumho. Never heard of it before. But performed satisfactorily so far, no complains.