5 ms·
How about something as simple as a spare tire? Having been unlucky enough (twice) to have experienced sidewall tire damage, the one deal breaker for me on a ne
by slantyyz 9y ago
How about something as simple as a spare tire?
Having been unlucky enough (twice) to have experienced sidewall tire damage, the one deal breaker for me on a new car is the absence of a spare tire and/or a well in the trunk and the option to buy one.
Every year, the number of automobiles that have a spare tire or the option to even have one in the car shrinks. I'm assuming this de-contenting has to do with making the car lighter to improve fuel economy?
In my mind, a "tire inflation kit" (aka an aerosol can) or expensive-to-replace run-flats have limited benefits in general and absolutely zero benefits when it comes to sidewall damage. I would not want to be in the middle of nowhere with the wrong kind of flat in a car without a spare.
- AdamJacobMuller 9y ago> I'm assuming this de-contenting has to do with making the car lighter to improve fuel economy? Correct.
- Declanomous 9y agoAdditionally, the spare tire well can make a noticeable difference in the undercarriage drag. I know a number of people have removed the spare tire well on their Imprezas and improved their mileage by more than the amount they got when they had just taken out the spare itself. Of course the spare tire well has some weight to it, but pictures I've seen of the delete do make the car appear more aerodynamic from beneath.
- gambiting 9y agoAnd also - in my car(Merc) if you order the Premium HK speaker system the spare tyre is replaced with a subwoofer + tyre repair kit.
- rjsw 9y agoThe full size spare in my current car has been transferred from my two previous cars, I swapped it for space saver spares that came with the newer cars.
- slantyyz 9y agoThe problem is that some of the newer cars don't even have a well for a spare, so then you have to deal with the spare eating up trunk space.
- jandrese 9y agoI'm amazed it isn't full of dry rot by now. Tires don't last forever.
- slantyyz 9y agoI'm kinda surprised that the diameter of the full-sized spare tire matches the diameter of the tires on all three cars. It would seem unlikely given the variability of rim sizes and tire aspect ratios across cars over time.
- BuildTheRobots 9y agoMost people mean spare tyre already attached to a wheel and probably inflated when they say spare tyre - eg it's ready to go. There seems more chance that the wheel can be swapped between vehicles.
- rjsw 9y agoSame make and model family [1]. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Mondeo https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Mondeo