Cars without spare wheels

[Rod Speed]

They did, but the ride with those is awful.

[chop]

Then you need new glasses, bad. The VW beetle always had one.

[Sam Plusnet]

I just have that full-fat wheel as a spare, carried in the car's well. I have to set the boot floor to its upper position to make room for it. The last thing I need is extra weight in the caravan.

I do (and did, after a slow puncture). The spare doesn't have a TPMS sensor. It's a full-sized matching alloy wheel, but I only discovered that it lacked a TPMS when I finally had to put it into use.

[Sam Plusnet]

I tow a 'van. When I bought the current car, I made a full-sized matching (wheel & tyre) spare part of the deal.

What _did_ concern me was the supplied jack. It looks a tad spindly to me and, given the weight of our AWD Sportage, I do not intend to trust it.

[Paul]

There have been tyres which were puncture proof. I had two sets of those, and even if you wear the tread off, they're still puncture proof. They were on the order of 4x the price of a Kenda. The protection was more than just the running surface and included the sidewall.

If I could find those as a stock item in a bicycle store today, I would buy them.

Things like this, you would only expect to be able to order these online. They would be too expensive to be stocked in a small bicycle shop. I don't know what that "protective layer" is, because it isn't a wrap. And the tyre makers don't name it. It's not Thinsulate (tm).

Currently driving a Schwalbe Marathon, which has been pretty good. About 2.5x the price of a Kenda. but you can always get the Kenda. No shop can resist stocking those. It's like stocking bog roll. Tread last less than one year. Some of the Kenda, need 80 PSI just to maintain the proper shape (like driving on balloons).

Paul

[Tim+]

Entirely possible but you’ll be missing out on a very pleasant driving experience. Once you’ve got used to the liquid seamless acceleration and lack of mechanical clamour, it’s hard to look at ICE vehicles the same way again.

Tim

[Roger Mills]

But the problem isn't just with electric cars. Few 'ordinary' cars seem to have any provision for spare wheels these days.

I guess that even if the self-sealing works, there would be an initial slight drop in pressure. Whether or not that would be picked up by the pressure monitoring system, I don't know. As far as I can see, the ID.3 doesn't have sensors in the wheels - but senses pressure drop by a small change in the rolling radius. I don't know how sensitive that is.

[Roger Mills]

You'd actually get a better weight distribution by putting it in the caravan over the axle rather than in the back of the car.

[Roger Mills]

Indeed. I carry a small trolley jack in my AWD Tucson (basically the same car as your Sportage).

[Bob Eager]

And the Ford Zephyr. Not only did it have the spare wheel there, but the engine as well.

[Roger Mills]

Yes I agree. Since we've had the ID.3 - although it technically belongs to SWMBO - I've done very few miles in my diesel Tucson!

[chop]

My dad did have a Zephyr wagon. what you lot call an estate, but I dont recall the spare being there.

[Tim+]

As far as I’m aware, neither the Zephyr nor the Beetle were EVs. EVs we’re the topic of conversation at the time.

Tim

[Bob Eager]

This was the model with the long flat bonnet and the V4/V6 engine.

[The Natural Philosopher]

I remember my utter horror at driving one of those - a 3 speed automatic. My normal mount was an MG midget in those days. Not exactly hot by today's standards, but when this vast expanse of pondlike bonnet in front of me wallowed and dipped and rolled with every slight change of acceleceration, and the gutless combination of I think a 2 litre engine and a three speed box and torque converter...recirculating ball steering with power assistance...I nearly wet my pants.

Ah I think by that time it might have had a 2,5 straight 6 or a 3 liter. And no power steering

Ghastly car.

[Andy Burns]

My Honda that came with a bottle of gunge instead of a spare tyre, did at least come with a compressor too.

[The Natural Philosopher]

I have fully gunge equipped lawn tractor tyres as I was getting three or four punctures a month from blackthorn

I think they are tubed as well. In practice it means that a thorn doesnt deflate the tyre over an hour, in fact it doesnt deflate the tyre at all.

Used in a road tyre it would throw it out of balance and it is in fact illegal

[Ian Jackson]

IIRC, the instructions were (are), to spread it our evenly and preserve the balance, to go for a drive immediately after using the gunge.

[Andy Burns]

But this wasn't pre-puncture gunge, as I assume is in your tractor? It was supposed to be post-puncture, to let you drive to a tyre-shop, I can't see Honda supplying it if it was illegal ...

I think you were supposed to discard it and buy a new bottle every few years, I never bothered ...

[Tim+]

The gunge doesn’t set so why would it throw it out of balance? It’s not illegal.

Tim