Prepare For Death Of De Spare
Sydney Morning Herald
Friday January 26, 2001
Car makers are now saying skinny spare tyres are taking up too much space when a small aerosol can do the job.
Just as Australians are becoming accustomed to skinny space-saver tyres, some European brands are now planning to ditch the spare wheel altogether and replace it with an aerosol can.
Car makers argue that aerosols save yet more space, weight and money. However, they only repair the tyre once and, therefore, it must be replaced rather than repaired.
Australian car makers have deliberately resisted space savers because our vast landscape means we have a greater chance of being stranded if we cannot find a replacement tyre of the same size. They are afraid of antagonising customers should they remove the 16 kg lump of spare wheel ballast which will rarely, if ever, get used.
But in Europe - where weight savings are measured in grams - manufacturers can't justify spending millions of dollars pulling weight out of their vehicles by replacing iron and steel with cast-alloy parts and special types of sheet metal for bodywork and then throw a full-size spare in the boot.
With increasing urbanisation in Australia, though, overseas car makers are arguing that space savers and aerosols have a future here.
The matter has been brought to a head by Peugeot, which is asking prospective owners of its 206 Coupe Cabriolet whether they would prefer to have a space-saver spare wheel, an aerosol pump-up and self-repair kit, or both.
What won't be offered in the boot space-restricted 206CC when it hits the market in the third quarter of this year will be a full-sized spare.
But the 206CC is not alone. Ferrari and Lotus (with the Elise) have done away with the spare wheel altogether. Ferrari provides a can of pressurised latex foam - similar to that being offered by Peugeot - that can re-pressurise the tyre and seals small punctures.
BMW's high-performance M Roadster carries an aerosol instead of a spare. The Mercedes-Benz SLK, pictured above, has a space saver as standard but an aerosol is
a no-cost option in Europe. Mercedes does not offer the aerosol in Australia because,
in the company's words, "it doesn't suit our market conditions".
The space-saver debate continues to divide car makers and consumers. Automobile associations are regularly inundated by letters from members who've only recently discovered their car has a space saver after getting a flat tyre.
"The nature of Australian secondary roads is such that space savers take a pounding, which they don't get on their home soil," an automobile association engineer said. "And the distances which motorists must travel before they can obtain either repairs or replacement tyres is much higher here than in Japan or Europe.
"One of the most obvious examples of how overseas makers don't comprehend Australian conditions is the Mercedes-Benz M-class, promoted as a rugged, go-anywhere recreational vehicle which only carries a space-saver spare."
For a comprehensive list of cars with space-saver spare wheels and tyres, see the www.drive.com.au Web site.
@NETPOLL
Would you prefer an aerosol over a space-saver spare wheel if it meant you could have more boot space?
To vote, go to www.drive.com.au and click on the Net poll box.
Last week's poll:
Is the naked woman on Holden's Sandman offensive?
Votes registered: 3,511. Yes: 39.7 per cent. No: 60.3 per cent.
© 2001 Sydney Morning Herald
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