Small spare tyre

slyracoon

As others have said a spacesaver is only designed to get you moving and allow you to complete your journey and make it to a garage. They are not there for you to continue your 60 miles a day until the weekend!

Why can't you make it to a garage? You could use a service like www.e-tyres.co.uk to get fitting at your workplace.

benwilliamsuk

This message has been removed.

Lum

The 50 mile limit seems to be due to heat build up. They certainly last longer than that. Just don't do the john o'groats to lands end rally on it.

Sometimes you are stuck on them, like if the garage can't get the tyres you want for a couple of days, or you did something stupid such as ordering from mytyres.co.uk and expecting them to ship from the UK on the same day you ordered when they actually sit on it for two weeks then ship from Germany.

zappahey

tony6403 wrote: »

No doubt others will have opinions on this, but it is questionable whether using a spacesaver wheel is legal other than for emergency purposes (i.e. to get you to the nearest garage).

The AA reckons there's no legal limit on distance travelled

http://www.theaa.com/motoring_advice/safety/non-standard-spare-wheels.html

photome

zappahey wrote: »

The AA reckons there's no legal limit on distance travelled

http://www.theaa.com/motoring_advice/safety/non-standard-spare-wheels.html

Dont think anyone said there was a legal limit, just a safe limit

edit

whoops, apart from the poster you responded to

SteveJW

Only time I ever used the space saver was for about 3 miles, horrendous road noise and poor handling. Now have a full sized spare, doesn't fit in the space very well but I can put up with the inconvenience.
How anyone could drive 50 or 60 miles on one I don't know

Lum

SteveJW wrote: »

How anyone could drive 50 or 60 miles on one I don't know

If it makes the difference between turning up to work and getting paid vs not turning up to work and getting sacked, you'd be able to drive 50 or 60 miles on one of the things, trust me.

headpin

The distance is the safe one to travel in any one journey. These are normal tyres, just smaller. You will get a total running distance of a few thousand miles.

They will affect the handling of the car, which is why they are restricted, usually to around 50 mph. They may also affect your speedo reading, so err on the safe side.

johnmc

They are most definitely NOT the same as an ordinary tyre. They are smaller and narrower, have huge PSI and no grip.

It is illegal, and dangerous, to drive with mixed tyres on the same axle so, technically, ANY use is illegal. Road Traffic Act and Construction & Use Regulations.

Get yourself a proper, full size spare.

A new tyre, even from an expensive source, is less than losing your licence, job and liberty. As others have said, a mobile fitter will replace a tyre at your works.

Waste of time really, as I guess the OP is such a good driver he has already driven twice around the world with dodgy tyres ..................

headpin

johnmc wrote: »

They are most definitely NOT the same as an ordinary tyre. They are smaller and narrower, have huge PSI and no grip.

It is illegal, and dangerous, to drive with mixed tyres on the same axle so, technically, ANY use is illegal. Road Traffic Act and Construction & Use Regulations.

Get yourself a proper, full size spare.

A new tyre, even from an expensive source, is less than losing your licence, job and liberty. As others have said, a mobile fitter will replace a tyre at your works.

Waste of time really, as I guess the OP is such a good driver he has already driven twice around the world with dodgy tyres ..................

Unfortunately johnmc is not correct about them being unlawful to use. Para 5 of Clause 26 of the C&U Regs specifically talks about the use of "space saver" spare wheels with narrow tyres. The are completely legal to use on any passenger vehicle, except a bus, so long as not used at any greater speed than 50 mph .

Additionally, they are exactly the same materials and construction as a "normal" sized tyre. The only difference is that they are smaller dimensions than the other 4 tyres fitted as standard.

I wish people would be sure of their facts before posting completely erroneous "legal" advice!