Spacesaver spare - really an issue?

allanv6gt · 15-01-2010, 11:57 PM

Just after some opinionsd re standard spacesaver spare.
Looking for some feedback from both city and country drivers.

Is the spacesaver limited to very low distances ? (I'm aware of speed caps)
Have people been caught out a long way from home with the spacesaver running out of distance?
Have people replaced the spacesaver with a normal wheel/tyre combo ? Issues?

Thanks everyone. Some very positive comments on this list.

NZ XR6 · 16-01-2010, 07:00 AM

I recall that Wheels tried a spacesaver in one of their tyre tests. It performed really badly. I certainly wouldn't use one for country driving, especially in Oz where you can find yourself a long way from the nearest tyre shop!

There's a couple of threads here about replacing the spacesaver. The main issue is sourcing a higher foam spacer for the boot floor.

lubby1 · 16-01-2010, 07:31 AM

I personally wouldn't go country driving with a spacesaver. There ok in the city to use untill you can get to a tyre shop to repair the original.
If i were doing a lot of highway km's i would buy a standard wheel and tyre and stick it in the boot for those accasions, you could always take it out when in city if space were an issue

AlanD · 16-01-2010, 09:18 AM

In Oz Spacesavers (costminimisers) are an awful idea, but in the mondeo replacing it with a full sized spare puts an ugly mound in the boot floor unless you source a set of hard foam fillers as NZ XR6 has indicated. And then you lose a lot of boot volume.

I've equipped our cars with puncture repair kits, and if going a where service stations are infrequent carry a good quality compressor in amongst the luggage.

But if I had to use the space saver, it would go on a rear hub, and the full sized tyre thus removed gets to go on a front hub, if that's where the puncture has occurred.

Cheers

NZ XR6 · 16-01-2010, 09:44 AM

My last three flat tyres resulted in 3 destroyed tyres as listed below. No puncture repair kit will work then!

Flat tyre on 1 km long motorway bridge. Nowhere to stop and destroyed tyre driving on it while flat.
Split in tread for no apparent reason. (Dunlop SP3000 on a 6 month old Falcon. And they said that I must have driven over a kerb!)
Split in sidewall after hitting a rock on the road at 110 km/h. Tyre ran out of air just as I stopped!

The idea of mounting the spacesaver on the back wheel is OK, but it could mean having to change two wheels on the side of the road. Plus I often have back of my wagon heavily loaded, so the tyre will still be working hard.

So for me, a full size spare is important, and I'm really pleased that Ford NZ fit full size spares to their cars.

Just out of interest, has anyone tried to buy the foam spacers for the boot floor?

DAGGLES · 16-01-2010, 11:30 AM

I would also like to find out more about these foam spacers. I had the unfortunate experience on new years day driving back from Adelaide to Melbourne. Got to Bordertown for a stop and when I got back to my car noticed my rear tyre was flat. Walked to the local service centre/station and enquired about getting it fixed. Anyway, long story short. Was advised against driving on the space saver for the remaining 500k's to home. So had to stay in the local caravan park for the night whilst they got a new tyre shipped up from Adelaide the next day. Was finally back on the road at 4.30pm a full 29 hours (and considerably poorer) after arriving in Bordertown. Fortunately because my 2 year old son had been such a nightmare on the drive over to Adelaide we decided to fly my family back from Adelaide whilst I drove. Aside from the cultural experience I'm not sure we would have coped terribly well, all 4 of us, in "lovely" Bordertown for 30 hours with no transport.

By the way, the entertainment unit that I purchased in November which has the GPS, DVD, IPod and Bluetooth worked a treat. Two sons watched DVD's on the unit whilst my wife and I listened to the IPod. With the 2zone feature my sons could hear the DVD with their wireless headphones and we could hear the radio or Ipod. Unfortunately I think Warren must have got a dud. Mine hasn't missed a beat in the nearly 3 months I've had it.

lubby1 · 16-01-2010, 12:04 PM

Personally i wouldn't worry about the ugly mount in the boot if it meant i had peace of mind knowing that if i were to cop a flat tyre whilst driving on our country roads i would feel safe with a regular spare.

As for losing valuable space in the boot wouldn't the foam spacers make the boot space smaller? and who wants to rotate two tyres in the middle of a freeway.

Dusty1 · 16-01-2010, 01:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DAGGLES

By the way, the entertainment unit that I purchased in November which has the GPS, DVD, IPod and Bluetooth worked a treat. Two sons watched DVD's on the unit whilst my wife and I listened to the IPod. With the 2zone feature my sons could hear the DVD with their wireless headphones and we could hear the radio or Ipod. Unfortunately I think Warren must have got a dud. Mine hasn't missed a beat in the nearly 3 months I've had it.

Any chance of some photos?

Lucky you, 30 hours in Bordertown. Would have been better than Kaniva, or Edenhope.

fiestaz · 16-01-2010, 02:36 PM

i used the space saver spare in my car for about 200km's a while ago and its still fine... just was careful with my driving thats all.

Keepleft · 18-01-2010, 03:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fiestaz

i used the space saver spare in my car for about 200km's a while ago and its still fine... just was careful with my driving thats all.

Feel the same, speed is kept 80km/h and below, and gentle not performance turning. Many more kays done on one, happy once damaged wheel replaced, as the 80km/h maximum kinds wears thin:-)

NZ XR6 · 21-01-2010, 03:07 AM

Here's a couple of references to spacesaver tyre performance:

http://www.wheelsmag.com.au/wheels/s...open&pagenum=2

http://www.drive.com.au/Editorial/Ar...leID=5178&vf=1

A final thought: if I took my car for a Warrant of Fitness in NZ with a space saver fitted, it would fail.

mpsol · 21-01-2010, 11:54 AM

I hate the space saver wheel and am looking at alternatives. I live in Katherine in the NT and regularly drive Katherine to Darwin (320 Km) and with a speed limit of 130km/h, the 80km/h rating for the space saver makes for a long and dangerous trip. Not to mention would probably be the end of the space saver. I dred the day I need to use the space saver.

:

I am guessing that the standard steel rim's as fitted to the base model Mondeo's (LX), would fit my XR5 Mondeo. If this is the case it is a cheaper option and should take up slightly less room than an XR5 full size alloy.

Can anyone confirm that the Standard steel rims will fit on an XR5 ?

Cheers

NZ XR6 · 25-01-2010, 04:40 AM

Yes, the steel rim will fit. With a 215/55-16 tyre, the diameter will be the same as your 18" tyres.

I doubt that a space saver would last for 300 km on a hot day in NT!

allanv6gt · 25-01-2010, 12:24 PM

Thanks for the feedback people - most informative.

I would expect a std steel rim to fit - same stud pattern and fits under the wheelarches. presume rolling diameter would be the same otherwise it gets too expensive to recalibrate speedo, trip meter etc depending on what wheel each car has fitted.
Only issue might be tyre width Vs handling compromise. But a std wheel has to be better than the skinny spacesavers I have seen on other cars (~50% width - rather scary really!!). A second hand std wheel would also be cheaper than the fancy (and nice) alloys fitted to the XR5.

outback_ute · 05-02-2010, 11:44 AM

I know a guy who has done a 5-600km round trip with a space saver fitted, and I doubt he would have kept to the 80km/h limit either.

As Allan mentioned a 16" steel as a spare would probably see it wearing an 80km/h sticker from the factory!

Completely agree that a non-space saver should be an option in Aust!

Yellow_Festiva · 05-02-2010, 12:32 PM

If you don't want to use a space saver, look for a standard steel rim that you can put a high profile narrower tyre on.

You can still get high profile 175 section rubber in both 14 and 15inch sizes. Go to the wreckers, find a steel rim of 5 or 5.5 inches and you will have a compromise that is a much better option than the 135 / 145 speed limited tyre. Shouldn't intrude too much into boot space either.

Cheers.

warren77 · 05-02-2010, 02:22 PM

Just remember that the Mondeo has a rather unique offset.
Finding a steel rim to fit may be an issue.

burnz · 05-02-2010, 02:36 PM

i cant remeber the last time i had a flat.
my full size spare is still brand new OEM

NZ XR6 · 05-02-2010, 09:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by burnz

i cant remeber the last time i had a flat.
my full size spare is still brand new OEM

I'd say you've been lucky. Just had a flat in my Mondeo wagon, and two during a 3-year lease of an XR6.

allanv6gt · 06-02-2010, 01:06 PM

Re frequency of flat tyres....Depending on what roadworks you pass on a daily basis......we lost 3x $230 Yokohama's on our Subaru in 18mths driving past the parkway/freeway roadworks to/from work. Expensive 'running costs' for something that should last 30-50K Kms and 3yrs in normal usage. Haven't had a flat since they finished work 18mths ago, but now they are doing phase 2 (duplicating) on the same stretch of road (doh!). Fingers crossed.
But I will say that I hadn't had a flat in 10yrs on my other car used in normal daily usage (100K Km).
Sometimes the tyre gods just take a simple dislike to you.
And I hear the OEM Conti's on XR5s are somewhat pricey........

bovva66 · 04-03-2010, 02:21 PM

Just had my first flat in years, luckily only a slow leak, so easy to fix, and still driveable as long as I pumped up tyre. Only issue i had was it was not easy to notice that low profile 17" tyres are flat or low on pressure.

Has anyone tried a standard profile tyre on the 17" ford alloys? Or is that not possible?

XtRmn8 · 04-03-2010, 03:28 PM

I have 4 17" Zetec alloy wheels removed from our Zetec sedan. Willing to separate if any of you want full size spares.

2 rims have tyres, 30% thread left.
2 rims have tyres with about 50% thread but have gone lumpy.

Located in Perth and willing to send interstate at buyers expense.

Cheers.

outback_ute · 04-03-2010, 05:26 PM

bovva - not possible, because as the rim diameter goes up the tyre sidewall height (indicated by the profile) goes down to maintain the same overall diameter.

NZ XR6 · 04-03-2010, 10:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bovva66

Has anyone tried a standard profile tyre on the 17" ford alloys? Or is that not possible?

You could fit a 215/50-17. But that's the highest profile possible without increasing the tyre diameter.

Otherwise, fit 16" wheels with 215/55 tyres. You will be surprised at the improvement in steering accuracy and ride comfort on bumpy or uneven surfaces.