Technical Space saver wheel...

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Technical Space saver wheel...

Joined
May 24, 2004
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Location
Norwich, United Kingdom.
Had a spectacular puncture yesterday, driving (carefully) down a country lane full of water filled potholes. The side of the tyre was split, so the neatly packaged tyre inflator carefully stored in the boot (which I can't open properly because I'm waiting for the second replacement tailgate mechanism, but that's another story) was not going to be of any use.

Anyway, the AA chap agreed and towed me off to the nearest tyre place to get a replacement. I was also offered a space saver wheel which I bought, as I'm much happier with a spare in the back. However, I notice that it is a different size - it's a 135/80 whereas I have four 185/55s on the car. The man assured me that this was normal and I have no reason to doubt his expertise and knowledge, but it just seems odd to me as it is smaller. I know that there was another thread about this, but I'm not very technical. Any ressurances please??? Thanks!
 
A look in your handbook should reassure you (or otherwise) about the correct dimensions for a space saver - as the name suggest they're narrower than the full-size tyres and wheels but should have the same overall diameter and the same offset as the others.
 
Some German cars use ingenious space-saver tyres that are stored in the car in an un-inflated state and only reach the correct diameter once filled with air from the supplied compressor. Thankfully FIAT ones appear to be much simpler, though are a cost-option (!) on the 4x4 and I guess the same is true across the Panda range (?)
 
Spare wheel for 4x4 £50 if ordered with car. £300 if ordered afterwards. Info from Fiat dealer. Can't quite believe it, after being told the Twin Air was three cylinders by a dealer.
 
Is that the price for a space saver or a full-size spare? The previous model Panda offered a full-size spare for less than the cost of a tyre for a while, if ordered with the car.
 
Spare wheel for 4x4 £50 if ordered with car. £300 if ordered afterwards. Info from Fiat dealer. Can't quite believe it, after being told the Twin Air was three cylinders by a dealer.

Haha! Nice work there...not!

£300 is insane for a spare wheel. You can get a full size Conti EcoContact 3 (i.e. same as the factory-fitted tyres) for less than £90 delivered to your front door from mytyres for example (based on selecting a 1.2 version on their website):

http://www.mytyres.co.uk/cgi-bin/sk...01203||58.00|98.00|4|312 ||P|E3*2007/46*0064*..

Personally I wouldn't even bother with a space-saver, if you can get a full size one for that price it makes life so much easier IMO. Also, I think we worked out that a full size wheel will indeed fit into the base of the boot?
 
My new panda (pre-reg) doesn't have the spare tyre (shame at only £50 option). I want to buy a spare. Reading this thread am I right in thinking a full size will fit in the boot space where the space saver goes?
Also anyone know the best place to get a jack etc?
 
Right, just been to the boot of my TwinAir Panda Lounge - with Spare Wheel option £50!

Space save wheel is 135/80R14, so your appears correct, obviously it is the outside diameter that matters and you only go slow anyway.

My ordinary wheels are also 185/55R15 as per standard Lounge spec

Interested to hear how much you paid for space saver.

Cheers

Jon
 
"Space savers" were introduced, not to save space, but originally money. Not yours, the manufacturer's. More recently, even these have been dropped, alledgedly to save weight and therefore improve fuel economy, although my driving school Fiesta seems to be more economical with a wheel than without. They do not really save any space, if the wheel well will take the full-size one you remove. On some cars, like Ferraris, they do save space, and once you've fitted it, the passenger has to nurse the removed full-size wheel.

Once fitted, these will change the handling characteristics, frighteningly so on the one occasion I had to use one on a Seicento. Cornering was very interesting. They require a higher pressure, and legally you MUST not exceed 50mph/80kph. Doing so creates a high risk and will get a prosecution under construction & use regulations, not an ordinary speeding ticket. If you ever use one, take care.
 
I had a rear tyre puncture on a 500 Sporting some years back on a Swiss motorway. It was pissing with rain, of course, and the flat was on the left so I was a few feet from the lorries thundering past as I put the space saver on. Car then handled like a blivot - to quote Dan Gurney - in lots of standing water and having to go so slowly the 500 was swamped by more of those those lorries doing 120kph. Not a great experience.
 
Could anyone be kind enough to confirm whether the 135/80 R14 - or even a full sized spare - will fit into the 'Fix and Go' spare wheel space on a Panda Cross (2015) - it crossed my mind that the Cross may have a slightly different depth boot.
 
So where are we all buying suitable spare wheel/tyres from ( other than eBay?)
 
Re: Space saver wheel... the 'why' and 'be careful'

'Space' savers were actually introduced to save weight, not space, or money. Very few people actually get punctures, compared to the number of cars carrying around several kg of an extra wheel. Saving weight saves fuel, allowing the manufacturers to meet the stricter emissions targets set for them by various governments around the world.

The more recent trend to replace the still comparatively heavy space saver wheel with a much lighter plastic pump and a can of goo saves yet more weight.. and so yet more fuel emissions. (This of course also means you get better mpg figures)

The space saver wheel on any car, not just the Panda, often has a smaller rolling diameter than the full size wheel - this is why the full size wheel usually won't fit in the wheel well in the boot. Because it is a different size, and because it offers much less grip, is why you are limited (by law) to 50mh if the space saver is on the car. (Don't be fooled by the big '80' sticker - that's 80km/h). Also, it is best if you can to use it on a rear wheel rather than the ones doing the steering.

As to the spare 'only' being £50 when the car is ordered and much more later, that is of course true of most things on the car that you can buy later on. (Leather-trimmed steering wheel, heated front screen, air con etc) If you tried to buy a car by getting all the bits from the parts counter, you'd pay maybe five times more for the whole thing...

If you do go down the eBay route of buying a spare, be careful. Firstly there are lots of 'knackered old wheels' for sale on there which have been painted red with a shiny new '80kmh' sticker on them. (you can buy those stickers on eBay too if you want to have a go at making your own)... Don't go near these! And also beware that wheels from newer Fiat Puntos don't fit the Panda - the wheel bolt spacing is different. Older Puntos (pre 2005-ish I believe) still use the 98mm PCD spacing, but the newer ones are (like most other 4-stud cars except Fiat) 100mm - a small but important difference that means the wheel bolts don't quite fit right.
 
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Could anyone be kind enough to confirm whether the 135/80 R14 - or even a full sized spare - will fit into the 'Fix and Go' spare wheel space on a Panda Cross (2015) - it crossed my mind that the Cross may have a slightly different depth boot.
The Panda Cross (and 4x4) use an identical bodyshell to the 'normal' Panda, so have the same size spare wheel well as other Pandas.

But, note that the 4x4 and Cross use 15" wheels to clear the larger diameter front discs used on the 4x4 models., so you need a fifteen inch spare to fit over these. 135/80 x 15 space saver does fit into the spare wheel well - I have one. Note also that the extra ground clearance of the 4x4/Cross means the standard Panda jack doesn't work - it doesn't lift high enough. The bigger jack needed is too big to sit inside the spare wheel... mine lies in the boot on top of the carpet.
 
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Got a full size 175 x 14 in mine and dont do much except for a little bulge in boot carpet. Much better than a skinny one or the pathetic foam
 
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