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Many thanks for voting. Like many others, I've had to crawl home on a space saver. What really winds me up is that Ford no longer offer a full size spare option on all models because the boot well won't accommodate one. As for these inflation kits with some suppliers - that would put me off buying from them, no matter how good the car.
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Spacesavers are the work of the Devil; legislation should never have come this far. Years ago the lawmakers should have simply said "STOP!" no more weight saving and supposed savings in fuel or emissions; Every car shall have a full sized spare, you manufacturers just darn well get used to the idea and work around a spare wheel. (On a separate but not wholly unrelated matter, ALL cars can have easily replaceable bulbs: weak legislators let designers get away with idiotic designs; time for robust legislators to swing the pendulum in the opposite direction IMHO. (If a car can have a fourth seat, it can have a spare wheel!) Bristol found a way to accommodate the spare wheel. The French slung them underneath (with a decent cover and locking mechanism, they nearly got it solved!). I remember cars as diverse as the Ford Zodiac and the Talbot Samba housing the spare comfortably on top of the engine. It really isn't rocket science!
And those infernal glop spray and pumps: ridiculous, should be restricted to bikes and motorbikes. Useless for blowouts and most tyre damage, and they give an utterly false sense of security.
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Agree. My nightmare is being stuck on either a French hard shoulder or somewhere on the west coast of Lewis with a sidewall split and nowt but goo.
Make that anywhere on Lewis or Harris on a Sunday!!
'Slime' isn't even that good on a pushbike, nbg if the glass shard or thorn is stuck in the tread.. And it's the divil's own job to get off the rim/casing if the inner splits.
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I see no reason to sign this.
If you don't like the features the car comes with then buy something else.
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You miss the point, Jamie. There is a good chance that unless buyers resist the trend, it'll be very difficult in a few years' time to find ANY car with a spare wheel.
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Then the one manufacturer which retains the spare wheel will sell a lot of cars then won't they.
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Spacesavers are the work of the Devil; legislation should never have come this far. Years ago the lawmakers should have simply said "STOP!" no more weight saving and supposed savings in fuel or emissions; Every car shall have a full sized spare, you manufacturers just darn well get used to the idea and work around a spare wheel.
The irony is we're in this position now because of regulation. Carmakers were perfectly happy including spare wheels but as motoring legislation gets more draconian, with the European Union's fanatical hatrid of carbon dioxide and the endless pressures put on industry to curb supposedly earth ending pollution, this is what happens.
They work hard to save fuel and emissions because Government has made them do so. We the public constantly demand cars which do 174mpg to offset the Governments rapacious assault on our wallets and they have no choice but to comply with bonkers emission laws which are driving industry out of Europe and into Asia.
More Government is never the solution to problems caused by too much Government.
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Maybe this might be of interest:
www.autoexpress.co.uk/car-news/31947/are-space-sav...e
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The best way to achieve this is simply NOT to buy a car without a spare wheel, however attractive it may be otherwise. Manufacturers do understand the effect of dropping sales demand.
Personally, I won't even consider any car with just a repair kit, nor any car with a space saver if there's no room to fit a full-size spare instead.
I have signed the e-petition.
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Maybe this might be of interest:
www.autoexpress.co.uk/car-news/31947/are-space-sav...e
In this article they state that th run flat had a 80mph sticker closer inspection would show it had a 80kmh sticker which is 50mph.
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You are all living in the past. I like spacesavers.
Dinsoaurs became extinct:-)
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You are all living in the past. I like spacesavers.
Dinsoaurs became extinct:-)
Spacesavers are no good if you're towing or on a long journey out of hours or you object to buying tyres as a crisis purchase.
Apart from that, some people like them.
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You are all living in the past. I like spacesavers.
Dinsoaurs became extinct:-)
I travel across Europe on a regular basis and to try and find a tyre shop on Saturday afternoon or Sunday is almost impossible and if you can find anybody to change your tyre boy do they know how to charge.For that reason I always now carry a full size spare .I think new cars owners should be given the option quite plainly and openly not as its done now.
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"with the European Union's fanatical hatrid of carbon dioxide"
The make up of air the very stuff we breath and so live is made up of many parts but it must contain 21% oxygen for us to live if we increase carbon dioxide levels to much then it gets warmer in places and colder in others but the 21% can also alter making the planet uninhabitable for humans ,its a big gamble till we know more so the EU is rightly acting with caution as is America the alternatives are less tax to collect because there will not be anybody to collect tax from.
Carbon dioxide is also a easy metric to measure and to use to collect tax it could quite well be carbon monoxide or any other gas produced by burning fossil fuels.Fossil fuels will not last last much longer in economic terms so the powers that be are weaning the public onto other sources of energy generated at a central point how they generate this power is open for discussion but neither you nor I will change what is happening.
Edited by Collos25 on 15/01/2013 at 10:34
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One thing that really annoys me about this full size, space saver or no spare argument is boot size. The figures quoted by the manufacturers are very deceiving to say the least.
When we bought our last new car boot space was vitally important, we needed to biggest we could get for reasonable cash.
First up was the Octavia Estate, 605 litres, way bigger than the oposition. But the car had no spare at all and when you added one (spacesaver on the model we looked at) together with a raised boot floor the boot space dropped to just over 500 litres, with a full sized spare it dropped even more.
We looked at many more similary sized estates (all had just over 500 litres) and all were pretty much the same in that they used either a spacesaver or no spare at all. The only 2 that came with full sized spares were the Kia Sportage and Hyundai ix35, both had just over 550 litres.
We eventually bought a Kia Ceed SW, 535 litres. It came with a space saver but when we go on out long holiday trips (where having to fit a spacesaver with several 100 miles to our desination is not an option) we can get a full size spare into the space provided with no loss of boot space, we just loose a useless tray that hold rattling bits and bobs.
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>> must contain 21% oxygen for us to live
This years Royal Institution Christmas lectures had a piece on a chamber containing 15% oxygen. There was the presenter (and camera crew, sound man etc. I presume) inside, but when a burning torch was taken in it immediately extinguished.
So how much oxygen do we need?
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Pedant Alert!!
So how much oxygen do we need?
It's not really the proportion of air that comprises oxygen so much as the partial pressure. The air around the summit of mount Everest is still 21% oxygen but the pressure of the air is only about a 1/3 of what it would be at sea level, so the partial pressure of oxygen is about 1/3 of that at sea level.
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Pedant Alert!!
So how much oxygen do we need?
It's not really the proportion of air that comprises oxygen so much as the partial pressure. The air around the summit of mount Everest is still 21% oxygen but the pressure of the air is only about a 1/3 of what it would be at sea level, so the partial pressure of oxygen is about 1/3 of that at sea level.
Having worked in an environment which was oxygen monitored for 3 years, 19% in a room is 'Sort this! Open the window!' level and 16% is 'get the hell out of there now' level.
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The make up of air the very stuff we breath and so live is made up of many parts but it must contain 21% oxygen for us to live if we increase carbon dioxide levels to much then it gets warmer in places and colder in others but the 21% can also alter making the planet uninhabitable for humans ,its a big gamble till we know more so the EU is rightly acting with caution as is America the alternatives are less tax to collect because there will not be anybody to collect tax from.
Carbon dioxide is also a easy metric to measure and to use to collect tax it could quite well be carbon monoxide or any other gas produced by burning fossil fuels.Fossil fuels will not last last much longer in economic terms so the powers that be are weaning the public onto other sources of energy generated at a central point how they generate this power is open for discussion but neither you nor I will change what is happening.
What a load of b******s. Actually you have got one thing right; it's all about collecting tax.
The European Union: Taxing aspiration and industry to a crushing death since 1993.
Oh well, what do you expect from an organisation which has failed to get it's accounts signed off by auditors for 18 consecutive years.
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Then the one manufacturer which retains the spare wheel will sell a lot of cars then won't they.
My Hyundai i30 came with a full size alloy spare, no extra cost, handy storage compartments either side of the wheel well under the boot carpet too. After a couple of Corollas (with full size spares) this was something I checked before buying.
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I've only ever had to use a spacesaver for short, low speed local journeys. Anyone have experience of travelling a few hundred miles on one? I doubt they go pop.
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I've only ever had to use a spacesaver for short, low speed local journeys. Anyone have experience of travelling a few hundred miles on one? I doubt they go pop.
Who would want to do "a few hundred miles" with a 50mph speed limit ?
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Who would want to do "a few hundred miles" with a 50mph speed limit ?
Which is why I said earlier that having a puncture with 100's of miles to go with only a space saver is not an option.
Add to that they are quite a bit smaller in diameter which makes a car sit odd to say the least plus having a full load in the car is different to just fitting one for a few days to pop to the shops and work.
Not all manufacturers are as kind as Kia and give you enough space to fit a full size wheel in the space saver well. What happens if you have a car full of people and luggage, where do you put the full sized wheel after you have fitted the spacesaver.
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Before you say you won't buy a new car with the puncture spray stuff, it's worth investigating options and seeing what the dealer will do for you. When I got a Ford Ka just over a year ago, I had no idea I wasn't getting a proper spare, what I wasn't told was that for £50 at the point of sale I could have had a space saver or if I was lucky a full size spare. When I got the puncture repair kit, I complained that was no good to me at all and I should have been told about the options at the point of sale, they relented and for £50 I eventually got a full size spare, for which there was a well in the boot.
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Many space-savers are the same diameter as the full-size road wheels, just a lot narrower.
One issue with space-savers that's overlooked is the extremely high pressure they need - significantly above the levels set on forecourt air lines and ordinary electric pumps.
It's possible to buy higher pressure electric pumps because trailers and commercial vans also need those higher pressures.
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I have a can of goo.
Mr B's Celica has a full size spare.
I have signed the e-petition.
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Many space-savers are the same diameter as the full-size road wheels, just a lot narrower.
One issue with space-savers that's overlooked is the extremely high pressure they need - significantly above the levels set on forecourt air lines and ordinary electric pumps.
It's possible to buy higher pressure electric pumps because trailers and commercial vans also need those higher pressures.
Surprisingly enough foot pumps exist and 60psi is relatively easy on a space saver..
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One issue with space-savers that's overlooked is the extremely high pressure they need - significantly above the levels set on forecourt air lines and ordinary electric pumps.
My 1 1/8" bike tyres are rated to 100psi-although only a masochist would set them that high! You can achieve that with a standard hand pump (no mechanical leverage).
The electric reciprocating pump I use for the car claims to be good for 300 psi-and it's only an el cheapo one running from the cigarette lighter.I don't think the pressures are a problem.
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I've only ever had to use a spacesaver for short, low speed local journeys. Anyone have experience of travelling a few hundred miles on one? I doubt they go pop.
Who would want to do "a few hundred miles" with a 50mph speed limit ?
Most spacesavers specifically state they are limited to 50 miles duration...
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Touch wood I have only had 1 puncture in a massive amount of miles driven, it was in a Saab 900 Classic, in the snow a couple of years ago...fitted the space saver and carried on, it wasnt too bad even in slippery conditions...I can live with a temp wheel, its the goop that really grinds my gears.
All Polos for example still come with a full spare, unless its a Bluemotion where to save what can only be a tiny amount of weight comes with a pump and gel. A fatter person buying the car cancels it out!
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the EU is rightly acting with caution as is America the alternatives are less tax to collect because there will not be anybody to collect tax from.
If we're all wiped out with no taxpayers left then it stands to reason there will be no tax collectors left either.
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If we're all wiped out with no taxpayers left then it stands to reason there will be no tax collectors left either.
What a wonderful thought - Armageddon may be worthwhile after all.
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Let me get some of my pension back first I have paid enough into the system.
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"Who would want to do "a few hundred miles" with a 50mph speed limit ?"
Well if it was that or sit by the roadside from 5pm on a Sunday evening until 8am the following morning when Kwik Fit open, I'd drive a few hundred miles at 50mph. My question, which I thought was clear enough, was has anyone ever done it? I'm not suggesting it's ideal, but you could get to where you are going. Not the case with a shredded tyre and a can of goo.
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"Who would want to do "a few hundred miles" with a 50mph speed limit ?"
Well if it was that or sit by the roadside from 5pm on a Sunday evening until 8am the following morning when Kwik Fit open, I'd drive a few hundred miles at 50mph. My question, which I thought was clear enough, was has anyone ever done it? I'm not suggesting it's ideal, but you could get to where you are going. Not the case with a shredded tyre and a can of goo.
It's just hypothetical to me - I won't buy a car unless it has a full-size spare - I can live with a steel spare wheel if necessary, although my Hyundai has a matching alloy spare - I can also live with buying the full-size spare as an option as long as it will fit the spare wheel well - but I will not own a car with a space-saver or a goo-can.
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