Omega Owners Forum
Chat Area => General Car Chat => Topic started by: Auto Addict on 28 August 2016, 10:23:17
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As I do a lot of towing, I want to replace mine with a proper spare wheel.
Any ideas to the best source, Insignia 18".
The well is big enough to take a proper spare.
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There are a few 18" alloys on here, as long as you don't mind a mismatch while your tyre is being repaired:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=p2050601.m570.l1313.TR0.TRC0.H0.Xinsignia+18%22+spare+wheel.TRS0&_nkw=insignia+18%22+spare+wheel&_sacat=0
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Last time I bought a wheel (full size steel) for a Vectra, carnt remember the size, I got it from a VX dealer....£40 iirc
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I'd suggest trying breakers, and budget for a new tyre (as you're towing)
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I'd suggest trying breakers, and budget for a new tyre (as you're towing)
Seems like a plan.
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Trouble with a buying a 2nd hand wheel, is how do you know it isn't already buckled :-\
New steel wheels aren't that expensive and as its the spare it might as well be steel :)
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I had a space saver in mine but then found a 17" new steel wheel on eBay for £10 it was listed as an 18 but they don't do 18" someone put up a chart that you could get the correct size tyre which was really useful to get it back up to almost the same diameter
I have the country tourer and it has a slightly higher profile than yours will have
Your best bet is look on eBay for an alloy the same as yours
I don't know if you are aware but IE site has almost come to a grinding halt there is a new site if you don't already know about it
https://insignia-drivers.uk/forum.php
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You've had a 'space saver' ie not full size spare, for years in the boot of your Omega, so I wouldn't worry about the space saver in your Insignia ..... as long as it gets you to somewhere where you can get another full size tyre ....... I have one of these in the back of my Merc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fj5mTCUWJO8
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No the omega has a spare, not a space saver, 99% of the time cars with alloys have a smaller steel spare wheel with tyre size that makes it near as damnit the same rolling radius, space savers are a crap idea dreamt up my marketing to improve boot space figures but melt if you don't follow the instructions (50 miles/50mph)!
As above I seem to recall trying to hunt down a 18" steel to no avail so look 17 or even 16 if the tyre size converts...
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No the omega has a spare, not a space saver, 99% of the time cars with alloys have a smaller steel spare wheel with tyre size that makes it near as damnit the same rolling radius, space savers are a crap idea dreamt up my marketing to improve boot space figures but melt if you don't follow the instructions (50 miles/50mph)!
As above I seem to recall trying to hunt down a 18" steel to no avail so look 17 or even 16 if the tyre size converts...
Rubbish... A full size spare is just that.. It's not just the rolling radius that counts, but a significantly narrower tyre and sidewall height will have a profound effect on handling...
This is why Facelift cars have a 50mph restricted spare :y
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No the omega has a spare, not a space saver, 99% of the time cars with alloys have a smaller steel spare wheel with tyre size that makes it near as damnit the same rolling radius, space savers are a crap idea dreamt up my marketing to improve boot space figures but melt if you don't follow the instructions (50 miles/50mph)!
Unless the spare is the same size tyre, on a wheel with the same width and offset as the other wheels, it has to be considered as a spacesaver. The 15" steel spare wheel in Omegas is a therefore a spacesaver when used in place of any of the 16 and 17" wheels, and the 50mph limit applies.
Spacesavers aren't the best option, but they are much better than not having a spare, or runflats. Many cars simply don't have room for anything the size of a standard wheel and tyre: a TT convertible has a spacesaver, but the wheel you remove won't fit through the boot aperture and has to go on the passenger seat. You can't fit the fullsize wheel into the cradle under an XC90; Volvo supply a canvas bag for it so you don't get the boot dirty!
Being an estate my Omega has just enough room in the wheel well to accommodate a fullsize 17" spare, so I acquired one some time ago. I gave the 15" wheel and tyre to a colleague for his wife's Zafira, which had been supplied with the repair foam that rarely works.
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No the omega has a spare, not a space saver, ....
I specifically said full sized ... the spare in the boot of an Omega is a 195 wide on a 15" rim ...... not the same as those fitted to the car
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The spare wheel in the boot of most of our cars is a full sized spare, just because it's not identical to the alloys doesn't make it a space saver, car manufacturers have to do a one else size fits all for spare wheels - they can't make the boot shape and space different depending get on what wheels were fitted. My spare is a 205 width as opposed to 225 width fitted to the alloys, 20mm difference is not noticeable when driving and the 50 miles/mph certainly doesn't apply as it is a standard tyre and the car is safe upto the lowest speed/load rating of the tyres fitted to the vehicle.
And gollom, rolling radius takes into account sidewall height and there won't be much in it.
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The spare wheel in the boot of most of our cars is a full sized spare, just because it's not identical to the alloys doesn't make it a space saver, car manufacturers have to do a one else size fits all for spare wheels - they can't make the boot shape and space different depending get on what wheels were fitted. My spare is a 205 width as opposed to 225 width fitted to the alloys, 20mm difference is not noticeable when driving and the 50 miles/mph certainly doesn't apply as it is a standard tyre and the car is safe upto the lowest speed/load rating of the tyres fitted to the vehicle.
And gollom, rolling radius takes into account sidewall height and there won't be much in it.
Take your car for an MOT with your spare fitted ...... it'll fail. It's smaller than the road wheels so it'll fit in the wheel well ....... it's effectively a space saver
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The spare wheel in the boot of most of our cars is a full sized spare, just because it's not identical to the alloys doesn't make it a space saver, car manufacturers have to do a one else size fits all for spare wheels - they can't make the boot shape and space different depending get on what wheels were fitted. My spare is a 205 width as opposed to 225 width fitted to the alloys, 20mm difference is not noticeable when driving and the 50 miles/mph certainly doesn't apply as it is a standard tyre and the car is safe upto the lowest speed/load rating of the tyres fitted to the vehicle.
And gollom, rolling radius takes into account sidewall height and there won't be much in it.
Please read the manual
In particular, pages 164, 180 and 181 ;)
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The spare wheel in the boot of most of our cars is a full sized spare, just because it's not identical to the alloys doesn't make it a space saver, car manufacturers have to do a one else size fits all for spare wheels - they can't make the boot shape and space different depending get on what wheels were fitted. My spare is a 205 width as opposed to 225 width fitted to the alloys, 20mm difference is not noticeable when driving and the 50 miles/mph certainly doesn't apply as it is a standard tyre and the car is safe upto the lowest speed/load rating of the tyres fitted to the vehicle.
And gollom, rolling radius takes into account sidewall height and there won't be much in it.
In this case, the 50mph doesn't apply to the tyre, but because it is different to the other one on that axle. While there may be little difference in the rolling radius/width, it is real and must be acknowledged. Treating it as an emergency temporary repair and limiting the speed is a reasonable, common sense precaution. I would suggest a critical examination of the spare before fitting it too; I've refused to fit several sparewheels due to their execrable condition.
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There are space savers and space savers, though. At least the Omega's spare is a proper car tyre. Whilst it does result in some asymmetry, if you had a puncture on, say a 500 mile trip on a Sunday night in deepest France, when nothing's open and nobody's sober, it would allow you to complete your journey before seeking a replacement when the tyre places open.
Contrast that with the flimsy wheels bearing what look like wheelchair/pram/bicycle tyres on some modern cars. They're really only useful to stop one corner of the car dragging on the ground while you limp to the next motorway junction. Might as well not bother, because if you hit a pot hole or drive more than a few dozen miles, you'll be back stranded again anyway IMHO.
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I hate space savers. I don't understand how the two statements can both be true from Mr Marketing Man...
"this sexy new, amazing new car needs these 265 tyres, it needs them because of its sexy new-ness"
"it's perfectly safe to drive this 1.6 ton car on this bicycle tyre"
but, like so much, it's a compromise, how often to people need a spare wheel? How many times have you been in a scrap car and found the new, unused tyre, with bobbles still on? Plenty of times in my few years on this planet. How long does it have to last? Theoretically the next day when you, of course, religiously go and buy a new one with the disposable incomes the entire planet enjoys.
reality is, of course, not as simple as that. I think it's a scrimp, and a symptomatic of an industry so crammed with legislation, more and more safety (the weight and unit cost penalties of which have to come from somewhere) and ever-changing market and ever-growing competition.
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but, like so much, it's a compromise, how often do people need a spare wheel? How many times have you been in a scrap car and found the new, unused tyre, with bobbles still on? Plenty of times in my few years on this planet. How long does it have to last? Theoretically the next day when you, of course, religiously go and buy a new one with the disposable incomes the entire planet enjoys.
In the 28 years I've been driving, my average annual car mileage must be about 25,000. I've had to fit the spare wheel once, and that was about 8 years ago, on the M25 about 25 miles into a 200 mile trip. By fitting the spare wheel, I was moving 5 minutes after stopping on the hard shoulder. Not having to wait who knows how long to be recovered and taken somewhere to buy a replacement easily justifies carrying the sparewheels in all the cars I'd owned until that point.
In that vein, the '72 Avenger I bought 8 years ago had an unused 145R13 Goodyear G800 in the boot.
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Indeed - I mean I'm not advocating having no spare wheel. (in the last year I've been saved several times by a double-quick wheel change by the roadside/car park) or indeed a space saver, as I say, hate the things. There's clearly reasons from the manufacturer's side to not fit them is what I'm seeing. There's pressure from many angles. :(
Interestingly, a future 'trend' I read recently is that narrower tyres will become the 'cool' / 'norm' for newer cars, due to their fuel saving/aero benefits. Part of why the Citroen old DS19 is rumoured to have a lower drag coefficient than the Calibra, the then-most aerodynamic car in the world.
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Less weight for emissions testing...
In the Omegas case, the spare is limited by the width of the wheel well on saloons... Designed when 16" wheels were considered large... Hence a 195 width tyre will fit but a 225 won't.
The estate however will take a full size wheel/tyre, although once at the 245/40/18 size, the boot floor sits proud an inch or so...
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True, I don't think they predicted the fashion explosion in tyre size, though I do find a 225 will just jam in, (might need slight deflating I dont recall) but the 235s no hope, yes. :y
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I hate space savers. I don't understand how the two statements can both be true from Mr Marketing Man...
"this sexy new, amazing new car needs these 265 tyres, it needs them because of its sexy new-ness"
"it's perfectly safe to drive this 1.6 ton car on this bicycle tyre"
You don't get the feeling, through the steering, of total disconnection from what's happening at the surface of the road unless you fit oversized tyres, you see. ::)
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The spare wheel in the boot of most of our cars is a full sized spare, just because it's not identical to the alloys doesn't make it a space saver, car manufacturers have to do a one else size fits all for spare wheels - they can't make the boot shape and space different depending get on what wheels were fitted. My spare is a 205 width as opposed to 225 width fitted to the alloys, 20mm difference is not noticeable when driving and the 50 miles/mph certainly doesn't apply as it is a standard tyre and the car is safe upto the lowest speed/load rating of the tyres fitted to the vehicle.
And gollom, rolling radius takes into account sidewall height and there won't be much in it.
'Fraid it counts as a space saver, hence all facelifts left the factory with a big yellow 80kpm sticker on the wheel.
Its different to the other on the same axle in size, and more importantly, construction. The standard spare is an H rated item, which is too low for any Omega (V, or Z for V6)
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The top speed of my astra wouldn't trouble an 'H' ;D
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The top speed of my astra wouldn't trouble an 'H' ;D
Its not just about its speed rating, as on UK roads, even remoulds are OK ;)