Reuters: Spare tires ditched as automakers seek efficiency

My last flat (a couple of years ago) was out in the boonies on a Sunday. I had no cell phone service. I tried, but was unable to get the wheel off. (I am mechanically incompetent.) I was lucky that some good Samaritans came by.

My Tesla has TPMS and no spare, just a can of fix-a-flat. But I don't take it on road trips, so my chances of getting hold of a wrecker to come fix it or haul it are better.

As for me repairing a tire on the road, forget it!

Flats on a motorcycle: Thanks for reminding me of one more reason (as if I needed another!) never to get on a motorcycle. I'm sure they're fun, but I value my life.

 

98 Sienna has a full size spare in the back that ratchets down. 06 Sienna had a large cavity for the 3 row seat to stow sway. In order for the cavity to exist, full size spare tire was replaced with temporary spare tire and mounted under neath the vehicle under the second row seat on the right side. The AWD version doesn't even get a spare tire, instead gets run flat.
I predict that within 15 years self inflating tires will hit the market.
Goodyear developing self-inflating tires

1 problem I see is it needs a filter to filter out the dust and dirt from getting into the tire.

 

As I am reading this I am thinking about the 5,000+ mile trip I will be setting out on next month in my Prius and there is no way I would want to do that trip without a spare tire.

 

...one good thing is the tire low pressure alarm that helps prevent a lot of worse problems. Every time we see the low pressure alarm on the Prius, it is a slow leak puncture.

 

I wonder if these would actually work in the real world. I'd still much rather give up some interior space and have a full-size spare tire. The Prius has so much cargo space that there's really no excuse for the doughnut spare.

 

They would work, but it still doesn't address the spare tire problem. An integrated pump would help for a slow leak, but not a major flat.

Tom

 

It will also reduce rolling efficiency.

Space utilization is another factor to consider. I had a chance at getting a full size rim for my Taurus. While the spare well was wide enough, it wasn't deep enough. The volume of space lost wouldn't bother me, but now having a bump in the middle of the trunk would make it awkward to load some things. Perhaps cutting off the trunk space behind the seats for use by some luggage pieces.

To get a full size spare in the Prius, assuming the well and battery couldn't move down, you'd lose the under floor storage or end up with a higher floor height.

 

just another reason I hate riding at night.

knock on the wood in years of riding I only had a flat once. It was rear, and it was easy to plug.

 

If you have a compressor and plug kit you will be alright. Just make sure you don't have a nail before you set off for trip

we had done many 3-6-10,000mi trips and only had flat once. Tires do not flat that often, esp when you get out residential/construction areas, and when they do fail it is usually fixable w/o taking tire off. In case if tire gets destroyed, temp spare is enough to get to nearest service area.

BTW make sure the spare is inflated, b/c the last thing you want to find out another flat to deal with. We usually keep it overinflated and adjust pressure after install good luck

 

...as my long time friend, avid m/c passionate once said: "It is possible to live the whole life w/o sex, but why?"

 

Yes, you lose the under floor storage and you have to trim the lower flange of the HV battery to make room for an 185/65R15 spare. You also may have to under inflate the spare and carry an air pump to complete your tire backup system.

JeffD

 

I've never understood why the case was designed that way, but FWIW the rubber seal along the edge is important for air circulation inside the case.

 

Retrofitting, I agree, is problematic. But the clever folks at Toyota could have designed the car to hold a full spare.

In the case of my last flat, as previously noted, I had to drive 60 miles at slow speed, holding back traffic, and pulling over as often as I could to let cars pass me. It was miserable. It was a Sunday and nothing was open in the small towns, and no cell phone service.

Sex is fatal far less often than riding a motorcycle. I have known several people personally who were crippled for life, and two who were severely brain damaged, as the result of motorcycle accidents. I've never met anyone who was in a wheelchair or brain damaged as the result of a sex accident.

 

I hate those doughnut spare tires, so when I had to replace the tires on my car I had the tire shop save the best old tire. I put it in the trunk, went to a junkyard, bought a wheel from the same year Camry. I had the tire mounted and balanced and when I opened the spare tire compartment I learned that 98 Camrys came with a full size spare tire. OOPS!
However I'll never buy a car without a spare, it would be a deal breaker.

 

They surely could have, but would it have been worth the 'costs' in the big picture. I drive nearly 20k miles a year and the last time I had to actually use a spare was at least 5 years ago. If I hadn't left the road to load up fire wood in the truck, it would be more like 15 years ago. Riding on spares suck, but the incidence for an individual to actually do appears to be low.

A full size spare sounds nice, but for most people the cost analysis doesn't add up. If they actually rotate all five tires, then they have to shell out the cost of a fifth tire when the time comes. Most likely the best of the old tires will be saved for the spare. So the emergency tire will be worn with several years of UV exposure versus a sheltered donut with virgin rubber. The full size can be treated like the donut, but then have a more expensive(money and environment) tire go through its life without actually being used.

If asked, and focus groups likely are, people will want more trunk space over a full size spare. I personally, I liked the under floor space on the Prius for bungees, shovel, little air compressor, and a blanket.

Depending on the injury, they might have preferred that.

I'd probably take the spare tire option. I likely will never use it, but I don't see it as a burden for fuel economy. In a PHV or EV, you need the space for batteries, however.

 

Untreated syphilis can cause severe brain damage, organ damage and even kill.

Unfortunately, syphilis is no longer the most dangerous STD.

 

This (doctored?) photo may be the future:



Less chrome but real products: http://www.amazon.com/dp/product/B0009YIE1O?tag=priuschatcom-20Intertek Distribution Inc. Continental Kits

 

But the time will come later since each tire is on the car only 4/5 of the time. Overall, over the life of the car, on average, they'll buy the same number of tires. That's the whole point of rotating the spare.

"Untreated" being the operative word. Another good word to use is "unprotected," and another is "promiscuous." Even AIDS, which used to be a 6-month death sentence, is now a chronic illness with a normal life expectancy, with medication. "Protection" and "monogamy" are still useful words.

It's possible to avoid STDs. It's not possible to avoid the driver who is texting and eating a sandwich while driving.

 

Yes, but the majority of consumers only consider the immediate or most recent. They'll forget that the set lasted longer, but remember they had to another $200+ for the fifth tire. These are the ones guiding the companies decisions.

While I had once considered it, using a good, old tire is probably the worse thing to do. The spare is your emergency back up. Using a worn, aged one might not be the best idea.

My truck technically had a full size spare. It was still just a temporary tire with a low speed max. So a car might come with a full size spare, but it isn't a guarantee of not having a spare tire limitations.

 

You'll never hear me say that m/c isn't dangerous but I find it hypocritical that you drove to what amounts as a tiny 3 wheel clown car (IMNSHO) with little to no safety features (that I can find) and wiki states is classified as a 3 wheeled motorcycle.


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