General Spare Tyre

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General Spare Tyre

Tweedbean

Va Va Vroom
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Whats the law on a spare tyre, as I am currently driving with my space saver tyre and 3 alloys. But the space saver is limited to 50mph. Can I drive around fine (under 50mph) until I get a new set of alloys?

If i put a normal steelie wheel on with a normal tyre, could I class this as my spare and therefore be able to drive at 70mph until I get a new set?

Is the car limited to 50mph when using any spare?
 
:rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: i did 90 with a space saver.i know its wrong but it didnt fall off...and corners at 60 are fun:D :D with abit of drifting.but dont take my word for it.im a bad driver:devil: just do 50mph(y)
 
Ive taken the space saver off, Currently ogt a punto steelie, so can I do 70 on the motorway as its a normal tyre, now classing that as a spare
 
:rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: i did 90 with a space saver.i know its wrong but it didnt fall off...and corners at 60 are fun:D :D with abit of drifting.but dont take my word for it.im a bad driver:devil: just do 50mph(y)

Im glad you said it :)
 
Space savers are not only thin (lack of grip). They can also heat up faster, the rubber is not designed for long life, (low speed rating) and will affect the associated axels offset. Often they are a different rolling radius as well!

All these make handling and reliability a bit pants tbh.

If you ARE going do do a lot of miles on it, put it on the back axle, but a blow out is not a nice thing to happen, and is not predictable like loss of friction.

You are on 14"s? Is the space saver a 14 as well?

Kristian
 
Im not using the space saver, im using a normal steel wheel and tyre, off a punto. its 14" like my alloys
 
also had the space saver over 100mph wouldnt recomend it though lol ..... being a multi directional tyre dont help either ...

on another thought get 2 over inflate them put them on the front and spin awat well good fun
 
Both the tyres on the same axle must be the same size, though the front axle can have different sized tyres to the rear. You can use a different size wheel temporarily (e.g. in the event of puncture) but you are then restricted to 50mph.

It doesn't matter if you mix wheel types (steel or alloy) on the same axle, though both must be the same size (width, diameter and offset) and fitted with same size tyres, as above.

The "Space saver" is deliberately thin and skinny as it is only supposed to be fitted temporarily, so they make it as small, thin and cheap as they can get away with.

The tyre is generally "H" rated (up to 130mph) so speed itself will not wreck it (you could theoretically run 4 Space savers!) it's just that your car is assumed to become unstable and dangerous above that 50mph legal maximum, because of the size difference.

The Space saver should be fitted to the rear axle only, regardless of where the puncture is.. so if you get a front puncture, you should move a rear wheel onto the front axle and put the spare on the rear axle. I see hundreds of cars tooling about over 50pmh with the spare on the front. You'd have to be a knob, frankly...

The space-saver tyre also has a poor profile and not very good wear or grip characteristics, so if you're going to be stoopid with it, make sure you have a ready-made excuse for the plod/insurance company.

Ralf S.
 
Is it poss to put normal tyres on a space saver rims and be safe? I only drive to work and back 5 days a week wich is 20 miles per day,and because of traffic and stupid speed cameras cant do more than 40.
Any thoughts,oppinions or ideas would be most welcome :slayer:
 
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