Corsa - spare wheel

paddedjohn

wig wrote: »

i loved reading this thread :rotfl: Thanks for the laughs.

Op,

i also have a 2003 corsa, and i can tell you that all your wheels are wrong or rather, all your tyres are wrong.

The spare tyre you have is 175/70/14 that's too big, it's supposed to be 175/65/14 so you are about 17mm (8mm ride height) too big, that's why it wouldn't come out the wheel well :d this tyre (if you had two of them on the front) would have you going 2mph faster than you think you are.

I imagine the spare wheel is your original "steel spare" not a space saver. If it is a "steel" it will be black with holes around the outside like the picture below.

If it was a space saver it would look something like this (note, the pic below still shows a "steel" wheel but it is also a space saver)


but yours will have 4 holes in the middle. You notice the big yellow sticker, that's the clue to a space saver. The other clue yours is not a space saver is the tyre size fitted is almost correct for a normal road wheel, if it was a space saver it would be something weird like 145/70/15.

Now you must tell us are the 4 tyres on the car all alloy wheels? Alloy wheels look like this
http://www.google.co.uk/images?q=4+stud+alloy+wheel&hl=en&tbs=isch%3a1%2cisz%3am&prmd=ivns&source=lnt&sa=x&ei=twllteklkskxhqe5o4hnbq&ved=0ca0qpwuoag&aq=f&aqi=g3g-m3g-v3&aql=&oq=

if you have 15 inch alloys (or steels) you need to have tyre size 185/55/15
yours, 195/50/15 are 8.5 mm (4mm ride height) too small, which is not a big deal, let the tread wear out and then change for 185/55/15 in pairs on the same axle. Whilst you drive them you are driving approx 1mph slower than you think you are which is fine because it's 'slower than' not 'faster than'.

If your car has alloy wheels you need to first check if they are vauxhall alloys, or some other brand. If they are another brand you definately have to tell the insurer that you have modified wheels. If they are vauxhall you need to check if the car was sold with alloys as standard spec, or if alloys were a optional extra for your model of corsa. If they were an optional extra (a local dealer should be able to advise on this) you need to tell your insurer your car has alloys.

If your car has steel wheels you need to check if they are vauxhall steels, - vauxhall steels are all stamped with 'gm' in the centre. If they are not gm you need to tell your insurer that you don't have original wheels.

Whatever the case, you are running with wrong size tyres so should tell your insurer about this.

I just realised that you said you had difficulty getting the hubcaps off, this might indicate steel wheels, but alloys do sometimes have small hubcaps in the centre covering just the wheel studs.

So, what to do? If you have good tread left on your flat tyre, you could get it puncture repaired. And wait for the tread to wear out then replace to 185/55/15 in pairs

if tread is poor on this tyre might aswell change to 185/55/15 now, but also look through your other 3 wheels on the car for another wheel with poor tread to also get changed to 185/55/15 so you can have two the same on the same axle.

You will be fine (although illegal) to drive to the tyre shop with your spare fitted, it's not going to be a safety issue just a "nanny state" over bearing law breaking issue.

You can buy new wheel sets (original vauxhall) off ebay. If you don't like the insurance premium hike for having alloys, get 4 gm steels either 14 or 15 inch depending on what was standard issue for your car, i suspect 14" as that is what your spare is.

it would depend on the model of corsa you have, i have just been working on my daughters 2003 sxi and her alloy wheels are shod with 185/55-15's and the spare is although a steel rim is also 185/55-15 and is brand new unused so obviously factory fitted.

perthperson

Hi, thanks for all the info above. Have already taken car in today to get puncture repaired but will read all above and check it out.

The spare wheel isn't a space saver. Managed to change it yesterday after faffing about with hubcaps, stuck spare wheel, stuck bolts, funny sized wheels.

Thanks for everyone's help.

Strider590

Just been thinking..... Your original spare might have been "nicked" to replace one that was flat or missing in another vehicle (by the dealer that sold the car), it's very common practice when they're rushing to make a sale! You've probably got the spare from another car altogether and that other car has a spare thats too small! lol

Wig

paddedjohn wrote: »

it would depend on the model of corsa you have, i have just been working on my daughters 2003 sxi and her alloy wheels are shod with 185/55-15's and the spare is although a steel rim is also 185/55-15 and is brand new unused so obviously factory fitted.

It would not matter which 2003 Corsa it was, the info I gave is accurate. You will note your daughter's car has tyres the correct size for 15" rims as I stated in my post 185/55/15 would be correct.

All the 2003 Corsas will (or should) have:

13" wheels and 155/80/13 tyres
14" wheels and 175/65/14 tyres
15" wheels and 185/55/15 tyres

All these tyres have 1 thing in common....the same diameter.

paddedjohn

wig wrote: »

it would not matter which 2003 corsa it was, the info i gave is accurate. You will note your daughter's car has tyres the correct size for 15" rims as i stated in my post 185/55/15 would be correct.

All the 2003 corsas will (or should) have:

13" wheels and 155/80/13 tyres
14" wheels and 175/65/14 tyres
15" wheels and 185/55/15 tyres

all these tyres have 1 thing in common....the same diameter.

it does matter which corsa it is because if the wheels arent original to the car ie, sxi is fitted with the 15 inch while the L was fitted with the 13 inch then the insurance would have to be told as is classed as a modification,
although i do get your point above about the diameters all being the same +/- 1%

Wig

paddedjohn wrote: »

it does matter which corsa it is because if the wheels arent original to the car ie, sxi is fitted with the 15 inch while the L was fitted with the 13 inch then the insurance would have to be told as is classed as a modification,
although i do get your point above about the diameters all being the same +/- 1%

I already covered that issue

Wig wrote: »

You can buy new wheel sets (original vauxhall) off ebay. If you don't like the insurance premium hike for having alloys, get 4 GM steels either 14 or 15 inch depending on what was standard issue for your car, I suspect 14" as that is what your spare is.

Flyboy152

paddedjohn wrote: »

it does matter which corsa it is because if the wheels arent original to the car ie, sxi is fitted with the 15 inch while the L was fitted with the 13 inch then the insurance would have to be told as is classed as a modification,
although i do get your point above about the diameters all being the same +/- 1%

If the wheels are too big or too small, it will fail the MOT as the speedometer will not be indicating the correct speed.

Wig

Flyboy152 wrote: »

If the wheels are too big or too small, it will fail the MOT as the speedometer will not be indicating the correct speed.

That is not an MOT fail item. The tyres are checked to be the same size on each axle. They don't check if the tyres are the "correct" size. The speedometer is also not an MOT item.

paddedjohn

flyboy152 wrote: »

if the wheels are too big or too small, it will fail the mot as the speedometer will not be indicating the correct speed.

as already pointed out by wig above, 13 inch rims fitted with 155/80-13 size tyres are the same diameter as 15 inch rims with 185/55-15 tyres +/-1% so the speedo would not be affected anyway and as long as they are all the same it would pass an mot

Flyboy152

Wig wrote: »

That is not an MOT fail item. The tyres are checked to be the same size on each axle. They don't check if the tyres are the "correct" size. The speedometer is also not an MOT item.

Hmm...thought it was, I stand corrected.