[rocksterraghu]

The spare wheel being used extensively is a tricky situation, like many here have mentioned. If a space saver is used over a period of time, the alignment takes a beating. On the other hand, even if it is a full sized alloy, the balancing is done on the original wheel based on its position, so that is going to be a problem.

The biggest challenge I see with a full sized wheel is the space. If you have a Skoda Laura or a Jeep Cherokee, you don't care if it has a spare wheel slot or not. On the other hand, a 3-series hardly has any boot space and it becomes exceedingly difficult to accommodate a full wheel and luggage at the same time. The spare wheel is hence, a space saver that can be optionally taken out when you ride to the airport (RFTs to the rescue here).

Ironically of course, you need the spare wheel when you also need the luggage - on long drives. So a full sized wheel with 4 passengers and luggage? Don't think so.

[BoneCollector]

My Brezza came with 4 alloys 16x6.5J and spare as steel 16x6J. The tyre size was same inspite of different rim width but a speed restriction of 100kmph was mentioned on spare rim. I changed that to alloys for 2 main reasons,

1. For peace of mind knowing that I have the same tyre in my boot and need not be worried about handling of the car when running on spare tyre. I seldom cross 100kmph in my part of India.

2. Proper tyre rotation.

In my opinion, if a car is shod with alloys, it's spare also should be an alloy. There should not be cost cutting in name of weight loss and space saving compromising on safety. What if some nut driving with spare outside of permissible limit crashes into innocents?

[skchettry]

The spare tyre in my 2009 Honda City car at Mumbai that has done some 24K on the odo, is just sitting there unused. No punctures so far, I consider myself lucky; but I would always like to have it in a ready-to-use condition. You never know when it would come handy. Out here in the deserts of Oman it is mandatory to have 2 spare tyres and 4x4 on our 4 wheelers although I hardly do any serious offroading nor have I faced any punctures on the road.

[phoenixash]

Originally Posted by speedmiester

I consider a full size spare wheel as important as Airbags.
I need it rather than want it in case of emergency.

Could not have put it better myself - the spare is useless until you really need, at which point you'd be cursing the manufacturer / yourself if a full-size spare was not available.

Couple of months ago while leaving for a out of town trip, I hit a pothole and punctured a tire beyond repair within 30 mins of leaving home, I was eternally thankful that Hyundai gave me a full-size spare (even though a steel wheel vs Alloy), I could atleast complete my trip without the headache of trying to source a new tyre at 6am.

This trend of removing the spare for reducing weight is foolish! Especially coming from luxury car-makers.

[sharc_biker]

I prefer the full-size spare tyre as I get 20% more mileage from the tyres with regular wheel rotation.

Among the cars in my family:

Audi Q5: Inflatable space saver

The 125/150 section deflated space saver tyre is only a notch better than not having a spare at all. The tyre has a speed restriction of 80kmph and IMO is not very durable on bad road due due to its softer compound. Also, the 125 section tyre looks hilarious when the rest of the car has 235 section tyres. It doesn't look like it will last for long distances either.

Toyota Fortuner: Full size spare

The most ideal spare is this as I get 20% more mileage from the tyres with regular tyre rotation. I have the backup of a full size spare and I get 10-15000 more km from the set of 5 tyres. I buy 5 tyres together when I replace them.

Thar CRDe: Full size spare

Using MT tyres and negative offset rims, a proper full size spare is always handy offroad.

[Sinner666]

I was a firm believer in the 'ignoring the spare' concept till a very recent experience drastically changed this.

In all our most recent cars (ever since tubeless tires became the norm), the spares have never been used, or at the most, used just once or twice for 1-2 kms max. So much so that, all our cars retained the OEM spare when they went in for a tire upgrade (& upsize) - so essentially a smaller tire, and in some cases smaller rim size too.
I have been fortunate enough to not have had any punctures on any of the main tires of all the 3 cars that I use. This further reinforced the feeling of the spare being an additional (& non-critical) expense.

All the above went for a toss on a recent trip on New Years. Had replaced the 4 OEM tires with Yoko S-Drives, and they must have barely run 600kms at that time.

On our way, felt the car to be acting weird. Pulled over, and discovered a completely FLAT tire, with the car almost on the rims. Luckily had a pump with me & filled it up quickly before proceeding further. To our good fortune, found a puncture repair shop within 200 mtrs, but the tire was completely flat again by the time I reached there (3-4 mins). Realized there was a major leak. The repair guy identified a metal object stuck in the tire and started trying to get it out, but couldn't make much progress. He then dismounted the tire from the rim, and we got the shock of our lives - what looked like a small metal object from the outside, was a full sized screw driver bit (from the interchangeable bits type) almost 7" long that had pierced through the tire. Given it had cut through the inner steel belts, the tire was rendered immediately useless. The puncture guy anyways put in a tube, before patching the inside with thicker rubber (where the puncture was).

Was now stuck on the highway with an off size spare that hadn't been used in 4 years, & god knows in what condition, and an equally risky & unreliable main tire. Finally took the call to start with the main tire itself, and move to the spare in case the main tire gives way.
Had to drive extremely carefully, making us take way too longer to reach our destination. Eventually bought a new tire, and moved the erstwhile main tire to the spare (Penny wise, Pound foolish)
But I now plan to get a fresh set of spares for all my cars, as leaving your family exposed to the risk of being stranded in the middle of nowhere, at the mercy of a punture repair guy, is not an option.

Also, makes me shudder to think that would have happened had this happened on some of the more remote stretches we covered during the day (the Upper Ganga Canal road specifically), and that too at night.

[kiranknair]

Always the the spare wheel "must be of lower size". This makes sure that the driver uses it just for emergency, that is to reach the nearest puncher shop. If the spare is of the same size, careless drivers ( a majority of them are) would use it continuously ignoring the fact that if one more tire goes flat, you are immobile.

[bharatbits]

Originally Posted by kiranknair

Always the the spare wheel "must be of lower size". This makes sure that the driver uses it just for emergency, that is to reach the nearest puncher shop. If the spare is of the same size, careless drivers ( a majority of them are) would use it continuously ignoring the fact that if one more tire goes flat, you are immobile.

Car companies are not school teachers or parents to monitor our driving and ownership discipline. If that's the case they should also limit a car's speed to 120kmph because none of our highways have speed limits in excess of that, make a car immobile until all passengers are buckled up etc.

I feel having a full size spare wheel that can be used as another tire in emergencies is essential.

I remember an instance where i was travelling from Pune to Hyd with wifey when the rear left tyre gave up. The outer layer got separated from the tyre exposing the steel belt beneath. I got the alignment and balancing done before the onward journey from Hyd to Pune. It was 2 am in the night. I could not afford to stop as the area was very deserted. I continued with that tire for more than 15 kms at speeds of 20 kmph or less until i found a temple at Gulbarga X roads with some devotees who were retiring there for the night. Car was fully loaded. Emptied the boot, got the spare tire out and fitted it only to find out there was not sufficient air in it. Waited till 5 am in the morning to get to a puncture shop, filled air and resumed our journey normally. In the mean while while waiting till 5 am for the puncture shop ordered a tire on Snapdeal which got delivered in 24 hours.

My longest journey was a 3000 km trip over a few days. If a encounter a tire problem in the first 100 kms of the journey i do not want to ruin my entire trip over it for not having a full sized spare. I want my cars to be ever ready for any trip any time.

T Bhpians immediately after buying a new car head to tyre shops to upsize tires. After taking delivery of my Linea i headed to the tire shop and exchanged the spare tire which was of lesser cross section with a full sized tire.

[amitoj]

Full size spare tire is a must. But the manufacturers are going in the opposite direction. Many cars now come with just an inflation kit. Not even a donut (the small puny spare tire)
No one is complaining in US because, well, millennials can't be bothered with changing a tire when they have an app to take care of them in case of a flat, which is either their insurance with roadside coverage or AAA. I am sure many of them don't even know how to change a tire.
As for the space saving argument, car manufacturers used to have some really nice innovative ideas about where to put the spare tire:




Pictures sourced from: https://www.ebay.com/motors/blog/spare-tire-ideas/

And then of course there used to be the roof mounted option, which I think still exists for some cars.

Sadly, this feature seems to be going in the same direction as the temp gauge:
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/techni...ge-yes-no.html

[PrideRed]

I have a rather simpler query before I say which is the right choice.
Because of using space saver steel wheels(or no 5th wheel), does manufacturer pass on the savings to we customers? If not I demand full size Alloy wheel .
If they really do pass the benefits, then I might weigh the benefit and decide accordingly.

Keeping money matter aside, I feel it is as similar as airbag. You might not need airbag every now and then, but then having them is piece of mind. This factor coupled with my query, I urge manufacturer to give full size alloy wheel.

[gkveda]

I thought of sharing my thoughts in a bit humorous way in this post. Please excuse if this hurts anyone.

Just think,
1. Why 4 doors are required for car? On Backside, only left door is enough. Anyways, (In Indian scenario), entry or exit from right back door is not possible or dangerous.
2. Why fourth wheel is required in a car? We can run the car with just 3 wheels like an auto
3. Why two head lights are required? Only one light in the middle of the car suffices like in Train
4. Why most of the people today own two cars today? Law of nature says, matter cannot EXIST at two places at same time. for common man, One person can drive only one car at once.
Extending this logic further (Probably, too far)
5. Why human beings require car? Probably, only few percentage of total population in the world own cars. Others survive easily and happily without a car.

Seriously, Nothing is indispensable. Life goes ON whether something is there in life or NOT.

It is all about what is "MORE" comfort.

"MORE Comfort" asks for all the above and becomes essential to life after certain point in time.

So, For me, 5th full size has become essential part of my life

[McLaren Rulez]

The comparison with airbags is a little too exaggerated if you ask me. One is about convenience, the other is critical to safety.

A matching fifth tyre is a nice-to-have feature but realistically, it will not affect your buying or owning experience if you didn't have it. And if it's that bothersome, you can easily and cheaply fix it after you buy.

I doubt if any purchase decision of any member here was affected by the availability of a matching spare or lack thereof.

[AYP]

I do feel that the spare tyre should be of the same size as the 'normal' fiited tires. Alloy or non-alloy, the size should be identical due to safety reasons.

[ViMo]

This thread is what came into my mind when saw a merc GLA riding on a punny space saver. it looked ugly.
I am in for a fully sized spare wheel for safety and preferably alloy for the convenience during wheel rotation. Recently my back wheel got badly damaged with a bulge during a trip to kerala and had to make rest of the 500 kms on spare wheel. Since I had a full sized spare there was no worry and fuss. As someone else mentioned changing tyres is max 10 mins matter and 5 wheel rotation is not at all complicated.

[catchdoon]

To be honest the Question which holds the key to this thread is simply:
DO I REQUIRE? vs IS IT A NECESSITY?

Once we can answer that ourselves we'll be at much better place.

1. All those who are in favour of 'Space Savers' & think that a full-size spare is not exactly a need, rather is just a personal requirement - Perhaps have not been in the shoes of those (including myself) wherein the main tyre is no longer usable or moreso you don't have someone to fix puncture in proximity.
May God forbid but if any day you come across such a situation, you'll curse your choice more than anything.

2. When we start to put out the priorities straight, we should keep Safety First, Always. Having a Full Sized spare is not just about saving money, gaining space, getting the vehicle lighter, it's about having that sense of security in your mind.

3. Having said that, all the math & technicalities explained earlier in this forum tells us one thing, It's the SAFEST thing to do & as TBHPians aren't we about that in the first place?

4. The pros of getting extra 15k odd kms to burn from the rubber & increased efficiency is once thing but not having the same limb to walk when in need is something no one would want.


Just to take cue from people whose both Legs aren't of equal lengths, we at some point in time must have seen them walk. We know how that is. And here we are talking about some driving at speeds that can Kill, Cause Damage to both the vehicle & individual then why even give it an option.

Spending a few extra thousands is nothing to get the best backbone on which the vehicle runs.
We all spend so much on the car detailing, accessories, fuel itself, mods & what not & we shrug just to get a full-size spare?