spacesaver wheel size

ericonabike

Just bought a 2014 Fiat Panda 4x4. It only had a repair kit, not a spare wheel - the cost to buy one from the dealer was £250. Was advised the same spacesaver wheel was common across all Pandas, so sourced one myself from E-Bay. Went to install it, noticed it was 175/65 R14. The wheel size on the 4x4 Panda is 175/65 R15.

The wheel is therefore an inch smaller in diameter than those fitted on the car. My theory is that it's a 'get you to a garage' fitment anyway, at a speed of less than 30mph, so the difference in size is acceptable for that one journey. Any comments or advice?

AlanCarter

It doesn't sound like a space saver. Your handbook will tell you the correct size, they're about 135/80 R14. Does it fit in the wheel well?

ericonabike

Hah! That made me think. Had assumed the spacesaver was same rim size as the standard wheel. Just been out in dark and cold to check, and its designation is 135/80 B13. So it looks like the garage was correct and I've got the standard Panda spare. Which is two inches smaller in diameter than the other wheels [?]. First time I've ever had dealings with spacesavers - are they really meant to be so much smaller in diameter than the wheels they replace, even temporarily?

Iceweasel

Something not right here.

175/65 14 is a regular size wheel - albeit a smaller diameter - but it's no way a spacesaver size.

daveyjp

Thats not a space saver.

You often need the same diameter wheel, but it may be much narrower.

A smaller diameter wheel may not fit your car, brake components may foul it. If such systems are fitted it may cause havoc with stability programmes as the car will detect one wheel is going faster than the other and may activate the Stability control/ABS system.

I drove on a skinny over Christmas in a 4x4. Driving was very straight forward and the car didn't feel any different, even on twisty Scottish roads.

Slowing however was a different matter. Anything other than gentle braking lead to severe pulling. Had I had to do an emergency stop I would have ended up in the roadside hedge.

Last week I was on the M1 and a Micra with a skinny on the front passed me at about 80. Knowing the effect on braking I put him in the 'utter lunatic' category.

agrinnall

I believe you can ignore the last two posts which were probably being typed as you were typing your post revising the size of the wheel. I can't remember what size the space saver on my Panda was but it was certainly smaller in diameter than the alloys that were fitted as standard. I had to use it once and as you might expect it didn't have any of the issues that daveyjp suggests. Stick to the advised speed limit and you'll be fine should you need to use it.

Edit: I've just noticed that your Panda is a 4x4, I don't know whether the spare wheel requirements are different for that than for a front wheel drive model.

Iceweasel

OK then - we now have some different numbers to play around with.

For a spacesaver the important thing is that the overall outside diameter of the tyre is approximately equal to the standard tyre.

So the OP needs to have a spacesaver wheel/tyre combo that matches with the 175/65 14

The actual diameter of the spacesaver wheel is irrelevant per se - it only matters that the rim clears the brake caliper.

However neither of the sizes mentioned - the OP's revised size of 135/80 13, nor the 185/80 14 quoted by Alan Carter match up with the standard wheel.

The 13" spacesaver is 10% too small in overall diameter and the 14" spacesaver is 6% too small.

ericona bike - Are you sure that it's really 135/80 B13? - I wasn't aware of such a small diameter size of spacesaver.

It's not listed in my Continental Data book at any rate.

force_ten

Iceweasel wrote: »

ericona bike - Are you sure that it's really 135/80 B13? - I wasn't aware of such a small diameter size of spacesaver.

It's not listed in my Continental Data book at any rate.

pirelli Tyres list a temp Space Saver Spare in the 135/80 B13 size so could be right

vikingaero

On our old Corsa C the tyres were 185/55/15 but the spare wheel was 175/65/14. I tried fitting the 185/55/15 wheel into the wheel well and it wouldn't fit.

Even though it was narrower it had roughly the same rolling radius (3%?) and wasn't as restrictive as a skinny spacesaver.

System

That sounds more like a previous owner has swapped the 175s that were fitted with 185s but didn't bother changing the spare. Both sizes are valid for the Corsa C but from new you would get all the same size, hence my thought that a previous owner has 'upgraded' only the 4 in use wheels