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Chat Area => General Car Chat => Topic started by: Teebee on 12 July 2010, 13:57:21

Title: Always check your spare on a new car.......
Post by: Teebee on 12 July 2010, 13:57:21
So, I discover my tyre has shredded last night, think no problem i'll pop the spare on, it's a full size no name brand with OK tread, no big deal if I trash it.

All is going fine until I roll it up and realise it's 15" not 16"......... I guess that sums up my life at this time :)
Title: Re: Always check your spare on a new car.......
Post by: Andy B on 12 July 2010, 13:59:47
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.... and realise it's 15" not 16"......... I guess that sums up my life at this time :)

They all are  :y  :y  :y

...... and it's not quite full size. You'll have 205's on your car, the spare is 195 cos the 205 won't fit the well.  ;)
Title: Re: Always check your spare on a new car.......
Post by: joshwyatt on 12 July 2010, 14:10:01
Andy's right, whether you have 17'' Elite wheels or 16'' CD wheels (facelift), the standard spare is always only a 15''. It's only meant as a temporary replacement, not designed for any extensive use.
Title: Re: Always check your spare on a new car.......
Post by: Lazydocker on 12 July 2010, 14:28:15
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.... and realise it's 15" not 16"......... I guess that sums up my life at this time :)

They all are  :y  :y  :y

...... and it's not quite full size. You'll have 205's on your car, the spare is 195 cos the 205 won't fit the well.  ;)

He's probably got 225's being a mini-facelift elite ;) But it'll still be a 195 spare :y
Title: Re: Always check your spare on a new car.......
Post by: TheBoy on 12 July 2010, 14:28:41
It is indeed just a 'get you home' spare.  Except Squealey's 2.5TD which has a full size proper alloy spare, because I put it there ;D
Title: Re: Always check your spare on a new car.......
Post by: TheBoy on 12 July 2010, 14:29:33
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.... and realise it's 15" not 16"......... I guess that sums up my life at this time :)

They all are  :y  :y  :y

...... and it's not quite full size. You'll have 205's on your car, the spare is 195 cos the 205 won't fit the well.  ;)

He's probably got 225's being a mini-facelift elite ;) But it'll still be a 195 spare :y
225 is about the largest you can get in spare wheel well, even then its difficult to get the cover to clip neatly over it
Title: Re: Always check your spare on a new car.......
Post by: Andy B on 12 July 2010, 14:35:59
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....
He's probably got 225's being a mini-facelift elite ;) But it'll still be a 195 spare :y

You're quite correct, I was thinking of the 205's that were on my Senator.  :y
Title: Re: Always check your spare on a new car.......
Post by: Teebee on 12 July 2010, 14:46:37
Yep it's a 225 in there, I saw 225 and just assumed it was 16", that'll teach me to look properly!
Title: Re: Always check your spare on a new car.......
Post by: I_want_an_Omega on 13 July 2010, 16:34:42
I can't speak for facelifted cars, but only mini-facelift cars with 195 tyres get 195 spares. If you have 205's or above (225's, 235's) then you get a 205 spare on a 15" rim.
Title: Re: Always check your spare on a new car.......
Post by: Andy B on 13 July 2010, 17:17:18
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I can't speak for facelifted cars, but only mini-facelift cars with 195 tyres get 195 spares. If you have 205's or above (225's, 235's) then you get a 205 spare on a 15" rim.

you're trying to say I've got both width sizes wrong .........  ::)  ::)  ::)
Title: Re: Always check your spare on a new car.......
Post by: Andy B on 13 July 2010, 17:19:39
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I can't speak for facelifted cars, but only mini-facelift cars with 195 tyres get 195 spares. If you have 205's or above (225's, 235's) then you get a 205 spare on a 15" rim.


but you're right  :-[ ...... i've just been out in the rain to check.  :y
Title: Re: Always check your spare on a new car.......
Post by: I_want_an_Omega on 13 July 2010, 17:40:42
he he he ........

I did a fair bit of wheel swapping recently, and also checked in my nice shiny "new" '99 MY Brochure ......  ::)
Title: Re: Always check your spare on a new car.......
Post by: Andy B on 13 July 2010, 17:48:55
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..... in my nice shiny "new" '99 MY Brochure ......  ::)

I'm sure I've got one of them ........... I wonder where I put it?  :-/
Title: Re: Always check your spare on a new car.......
Post by: johny5 on 13 July 2010, 18:03:33
Its quite ironic, if you had 2 different size wheels on the same axle come mot time it would fail, and yet they allow u to drive it on the road in case of a flat tyre, makes u laugh really.
Title: Re: Always check your spare on a new car.......
Post by: I_want_an_Omega on 13 July 2010, 18:25:02
Not really as the rolling radius is the same for both.

With a low profile tyre you get more wheel and less rubber, so a 17" and 15" wheel on the same axle will have less/more rubber respectfully - thus giving the same rolling radius - if that makes sense
Title: Re: Always check your spare on a new car.......
Post by: Andy B on 13 July 2010, 18:52:55
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Not really as the rolling radius is the same for both.

With a low profile tyre you get more wheel and less rubber, so a 17" and 15" wheel on the same axle will have less/more rubber respectfully - thus giving the same rolling radius - if that makes sense

but they are different widths, which as johny5 says, would fail an MOT.
Still, our spare isn't as bad as a lot of these super slim pram wheel space savers you see about.  :y  :y
Title: Re: Always check your spare on a new car.......
Post by: henryd on 13 July 2010, 19:31:03
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Not really as the rolling radius is the same for both.

With a low profile tyre you get more wheel and less rubber, so a 17" and 15" wheel on the same axle will have less/more rubber respectfully - thus giving the same rolling radius - if that makes sense

but they are different widths, which as johny5 says, would fail an MOT.
Still, our spare isn't as bad as a lot of these super slim pram wheel space savers you see about.  :y  :y

those bloody things are just downright dangerous,I had to drive a golf a while ago in the wet with one of those things on the front and it was scary
Title: Re: Always check your spare on a new car.......
Post by: Broomies Mate on 13 July 2010, 22:25:30
I contacted VOSA a while ago regarding this as I was disapointed to find Vauxhall had installed a 15" spare into my Ex Girlfriends Corsa SRi which had 17" Alloys.

VOSA explained that it is not a 'Spare' wheel, but an 'Emergency' wheel to allow you to drive directly to a local Tyre fitting centre.

Still, would be interesting to argue the toss with a bored copper on a rainy Sunday Evening when all Tyre centres are shut.