![]() | #17 |
Distinguished - BHPian ![]() ![]() Join Date: Jul 2011 Location: Bombay
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| ![]() Unfortunately, this is a uniquely Indian problem - people every where else seem fine with run-flats and no spare. All luxury car makers are moving in that direction, and I suspect it's a matter of time before other large cars move there as well. |
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![]() | #18 | |
Distinguished - BHPian ![]() ![]() | ![]() Quote:
Google "run flats suck". Generic strings will give you even more results. That manufacturers are moving away from regular ones, is their prerogative. But I dont think any mass car manufacturer in India will ever move away from regulars or donuts. Luxury car makers in India had better see sense. Its a stupid solution. To what problem again? | |
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![]() | #19 |
Team-BHP Support ![]() ![]() | ![]() If you can place the spare wheel vertically in the boot, and hold it in place with luggage, I think it will be more space efficient. One question: Let's say you have a puncture in front right tyre. Can you fix this space saver tyre there? Or do you have to fix the space saver only at the back from safety/handling point of view? |
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![]() | #20 |
Senior - BHPian Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Bombay
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| ![]() I was always intrigued and baffled by this stupid phenomenon of luxury German Car makers in particular BMW of not offering a spare wheel in their super expensive cars. Another very STUPID aspect is them German luxury brands not offering a full size spare alloy wheel similar to all the other four wheels. What makes them so stingy in giving a full size alloy wheel when a customer is paying so much. Same is the case with VW group cars including Skoda. It is really appalling to see a Skoda Superb with an ugly black steel spare wheel similar to the one posted of an Audi A4 in this thread. Now these cars ain't cheap they cost a LOT. Comparing this to my Mitsubishi Lancer, which comes with alloy wheels as well and to my surprise the spare wheel is a full size alloy wheel as well. If a 10 lakh car can have a full size spare alloy wheel like all the other four wheels then why can't a luxury car costing 5 to 7 times or even more have a full size spare alloy wheel? Run Flat of whatever BULLSHIT!!! It Beats me hollow? Last edited by navin_v8 : 1st June 2016 at 10:38. |
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![]() | #21 |
BHPian ![]() Join Date: Apr 2013 Location: Bangalore
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| ![]() Runflat! More like run away after your tire is flat! I don't understand why BMW has still stuck with runflats, the only upside I can think of is that runflats are pretty much immune to sudden air pressure loss which in turn makes them immune to blow outs? Why somebody would settle for a harsher ride with runflats is beyond me. |
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![]() | #22 |
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![]() | #23 | ||
Senior - BHPian ![]() Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: electricity
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From a manufacture point of view a luxury car should hardly stop for a puncture let alone be parked on the road while someone is changing tyres. One solution is to get to the nearest point from wherever they are to get an alternate mode of transport to move on or get them to a service station which is far safer. Second is to make this ordeal least impact-ful on the passengers. Most of the luxury brands offer that replacement car till the car is repaired which means the consumer hardly wastes time in changing the tyres. And that to me is luxury. I dont know how much it happens in India, but any developed nation where these cars are consumed more the run flats are exceptional value over spare wheels. Last edited by VW2010 : 1st June 2016 at 11:11. | ||
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![]() | #24 |
Team-BHP Support ![]() ![]() Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: S'pore/Thrissur
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![]() | #25 |
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![]() | #26 | |
Distinguished - BHPian ![]() ![]() | ![]() The problem now is same with all 3 German brands. The ones without this issue are soon to replaced old models. In fact some of the newer BMW cars including 7 Series and X1 have a dedicated space for a spare tire. Have a look at the photos from Auto expo 2016: ![]() ![]() Quote:
Even with this much space compromised, the space saver spare tire is compressed in the storage bag, so it has to be inflated before mounting, and it is almost impossible to pack the space saver again. Atleast for the SUV's there should be a full size spare. Last edited by .anshuman : 1st June 2016 at 11:38. | |
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![]() | #27 |
BHPian ![]() Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Bangaloru
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| ![]() A flat low profile tire can be run for a some distance, a high profile is defiantly a no, no. Most of the high end cars run with a very low profile tire. Once tubeless was introduced,, it made life much easier for us. We can travel some distance before the tire becomes totally flat(unless it’s cut wide enough not to hold the air). In my car(low end ![]() SUV defiantly needs a regular spare tire. I’m neutral here. |
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![]() | #28 |
Senior - BHPian ![]() Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Mumbai
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| ![]() We wanted to replace our Skoda Superb with either the E 250, 520d or A6 but in all cases the silly spare tyre in the boot was the only reason we differed from the purchase. The funniest part is on speaking to the sales guys of these brands and telling them our predicament of how boot space is important to us as we travel out of Mumbai a lot and the spare tyre leaves us no room for luggage, we are told with confidence to leave the spare tyre at home LOL!! What a shame for cars costing 60+ lakhs! We decided to just book the 2016 Superb. |
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![]() | #29 | |||||
Senior - BHPian Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Bombay
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Also all this while we are talking about mere punctures what if a tyre blow out happens when I am 300 kms away from the nearest Tier 1 city in India? what do I do in that case with no spare wheel in my boot? Quote:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...cut-costs.html http://www.roadandtrack.com/car-cult...and-dangerous/ http://www.cnet.com/roadshow/news/aa...k-in-new-cars/ I can provide many other similar links like these, but I hope I am making my point clear with this one. Last edited by navin_v8 : 1st June 2016 at 12:22. | |||||
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![]() | #30 |
Senior - BHPian ![]() Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Mumbai
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| ![]() I'm told the new X1 with the space saver below still leaves around 500 liters of usable boot space. That's not bad. I'm also curious though, if I'm traveling in the new X1 with a boot full of luggage and need to switch to the space saver in the boot well. Will your punctured full size wheel fit in the X1 space saver boot well? If not, where do I keep this? I think the best way to manage with a puncture is to get a air inflator and keep inflating the punctured tire till you reach a tire wala. This is probably better than even switching to the space saver. Of course it assumes you have time to waste at a puncture wala instead of the much simpler option of switching to a full size spare. In a perfect world, cheaper cars would have a full size spare wheel. Expensive Germans would have run flats AND a run flat full size spare so the owner has full option to change wheel or drive on. That's a luxury car ownership differentiator. |
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