Spare Wheel Options

[JezHarper]

My car came with tyre repair kit (well, part of it anyway), and I'd like to understand my options for an actual spare wheel, and recommendations / advice.

I will be towing a caravan occasionally so I'm not sure if a space saver spare wheel would be a good option. My preferred option is to buy a matching Alloy (18" Trinity) to use as the spare wheel.

So, my questions (some are probably obvious):

1. Will a full size 18" trinity alloy (with tyre) fit in the spare wheel 'hole'?
2. Will I need a polystyrene/foam insert for the wheel to go in (I have one for the tyre repair kit that sits in and fills the spare wheel hole)?
3. I will need to buy the spare wheel toolkit foam insert thing (with jack, etc). Will it fit neatly in an 18" Trinity Alloy?
4. Will the big plastic bolt thing that's used to fix the space saver wheel to the boot floor work with an alloy (if I remove the centre cap)?

 

Thanks

 

Jez
 

[jafo]

@JezHarper

 

Why don't you buy and keep space saver in your car - and additionally full size in the caravan?

Yes, twice the cost but space saver will leave you some extra space. I don't have foam insert and nothing moves around

[chimaera]

1 hour ago, JezHarper said:

My car came with tyre repair kit (well, part of it anyway), and I'd like to understand my options for an actual spare wheel, and recommendations / advice.

I will be towing a caravan occasionally so I'm not sure if a space saver spare wheel would be a good option. My preferred option is to buy a matching Alloy (18" Trinity) to use as the spare wheel.

So, my questions (some are probably obvious):

1. Will a full size 18" trinity alloy (with tyre) fit in the spare wheel 'hole'?
2. Will I need a polystyrene/foam insert for the wheel to go in (I have one for the tyre repair kit that sits in and fills the spare wheel hole)?
3. I will need to buy the spare wheel toolkit foam insert thing (with jack, etc). Will it fit neatly in an 18" Trinity Alloy?
4. Will the big plastic bolt thing that's used to fix the space saver wheel to the boot floor work with an alloy (if I remove the centre cap)?

 

Thanks

 

Jez
 

The 'space-saver' option for the Superb is a 205/55/R16 tyre on a 6Jx16 steel wheel. It shouldn't present any issues while towing though you would need to be careful. You can buy the official wheel and tookit from Skoda -  it's somewhere around 200GBP IIRC (check with a dealer to confirm). If you're cost-conscious you'll probably find a compatible wheel/tyre in a scrapyard since this size is extremely common across the VAG range.

 

The toolkit comes in a foam holder that sits inside the spare wheel, and it comes with the big plastic retaining nut/bolt for the spare wheel. You take out the big foam insert that's currently in your car and put in the spare wheel/toolkit instead. The toolkit foam insert also has a cutout for the detachable towball from Skoda's official towbar.

 

IIRC, the 18" wheels push up the boot floor a few cm so not an ideal option: an easy way for you to check is take off a wheel and pop it in there. Diameter is fine since all the stock wheel/tyre options are designed to have about the same rolling radius. Everything else fits as normal.

 

As an aside, if you haven't already had a towbar/towing electrics installed, it's well worth getting Skoda's official 13-pin wiring kit or an aftermarket equivalent (IIRC the Westfalia one works the same way). As well as the normal lighting operation, you get all of the caravan electrics plus integration with the vehicle's alarm and stability control systems: if the trailer is unplugged while the car is locked, the alarm goes off; stability control has a towing mode which acts to stabilise sway before it gets out of hand.

[JezHarper]

@jafo Thanks for the suggestion. The weight limits and load distribution would make it troublesome to store it in the caravan whilst on the move.

 

@chimaera If the space saver would be ok whilst towing (temporarily until I could get to a tyre shop), then that is probably the most sensible option. I certainly don't like the idea of the 18" alloy pushing up the boot floor by a few cms (I don't have the raised / variable / secret hidey-hole floor), and as for the 'easy way to check'... one of the many bits missing from my toolkit is the wheel nut cap removal tool, so I can't even do that until my new tool arrives 

 

33 minutes ago, chimaera said:

As an aside, if you haven't already had a towbar/towing electrics installed, it's well worth getting Skoda's official 13-pin wiring kit or an aftermarket equivalent (IIRC the Westfalia one works the same way). As well as the normal lighting operation, you get all of the caravan electrics plus integration with the vehicle's alarm and stability control systems: if the trailer is unplugged while the car is locked, the alarm goes off; stability control has a towing mode which acts to stabilise sway before it gets out of hand.

 

That is very interesting; I didn't know about the alarm and the stability control, I thought it just stopped the rear PDC from thinking I am about to hit an obstruction. I had a look at a few threads on here and am thinking of getting this with the vehicle specific wiring kit: https://www.pfjones.co.uk/skoda-superb-estate-dec-2009-2015-westfalia-detachable-towbar.html Do you know if that will offer the same functionality as the official Skoda one? I assume when the fitting is done (not by me) that the fitter will need to do something to the car so that it knows that there is a tow bar?
 

[chimaera]

52 minutes ago, JezHarper said:

@jafo Thanks for the suggestion. The weight limits and load distribution would make it troublesome to store it in the caravan whilst on the move.

 

@chimaera If the space saver would be ok whilst towing (temporarily until I could get to a tyre shop), then that is probably the most sensible option. I certainly don't like the idea of the 18" alloy pushing up the boot floor by a few cms (I don't have the raised / variable / secret hidey-hole floor), and as for the 'easy way to check'... one of the many bits missing from my toolkit is the wheel nut cap removal tool, so I can't even do that until my new tool arrives 

 

 

That is very interesting; I didn't know about the alarm and the stability control, I thought it just stopped the rear PDC from thinking I am about to hit an obstruction. I had a look at a few threads on here and am thinking of getting this with the vehicle specific wiring kit: https://www.pfjones.co.uk/skoda-superb-estate-dec-2009-2015-westfalia-detachable-towbar.html Do you know if that will offer the same functionality as the official Skoda one? I assume when the fitting is done (not by me) that the fitter will need to do something to the car so that it knows that there is a tow bar?
 

That kit is probably the correct Westfalia one, though it might be useful to check with them before you buy. One other thing to check is whether your car has the factory towing preparation installed or not. If it isn't, the fitter will have to run cabling all the way from the boot up along the driver's side sill to the fuse/relay panel under the dashboard on the driver's side. If it is fitted, then there will be a multi-plug connector inside the boot liner for the electrics to connect up to. The additional wiring kit needed for that is also cheaper than if it needs to run all the way to the fuse panel.

 

Once fitted, a number of control modules need coding as per this: http://wiki.ross-tech.com/wiki/index.php/Trailer_Hitch_Retrofitting_(1K)

 

One additional benefit of the Skoda kit over the Westfalia one is that the Skoda one is diagnostics capable: you can connect to it with VCDS to check for faults or change some features via coding changes.

[MikeHig]

I have a full-size spare (18" with 225 tread width) and the boot floor cover sits flat.

[26DIPP]

The 205/55-16 in the spare wheel well has some room to a flat boot floor. The boot floor cover bridges that gap with a 2cm polystyrene ring which can be removed when using a 18" in the wheel well.

[JezHarper]

15 hours ago, MikeHig said:

I have a full-size spare (18" with 225 tread width) and the boot floor cover sits flat.

 

Thanks Mike. Do you also have the foam insert toolkit sitting in the wheel?

[MikeHig]

Hi Jez,

I did have the insert but took it out, along with the big plastic bolt, as I wanted to stash more kit. I have an old plastic bowl holding all the usual tools plus some extra ones, gloves, plastic sheet, old cagoule, etc.

The wheel is a snug fit in the well and the bowl likewise so nothing shifts around.

[JezHarper]

Thanks @26DIPP @MikeHig

 

I'm going to order the insert and then put one my existing wheels in the boot with the insert. If happy I'll order another matching alloy, if not, I'll order the space saver spare.