Spare wheel or spare alloy - what have you got?

[KernowMaid]

Just wondering whether those of you who carry a spare rather than the bottle of tyre repair, have opted for a spare steel wheel or a full alloy.  Does a 17" Trinity actually fit in the wheel well?  I have seen a Fabia steel spare on eBay for £35 with a nearly new tyre, but not sure I want the hassle of changing the "space saver" back again once I have had tyre repaired, and it would be nice to have a spare alloy in case I badly kerb one of mine.  Any thoughts on the pros and cons please?  Thanks

[Ootohere]

Yes a Trinity with inflated tyre fits in the spare tyre well. 

[Lee]

17" steel spare with full sized tyre.

 

No need for an alloy if it's just being carried around.

Edited 24 January, 2018 by Lee

[Ootohere]

I have 4 Black Gigaro with legal tread 205/40 R 17 tyres on.  £200. 

Collect from me or free delivery in Scotland, and then who ever can split and sell as spares.  Flog them at £75 each maybe as spares,   Much Cheapness. 

 

Advert is in BRISKODA Wheel / Tyres where sometimes people also sell Spare Wheel / Tyres.

Edited 24 January, 2018 by AwaoffSki

[rum4mo]

I took the line that while my wife and I were still working, and typically using the cars 5>7 days a week, then having an identical alloy in the spare wheel well, worked for us, though it took a few years and keeping an eye on ebay to get into that situation, so really it was just something that I felt I wanted to change rather than stop the world until I had got an alloy in the spare wheel well. Her car had a "same size" steel spare initially and as time went on it lost its original tyre and got the "best" of the previous set of tyres fitted to it - so that was always kept ready for use at the bottom of the pile of "alternative" season tyres/wheels.

 

Edit:- by the way, that 5th alloy wheel did tend to get used in summer to even out the wear on the other tyres, so it was not just a potentially unused spare.

Edited 24 January, 2018 by rum4mo

[roaddetective]

I am fully covered. Took the silly puncture gunge out of the boot when I got the car and replaced it with a steel spare wheel with a full size tyre. After all how often will you need the spare, although a pothole last week that split one tyre meant I had to put that spare on for a day. It won't too much trouble refitting the alloy wheel again anyway, as usually once the tyre depot have fixed the puncture, or replaced the tyre, they do it for you. Why fully covered, I have got 5 alloy wheels, that I had refurbished last December. Four are on the car and I keep the 5th alloy in the loft, just in case I get a bit of bad kerb, or bloody pot hole rash on one of the others. 

[KernowMaid]

Thank for all replies.

 

I have decided to go for the steel spare for now as so much cheaper, and may be pick up an alloy spare later on.  Now need some size advice please.  I have 17" alloys on 205 40/R17s at the moment.  Looking online, the steel Fabia wheels I have seen so far are 195/55 R15.  I know the higher profile tyre will gain an inch or so diameter, but is this going to be big enough as a spare for me, or do I need to look for at least a 16" - if Skoda do such a thing?  And would a standard Fabia steely fit  a Monte please?

Edited 27 January, 2018 by KernowMaid

[Ootohere]

195/55R 15 is the size of the spare that comes as standard fitment with a vRS with 205/40 R 17 tyres.

The higher profile tyre is not bigger by 1 cm.   (you need to reduce / limit your speed fitting an odd sized spare even if pretty much identical, 

the weight / compound / pressure being different.)

http://kouki.co.uk/utilities/visual-tyre-size-calculator 

Edited 27 January, 2018 by AwaoffSki

[KernowMaid]

Thanks for reply.

 

I have had space savers in previous vehicles so know about the reduced speed ... had to drive all the way from Bristol to Cornwall overnight in a Golf fully loaded with camping gear and 2 bikes on the back on a SS once!

 

Cheers for all advice 

[rum4mo]

I suppose, depending on how you use your car, is where the 5th "same as" alloy comes into its own.

 

My wife's previous Polo did come with a same size steel spare, and in time that tyre was swopped on to an alloy to "use" it along with a single new tyre.  What prompted me to buy a 5th alloy was, if I'm being bluntly honest was, I had an encounter with a very high kerb once, and that badly marked one alloy wheel, so, as luck would have it, there was a single "lightly/never used" alloy for sale in VW Driver mag, I got the seller to knock off maybe £30 to split the wheel from its tyre, and so got that alloy at a very very good price.

 

I think for my previous car, a Passat 4Motion, as it also came with a same size steel spare, but with time I ended up using its original wheels as winter wheels and bought a set of 4 Audi A4 alloys for summer, as they had a slightly different offset (ET) to the originals, ie stuck out about 4 or 6mm further, I thought that as that car did get used on longer journeys, I needed to buy a 5th alloy for it, as luck would have it, an Audi main dealer was disposing of old redundant stock and I got a NOS alloy for very little money, stored it in the attic until it was time to fit a set of new Michelins to that car, kept aside the most marked wheel and bought a good condition used same model of Michelin tyre and fitted that to that wheel as the spare, normally I would not buy used tyres but, it seemed like a reasonable thing to do in this case!

 

Edit:- my current car has a space saver, it also has its battery in the boot so no scope for swopping that for a full sized wheel/tyre, so I don't worry about that as there is a limit to what you can do to cover all possibilities, and carrying an extra full sized 19" alloy with tyre on in the boot of a car that has a reduced boot capacity due to having four wheel drive, seems to me to be a step too far. Roof rack ?

Edited 28 January, 2018 by rum4mo

[MikeHig]

Anyone looking for a full-size spare wheel & tyre - or a pair for winters - might want to get in touch with their local VAG dealers to see what they have picked up under their scrappage schemes. Hopefully the garage would be amenable to a wheel being swapped for the car's spare as it is going to be scrapped, perhaps with a contribution to the staff Christmas fund....

My old MPV went into a VW dealer as scrappage with 2 spare wheels fitted as they were quite relaxed about me keeping two of the alloys as winter wheels for my Superb.

[mrgf]

I got a repair kit consisting of sticky "Worms and a reamer and plug-tool. All in neat case and can be used many times, unlike the sloppy, messy fluid that goes out of date and costs too much t be worth the agro. Gets you home and to the tyre shop. I have heard of people running on them permanently and I have seen tyre repair shops fit them to fix punctures so I guess its up to the job but don't be conned in to the cheaper, flimsy tool that snaps first go, Get one the same as the tyre shops use! Not as good as a spare wheel but quicker to get you going again! The worms can also be bought separately. 

[rum4mo]

I thought that that stuff was only for use on off road equipment like quads and Argo buggies etc - ie for low pressure balloon tyres. I bought a set of used alloys once, and two of them had a few of these "worms" in them, which was okay as I was only wanting the wheels, all the tyres got scrapped.

 

Edit:- I do know that some tyre places do use a similar process - when in the past only mushroom plugs were used and vulcanised afterwards.

Edited 29 January, 2018 by rum4mo

[timey74]

standard spare that came with the car, thinking about it i best check that the tyre is ok and fully inflated

[mrgf]

You are right, rum4mo, they ARE designated for off road use only. This is back-covering legislation but they DO hold air well and are quite reliable. Coupled with the fact that they get you out of harms way with the minimal of fuss, compared with a wheel change or the sloppy sh-stuff that you squirt in... Nothing prevents you from getting a fully approved repair done when you have the time. (And at around £25, the dosh). I think they are so pricey as Mr Kwik-Fit will rather sell you a new tyre, then take the same or even more time, fixing an existing one. If you think about the impact etc, given to off road tyres hitting lumps, rocks, etc and being driven/ridden hard for hours on end, they will most likely suffer more then a road-going set of hoops! The pressure inside the tyre is what makes the worm air tight as it blobs against the inner side of the tyre and is covered in sticky glue to boot. I would use these every time, over the infill stuff with exception perhaps, to the preventative sealant often used on tyres such as GLOOP. (Other brands are available).