Space Saver Wheel

[OrganMorgan]

Just purchased 18 inch space saver wheel it actually fits into the area in the boot below the main loading area which is a massive bonus. Prefer a spare tyre to gunk and an inflator. Cost £200 with jack and tool kit.

I’ve fitted it on the front and back to see if it would do the job. Yes it works perfectly well. I drove 5 miles on the front and the back with some stops and starts. Initially the car sends multiple warnings and turns off all the enhanced braking system but the car stills drives perfectly apart from one pedal isn’t available. As soon as the original 19 inch wheel goes back on the car reset all the enhanced braking features again automatically. Nice to know I’ve got the spare available now as well as the inflator kit. Twos better than one.

A very interesting prospect - thanks for raising this, Donny. How easy is it access the wheel bolts in order to remove the punctured wheel, please? There were comments on this particular topic many months ago but could you just remind us of what's involved?

[SP1959]

I can understand the desire of some owners to have a spare wheel instead of the compressor and sealant that most new cars come with - just in case they got one of those un-repairable puntures.

However the idea of keeping a spare wheel in the passenger area is dangerous over-kill. The wheel may seem well restrained but it is only held in place by gravity and friction, and the forces unleashed in a high speed crash are huge and the possibility of the wheel breaking free and becoming a lethal projectile are not worth risking.

Especially when the risk is being taken to aliviate the very low possibilty of an event of an inconvenient but harmless event - a punture that cannot be dealt with conveniently at the scene.

I have been driving for over 40 years, averaging 10,000 - 15,000 miles a year. In that time I have driven over 500,000 miles (20 times round the earth!) and I have had many, many punctures. Most were slow enough that I could just pump up the tyre and drive to a repairer without even having to change the wheel. The rest that did need the wheel changed all had small holes in the tread that would have been repairable with the sealer kit if I had had that instead of a spare. Not one had a large rip or sidewall damage that would have led to being stranded at the side of the road if I hadn't had a real spare.

Yes it happens, but is it really worth the risk of carrying what is a lethal bomb in the car, just in case?

Volvo have demonstrated the safe solution in their EX30 Cross Country reveal - a roof rack to hold the spare. Noisy, range reducing, ugly - but safe.

And if you really are so worried about that tiny risk of getting such a punture on a journey when you must not get stranded under any circumstances, what if road debris puntures 2 tyres at once? Maybe you need to carry 2 spares, just in case? Or 3? Or 4?

And I am not joking. I have never had a disabling puncture in 500,000 miles, but on two occasions I got 2 puntures at the same time (each time both could be inflated and driven on to a repairer).

[BS60]

The Wheel Shop on tinternet just fill in 3 boxes and ya done.

Just received a space saver wheel from ‘The Wheel Shop’ and I find it’s too big to fit in the lower boot compartment! To be fair the website declares that it won’t fit in the boot - so I was warned - but now it’s in the rear passenger footwell - so not ideal!
It was very close to fitting in - about an inch too big - so I suppose I could partially or fully deflate it - but it would be better to have a spare ready to fit!

I got an 18 inch space saver wheel from them and it fitted even with the bag on it. It’s very tight indeed but it defo is in the lower part of my boot area. It did need to put it in at an angle and push back the vertical back of the boot about 10mm or so but it gives very easily and doesn’t crease or anything. Snug but defo a fit.

After reading your post I’ve tried again and got it to fit in the ‘lower boot’ It is almost an interference fit - so much so I had to use a ‘slippery’ plastic bag to make the rubber tyre slide down on the plastic trim
It’s such a tight fit - I’m happy that the space saver is going to stay put !!

[Donny Simm]

Just received a space saver wheel from ‘The Wheel Shop’ and I find it’s too big to fit in the lower boot compartment! To be fair the website declares that it won’t fit in the boot - so I was warned - but now it’s in the rear passenger footwell - so not ideal!
It was very close to fitting in - about an inch too big - so I suppose I could partially or fully deflate it - but it would be better to have a spare ready to fit!

I got an 18 inch space saver wheel from them and it fitted even with the bag on it. It’s very tight indeed but it defo is in the lower part of my boot area. It did need to put it in at an angle and push back the vertical back of the boot about 10mm or so but it gives very easily and doesn’t crease or anything. Snug but defo a fit.

After reading your post I’ve tried again and got it to fit in the ‘lower boot’ It is almost an interference fit - so much so I had to use a ‘slippery’ plastic bag to make the rubber tyre slide down on the plastic trim
It’s such a tight fit - I’m happy that the space saver is going to stay put !!

Yep it’s defo a tight fit for sure but there’s no way it’s gonna slide around I was just chuffed to get it in under the main boot. Originally when I bought it the plan was to put it in the garage as I only do very local work so I was pleasantly surprised when it slide into the lower boot space RESULT

[Donny Simm]

Just purchased 18 inch space saver wheel it actually fits into the area in the boot below the main loading area which is a massive bonus. Prefer a spare tyre to gunk and an inflator. Cost £200 with jack and tool kit.

I’ve fitted it on the front and back to see if it would do the job. Yes it works perfectly well. I drove 5 miles on the front and the back with some stops and starts. Initially the car sends multiple warnings and turns off all the enhanced braking system but the car stills drives perfectly apart from one pedal isn’t available. As soon as the original 19 inch wheel goes back on the car reset all the enhanced braking features again automatically. Nice to know I’ve got the spare available now as well as the inflator kit. Twos better than one.

A very interesting prospect - thanks for raising this, Donny. How easy is it access the wheel bolts in order to remove the punctured wheel, please? There were comments on this particular topic many months ago but could you just remind us of what's involved?

Very easy just remove the plastic wheel trims and that reveals the wheels nuts just as on any car. Word of caution the trims are not easy to remove first time because there is a circular tension spring on them. I spent time carefully removing all of them and then removing the middle tension spring , very easy to remove and obvious when your looking at the trim removed. Once that’s out it’s a piece of cake, the trims come off easily. The Wheel Shop do the wheel and Jack and toolkit for £195 when you use the discount code. The discount code is easily found on Google.