Whilst driving in an unfamiliar area Waze suddenly announced 'Pothole Ahead' following which I almost immediately encountered said Pothole!

It sent a terrible shudder through the car and suspecting significant damage I pulled over and found a bulge on the sidewall😕

For the first time ever I pressed the spanner button on the ceiling and spoke to a lovely lady who arranged for The AA to attend.

A smashing chap (Mark) attended within the hour and after inspecting the nearside front suspension kindly fitted the space saver spare.

Thankfully there was no noticeable damage to the front suspension, although the tracking is now slightly off.

Whilst I was glad I'd ordered the space saver spare (and associated polystyrene insert, Jack, tools etc) I was nonetheless dissapointed to find the 19" alloy would not fit within the wheel well and therefore took up the majority of the available space in the boot😬

In normal circumstances this would not have been a major issue, although as we were on holiday and due to leave the following morning it was a significant inconvenience.

Happily I was able to find an excellent local garage who were able to supply and fit a matching Bridgestone T005 the following day, although this involved considerable phoneing around and delays in delivery given the somewhat obscure tyre size (225/40/19 93Y).

They also planned to check and adjust the tracking although weren't able to as their tracking machine did not have the information for a 2025 1.5 TSi DSG Karoq Sportline Edition.

I'm told the 19" wheel /tyre would fit flush under the raised boot floor?

Should this be the case I will definitely look to retrofit the variable boot floor and carry a full-size spare, as the limited speed and distance capability with the space saver spare was a not inconsiderable inconvenience.

Grateful for any advice and guidance in this regard 👍

When I was looking to buy in June, I was told by a dealer that retro-fitting the variable boot floor would be difficult & expensive. Mentioning this on one of the Facebook groups, someone reckoned it was easily achieved for a couple of hundred quid.

If the latter was the case I'd have thought the dealer would have been aware. Also when looking I created a thread here, asking if anyone had come up with a DIY solution. It received no replies.

I thought there was a reference to a DIY raised trunk floor in the Projects thread a few years back.

@pinkpanther

Have a read through this. Not a variable floor but does discuss what you want to do.

Edited 21 September, 202521 Sep by Rbz5416

If you are driving a front-wheel-drive vehicle and you have a flat at the front, you should replace the flat tyre with a rear tyre so that the space saver is not at the front of the car. 

I would have thought the AA would know this... maybe not.

8 hours ago, Rbz5416 said:

@pinkpanther

Have a read through this. Not a variable floor but does discuss what you want to do.

Many thanks - will take a look 👍

Alternatively ratchet strap a full spare to the side wall. Looks a bit weird but works a treat.

Mine’s a 4x4 version so I’ve automatically lost a but of floor depth so mounting it “normally” gives too much of a letter-box boot. Plus I loose a fair bit of volume either side of the wheel.

@pinkpanther

By coincidence, someone has just posted on one of the FB groups that they've done the same thing on a Sportline. Spare wheel 215/60/16 with boot kit 57A093860C. I believe you have to go for the 16" as it's a narrower rim & slightly smaller diameter that fits the boot kit.

Edited 21 September, 202521 Sep by Rbz5416

16 hours ago, Rbz5416 said:

@pinkpanther

By coincidence, someone has just posted on one of the FB groups that they've done the same thing on a Sportline. Spare wheel 215/60/16 with boot kit 57A093860C. I believe you have to go for the 16" as it's a narrower rim & slightly smaller diameter that fits the boot kit.

Many thanks 👍

I suspect if I can't get the 19" rim and tyre to fit under the floor I'd stick with with OEM space saver setup.

17 hours ago, DSL said:

Alternatively ratchet strap a full spare to the side wall. Looks a bit weird but works a treat.

Mine’s a 4x4 version so I’ve automatically lost a but of floor depth so mounting it “normally” gives too much of a letter-box boot. Plus I loose a fair bit of volume either side of the wheel.

Many thanks for your reply and suggestion 👍

Whilst it's certainly an innovative approach we tend to carry a fair bit in the boot so this option would probably take up a little too much space for our needs.

I believe 215/60/16 is the original Skoda option, except for cars fitted with the variable floor. So not sure why you have the 125/70/18 unless yours is a 4x4?

Edited 22 September, 202522 Sep by Rbz5416

On 21/09/2025 at 10:31, deddog said:

If you are driving a front-wheel-drive vehicle and you have a flat at the front, you should replace the flat tyre with a rear tyre so that the space saver is not at the front of the car. 

I would have thought the AA would know this... maybe not.

I specifically asked this question although the chap from the AA advised it could be fitted front or rear and was only designed to keep the car mobile within a short distance (at limited speed) to facilitate a replacement

16 minutes ago, Rbz5416 said:

I believe 215/60/16 is the original Skoda option, except for cars fitted with the variable floor. So not sure why you have the 125/70/18 unless yours is a 4x4?

The space saver was specified from factory

18 hours ago, pinkpanther said:

I specifically asked this question although the chap from the AA advised it could be fitted front or rear and was only designed to keep the car mobile within a short distance (at limited speed) to facilitate a replacement

The space saver was specified from factory

From the Skoda Karoq configuration tool (the other option is the 215/60/16).........

@pinkpanther

Yes, as I sad, the 215/60/16 is the "standard" spare & the other is for the variable boot floor. The 16" rim would give you a full width tyre rather than the skinny 125, but you may need to change the polystyrene inserts to match if you were to go for the 16".

Posts in threads discussing changing wheels suggest that a 17 or 18" won't fit. Maybe something you need to verify with your dealer.

Edited 23 September, 202523 Sep by Rbz5416

On a 2 wheel drive Karoq I'd prefer the spacesaver to be on the rear, it can't be doing the differential any good on the front - I'm not sure you can fit a single wheel with a smaller circumference....?

10 hours ago, Rbz5416 said:

@pinkpanther

Yes, as I sad, the 215/60/16 is the "standard" spare & the other is for the variable boot floor. The 16" rim would give you a full width tyre rather than the skinny 125, but you may need to change the polystyrene inserts to match if you were to go for the 16".

Posts in threads discussing changing wheels suggest that a 17 or 18" won't fit. Maybe something you need to verify with your dealer.

The space saver was specced from factory, although my car does not have the variable boot floor.

10 hours ago, Rbz5416 said:

@pinkpanther

Yes, as I sad, the 215/60/16 is the "standard" spare & the other is for the variable boot floor. The 16" rim would give you a full width tyre rather than the skinny 125, but you may need to change the polystyrene inserts to match if you were to go for the 16".

Posts in threads discussing changing wheels suggest that a 17 or 18" won't fit. Maybe something you need to verify with your dealer.

Many thanks 👍

I suspect I'd only opt for a variable boot floor retrofit if it allowed me to carry a full size (matching) spare.

I'd be happy to sacrifice a little depth from the boot if this was the case.

Based on recent events it appears a 19" alloy and 225/40/19 would not fit under the floor in any event, so suspect I'll stick with the spacer saver which ultimately saved the day and fulfilled it's purpose of allowing me to remain mobile and get the car to a garage to obtain a replacement tyre.

Very grateful for all the advice and input.

Looking back I find all this a bit frustrating as both of the Mark I Octavia vRS's I owned, numerous other Skoda's and all my Yeti's had full size spare wheels😬

What I intended to write above.......but you can't delete or edit after just a few minutes.........

........On a 2 wheel drive Karoq I'd prefer the spacesaver to be on the rear, it can't be doing the differential any good on the front - on the 4 wheel drive I'm not sure you can fit a single wheel with a smaller circumference....?